You'll hear from us

05

Lindsay woke up late in the night. She rolled over, still mostly asleep, looking for the warmth of her husband.

"Michael?" She whispered, "Michael?"

Lindsay sat up in bed, laying across the middle, alone.

"Michael?!" She yelled out towards the other rooms. "Are you out there?"

Reaching for the bedside lamp, Lindsay rubbed her eyes and tried to wake herself up more. Michael's clothes that were sitting on the chair were now gone, and his glasses missing from the nearby table.

"What the hell..?" Lindsay questioned as she reached for her phone that had somehow ended up under the bed.

Usually if Michael has some emergency or '3am-Geoff-and-Gavin-rescue-from-the-bar', he would wake Lindsay up to tell her, or left a big note on the bed so she doesn't worry. This time, though, there was nothing.

Switching her phone on, her stomach drops.

Missed calls from Geoff covered her screen, along with several random numbers.

"What..?" Lindsay groaned as she felt worry grow at the back of her throat. "What have you done..?"

She swiped at Geoff's missed calls (7), and put on loud speaker. Standing up to stretch, Lindsay looked around the floor for her shirt and pants that she could put on - obviously she didn't have to look great for whatever occasion she's about to walk into.

The phone rang twice before Geoff picked up.

"Lindsay?! Lindsay is that you?! Are you there?!" Geoff yelled into the phone, barely audible, "Hello?!"

"Geoff, yes it's me! What's going on?" Lindsay replied, quickly recognising the panic in Geoff's voice and picking up her phone.

"Oh my God, Lindsay I'm so sorry, you need to get down her right now...It's Michael.." Geoff sounded almost hysterical. "You need to get here now."

"Okay, okay Geoff calm down, I'm on my way..Where am I going?" Lindsay tried to stay calm; after all, what could Michael have done? Gotten insanely drunk and told an officer to 'go fuck himself' and gotten himself thrown in jail? Or punched someone and now they're in hospital, and the police have some serious questioning to do? What if he had slept with someone else and now he can't face anyone...

"To the...oh God, Lindsay! To the hospital, get here now!" Geoff cried into the phone before the line cracked and the call ended.

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"I'm here! I'm here! Where is he?!" Lindsay yelled as she ran into the entrance of the emergency room. Geoff stood with his face in his hands, before turning to her and embracing her in a tight hug. "Geoff..." She cried, before hugging him back and pushing her face into his neck.

"I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry...I'm so..." Geoff repeated quietly over and over.

Lindsay wiped her eyes and pushed away from Geoff, looking him straight in the eye.

"What happened?" She asked, as seriously as she could.

Geoff shook his head, looked at the floor and just kept repeating, "I'm so sorry..."

"Lindsay?" A quiet voice asked from around the corner.

"Gavin?" Lindsay questioned, as she held Geoff's hand and walked around to the waiting room.

Gavin was laying across several chairs, face red and completey distraught. He attempted a smile as he looked over to her, although immediately failing. Lindsay noted that he was clearly drunk, through all his emotions, she could still recognise he wasn't his 'actual' self. She let go of Geoff's hand and walked over to Gavin, holding him tightly. Lindsay stayed calm, let Gavin have his 'emotional burst', then held his shoulders as she looked at his face.

"Gavin, what happened?" Lindsay asked, keeping her voice as calm as she could. Gavin refused to speak, only blubbing and wiping his nose occasionally. "Gavin, you need to tell me what has happened to Michael, I need to know."

Gavin stayed silent, and tears started to fall down his cheeks again.

"Gavin! Tell me!" Lindsay shouted, getting more and more frustrated as she tried to find out what Michael has gotten himself into.

"He was in a car crash, Lindsay. Another car drove straight into the side of him while he was driving, I'm so sorry.." Geoff answered with his arms crossed, looking at the ground.

"Where was he driving to at 5am?" Lindsay asked, looking back at Geoff. She sounded more angry now rather than upset, almost 30 minutes since she had woken up and she still hadn't found out the worst of it.

"To Gavin's." Geoff mumbled, "I'm sorry.."

"And why was he driving there at five a.m in the morning?" Lindsay asked through gritted teeth, turning her attention back to Gavin.

"I was drunk and I needed Micool alright?!" Gavin yelled, pushing Lindsay away and running past Geoff to the doors of the ER.

A nurse in a white coat walked through the swinging doors just across from the sitting room, holding several clip boards and had a serious look on her face.

"Mrs. Jones?" She asked as she looked out at Lindsay.

"That's me, is Michael okay?" Lindsay stood up and held her hands in front of her, feeling her emotions building up once again as it all seemed to become real.

"Mrs. Jones, I need to ask you to sit down and we'll go through Michael's injuries. I'm very sorry about your husband." The nurse answered, gesturing to one of the chairs.