reputation

Decisions

June 15, 2018.

Twenty - Taylor

Early mornings were not Taylor's thing. On nights where she did sleep, it was always much later than what could be considered appropriate for someone her age. Tonight was one of those nights where sleep didn't come easy. For the first part of the night, she laid on her side and watched Emma while she slept and made sure nothing was wrong. It wasn't, until she started to squirm in her sleep and let out little whimpers.

After Emma woke up and they worked through it, Taylor managed to get two hours of sleep before her phone started to vibrate on the bedside table. She reached over and pressed the power button to get the alarm to stop, but it kept vibrating insistently until she picked it up and realized it wasn't an alarm at all.

Tree's contact flashed across the screen. Taylor slid the bar to answer the call and brought it up to her ear, groaning tinto the phone as she croaked a greeting. "Hello? It's five in the morning."

"I know, I'm sorry. We need to talk. Is now a good time?" Tree chirped into the phone, far too enthusiastic for this early in the morning.

"Not really."

"Great. I'm at your door."

Taylor sighed and rolled out of bed. Emma reached for her and whined in her sleep, and Taylor bent down to kiss her head before going to open the door for Tree. Tree pushed her way in the second Taylor opened the door and plopped down on the couch.

"What can I do for you at this ungodly hour?" Taylor asked, a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"I'm sorry to wake you up, but we have to figure out what you're doing with the show tomorrow. If you're going to perform, I can organize a plane to leave soon. If not, I need to make an announcement. I can put out a vague statement about what happened, and some people will understand."

Taylor huffed and sat on the couch next to Tree. Somehow, she had completely forgotten she was supposed to perform tomorrow. She couldn't leave. Emma was in no shape to fly and she still needed help with things, no matter how much she insisted that she didn't. "I can't go. I have to stay here. She needs help, and she's got an appointment today and I have to take her. I can't leave her."

Tree nodded. "I know. You don't have to explain yourself to me. What would you like to say? Obviously you don't have to give any explanation, but I would recommend that you give at least a little bit."

"I can't say anything without making sure Em's okay with it. I'm not going to do that to her."

"Of course. I do have to tell you that someone got a picture of the two of you leaving the hospital, so there has been some speculation about what happened, but as far as I know no one actually knows."

Taylor thought back to the man with the camera while she and Emma were getting into the car. It didn't surprise her in the slightest that he had put it online. The sound of heavy footsteps and the sound of something scooting across the hard wood carried through the hall. Taylor jumped up and hurried over to help but decided against it, not wanting to get her head bit off this early in the morning. Emma was still dressed in the pajamas from last night and her hair was all over the place. She was walking better than she had yesterday, but a slight tinge of pain still crossed her face every few steps.

Eventually they made it back to the living room. Emma looked slightly surprised to see Tree there, but she didn't question it and sat down on one of the chairs. "G'morning." She mumbled.

"Good morning, sweetheart." Taylor smiled at her and dropped a kiss to her lips before sitting back on the couch and reaching over to hold Emma's hand. Tree gestured towards Emma, as if telling her to ask, but Taylor shook her head.