A Shelby Mistress

Father Hughes

Aurora felt sick as she raced through the hospital floors, pushing herself further and further up hoping to see a familiar face soon. She'd jumped into her car and quickly drove straight here before the telephone call had ended. Her mind and heart were racing with questions and worry. It seemed as if Tommy had only just been in her office revealing Teddy's identity and sending her into a fit of rage.
How had things turned so badly in a day?
She may not have paid much attention to Tommy at the office but she knew for certain he'd been perfectly fine and healthy. Now he was somewhere in this hospital on the edge of death, perhaps even dead by now. The thought of him laying laid in the morgue, cold and broken sent a shiver through Aurora's spine. Tommy couldn't die, he couldn't. Tears welled up in Aurora's eyes at the thought of never seeing Tommy again. If this was what life would feel like without him then she didn't want it, she'd rather have him in her office driving her mad rather than this.

"Ada! Ada!" Aurora continued to yell, not caring who heard her or who she woke and the more she searched the more panicked her voice became. She felt lost and hopeless but Aurora needed to get to Tommy.
"Ada!"
Her legs were beginning to buckle underneath her and her lungs were screaming for air sending a sharp burning pain through her body. Everything was on fire, even the tips of her fingers and toes. For the fist time in a long while she found herself praying, praying for Tommy's recovery, praying that whatever happened wasn't as bad as it had sounded on the phone. Ada was emotionally strong and for her to sound so broken over the phone was incredibly frightening. Aurora had last heard that tone on the night Freddie died and with all her might she begged whatever god there was to spare Tommy not just for Aurora's sake and the family's but Charlie's. The poor boy had already lost his Mother this year, he couldn't lost his Father too, it wasn't fair or right.
"Ada!"
Where were they?!
Both frustration and desperation ran through Aurora as she made her way into the next hall. If people were to see her she was certain they'd believe she was being chased. In truth Aurora was being chased these days, by death but making her way through the hospital she'd came to the conclusion that it felt better to run from death than to be running towards it.

"Aurora?! Is that you?!"
Finally Ada's voiced called back to her and taking the next left Aurora saw her stood at the end of the hall, her arms crossed over her chest and her face red from crying. She looked defeated which caused Aurora's blood to run cold. Tommy was dead. Ada was going to tell her Tommy was dead.
Throwing herself forwards to make the last stretch of her journey, Aurora took Ada in her arms and let out a quiet sob.
"Where is he?" She whimpered breathlessly holding onto Ada like her life depended on it. Aurora didn't want to hear the words that poured off Ada's tongue, it would break her in two.
"He's still in surgery, they have to put his skull back together. I'm not sure when he'll come out or if he'll come out" Ada told her, her form trembling against Aurora's "Oh fuck Aurora I thought he was dead....he wasn't moving, he was just laid there on the stairs......I feel sick"
Pulling away from Ada's embrace, Aurora took her hand and led her towards the wooden bench within the hall.
"Sit down Ada, we'll wait here together. Tommy will make it out of surgery, he's the strongest person I know" Aurora tried to reassure her as they both sat down and continued to hold one another. Even if Tommy did make it out of surgery there was no guarantee that he would be alright or make a recovery. Never had Aurora felt so unsure of her words but she needed to keep Ada calm in order to keep herself calm too "Do you know who did this or what did this?"
"No....I don't think.......he asked me to organise a meeting at my house with the Special Advisor to the Soviet Consul but he was already in a state before he showed up at my door" Ada explained growing more troubled as she kept glancing towards the doors she'd seen Tommy disappear through hours earlier.
"Where is everyone else? Did you phone them?" Aurora wondered hoping Ada hadn't been here alone for this long, stalking the halls in tears whilst she waited to hear if her brother would die or not.
"I phoned you first, you're the only person I could think of when they took Tommy through to surgery. Call me selfish but I knew if you got here first you'd be of great comfort. I wasn't ready to face them yet so I waited a while. They'll be here soon I'm guessing"
Aurora understood Ada's reluctance to phone the family first. Once they arrive they would hound her with loud voices, drowning out their own questions as they all fought to be louder than the other.