Tell Him I Love Him

10. Lemons

261 DAYS

Despite the nurse saying he should wait a day, Tim requested to try walking in the morning, since he needed to test if he could manage an escape to find Lucy at 3PM like they had arranged the day before. He found the stitches still tugged a bit painfully as his body was still adjusting to the hole that was sewn back together, but he decided he could handle the pain if it meant begging Lucy to take him back.

The biggest obstacle was not walking or even escaping the hospital. Tim had plans for how to get out and order a ride share. He just had to get past Tamara who, regardless of his efforts, would not leave.

"Are you trying to get rid of me or something?" Tamara asked when she realized Tim said it was okay for her to leave for the 5th time today.

"Of course not! I just want you to catch up on all the homework you haven't been doing and study for exams and stuff," he lied as convincingly as possible, then, his eyes flitted to the clock in the room- 2:15PM. He would have to leave soon to make it in traffic.

"Alright, Tim, spill. You keep watching the clock like you do before a big game, you're fidgety, you just lied to me because your heart monitor told me so, and I'm getting a vibe something is wrong. You can talk to me."

He bit his lip while racking his brain with how to explain his odd behavior without the stupid heart monitor revealing the truth. "I just wanna get out of the hospital. I don't really like being here."

She narrowed her eyes as it dawned on her, "This isn't just about hospitals. This is about Lucy."

"No," he lied, and the heart monitor confirmed it.

"We should hook you up to one of these all the time!" Tamara sounded amused. "So, what's going on with Lucy?"

"I need to see her. She's safe, but this is important, and we're supposed to meet in like 45 minutes. I have to make it to Long Beach in traffic. Can you cover for me?"

She nodded, "I'll be right back. Go in the bathroom and change into the clothes Ang packed for you."

Tim obeyed, slowly standing and ambling to the bathroom with the jeans and a t shirt Angela had selected and brought over to the hospital in the hopes he would wear them when discharged later in the week. They would work for an escape mission, too.

Tamara re-entered the room and waited for Tim to change. She winced when she saw him tighten his jaw as he walked, but her heart also warmed at the thought that he was willing to hurt with every step to see Lucy.

He pulled his IV out and started towards the door when she stopped him. "Okay, I need to GPS this. Where are we going?"

"We?" He asked.

"I'm driving you, and before you say anything, I won't take no for an answer. Now, there's a wheelchair outside. I told the nurses I was taking you on a walk around the hospital and maybe outside to get you some fresh air so that they don't come looking for us."

She is a brilliant young woman, but involving her was not the best idea. "Tamara..."

"Where are we going?" She inquired more firmly.

"Sweet Escape Motel in Long Beach," he begrudgingly answered. She is just as stubborn as Lucy. Why does he always surround himself with stubborn women he can't help but adore and obey?

"Alright, let's go," she typed the name in her phone as she guided him to the wheelchair to sit down, and then she pushed him through the hospital and right up to her blue Mini Cooper. Tim had managed to get it out of evidence for Tamara to keep if for no other reason than the reminder that the car brought Tim and Lucy together. There seemed to be a pattern with cars bringing relationships to Lucy- a stolen orange Datsun is the reason Tamara is in her life while a blue Mini Coop with drugs in the truck is the reason she ever kissed Tim in the first place. He smiled at the realization.