Somebody That I Used To Know

Secret

Molly walks through the hospital to Tom's room. She holds a coffee in her hand, feeling the warmth soak through the cup.

Noise comes from Tom's room, it sounds like talking between Denise and Dr. Bettany.

"I'm very sorry," Molly hears in Dr. Bettany's voice.

She rips open the door, splashing some of the coffee onto her shirt.

"Molly," Denise says.

"What happened?" Molly urges.

Dr. Bettany moves out of the sight of view, revealing the bed.

"As I was saying, I'm sorry about how long this recovery is going to take but you're going to be alright."

"Hello, Molly." Tom quietly says. "Thank you for coming."

"You're awake."

"I am. Come sit."

"I can leave." Denise says. "I'll be back, Tom, alright?"

"Okay, darling."

Molly's heart drops from hearing him call another woman darling.

"Goodbye, Molly."

"Bye, Denise."

Molly waits until Denise leaves the room. Then, she takes a seat on the chair next to Tom. "What did you do?"

"I was sick."

"No, you we're, you made yourself sick by not eating. Think about Lily."

"Lily is better off with this whole thing. I mean, me not being around."

"Were you trying to kill yourself?"

"No, it's nothing like that. But with the custody battles and-"

"We're done with that. You're her father, you deserve to be with her. You're a good man."

"Thank you."

Tom smiles at Molly and brings his hand to his face. "Shit." he quietly whispers, feeling the tube in his nose.

"It's just temporary. You were unconscious and your heart gave out because of malnutrition. You needed to eat."

"Well I'll eat just fine once it's out."

"Give it a few days and once everything is alright, I'm sure it won't be a problem at all."

"I'll just do it,"

Tom closes his eyes and tightly holds the orange tube, winching as he begins to pull.

"Thomas," Molly yells and grabs his hand. "What the hell are you doing?"

"They're not going to take it out themselves, you're right. I just want it out."

"I'm going to call Dr. Bettany in here if you don't calm down."

Tom sighs and brings his hands to his lap. "Fine."

"Thank you."

"I want to go home. I've barely been here but it's enough already."

"You went into cardiac arrest."

"I'm aware of that, I still don't want to be here."

"You have to accept the consequences for your actions. After this, will you finally not struggle with food anymore?"

"Molly, this isn't something I can turn off in my head."

"No, but you break when it happens. Instead of putting up a fortress, doing everything you can to get better, you open the doors and let it in."

"This is a horrible time to rub that in my face."

"I'm speaking the truth."

"I want to go home. Sign the release papers."

"They're not offering release papers because your heart stopped two days ago. They can't send you home. They need to monitor your heart."

"I want my own bed, my things, and my daughter. I want to go home and live."

"Well, you can't have your bed but you'll be home in a couple weeks and you'll be back to it. Denise can bring you your things from her apartment and I told, no more custody battle. You get to see Lils whenever you want."

"Thank you."

Tom looks at the wall, a pit in his stomach. "I need to tell you something."

"Okay."

"No, Molly, I need to tell you something, something kind of serious."

"What is it?" Molly asks.

"I... I wasn't talking about Denise."

Molly's face drops. "Wait, what did you say?"

Denise knocks on the door and walks in. "Hey, sweetheart. I brought you some of the water you like. Dr. Bettany approved it."

"Oh, thank you." Tom smiles. "That means a lot."

"I'll let you two talk."

"Molly, it's okay, you can stay. You're right, you should be here."

"Oh, it's alright, dear." Molly grins and tries not to chuckle. "I'm gonna go pick up Lily from her friend's. I'll bring her to see you once you start getting off of all these wires, okay?"

"Sure, thank you."

"Anything."

Molly walks out of the room with a large smile in her face.

Denise groans as use sits next to Tom. "How'd your talk with Molly go? Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Listen, I was thinking that after this, we'll move. We'll get a bigger apartment and make a room for Lily for there."

"Oh," Tom whispers. "Um, that's a nice idea."

"You think so? Me too. I'm excited. We'll paint it pink and cream and get her that light-up unicorn sign. Do you remember that? You said she would love it when we saw it."

Tom smiles and closes down at his hands. "Sure."