The Boy with the Blind Eyes

NINE

Tamsin sputtered out a laugh. Yeah, right. Who was this pranking her? Lina? Brett? 'Brett, is this you?' She demanded.

'Excuse me?'

'This isn't funny, Brett.'

'Miss Gilbert, this is Sergeant Reynolds from the NYPD.'

'I don't believe you.'

'Miss Gilbert, please. This is serious.'

Tamsin's blood ran cold. Surely, Brett wouldn't be so mean as to do this in the first place, let alone continue to assure her he was a sergeant. It didn't seem right.

She wasn't entirely convinced that the man speaking to her wasn't a prank, but she was prepared to find out. 'My mother has really been in an accident?' She whispered.

Just as he began to reply, the door to her dorm flew open, and in sauntered Lina—Brett tailing her.

'Oh, my God,' she shivered, the phone falling from her grasp. Without warning, she doubled over, her stomach pressing against her thighs, a sob bursting out from her lips.

Lina and Brett exchanged a look of concern before rushing over. Tamsin could feel Brett's hand on her back, and Lina's hand grasping her own.

'Tamsin?' Lina asked. 'What is it?' Her eyes fell on the phone. Hesitating, she picked it up and pressed it to her left ear. 'Hello?' She asked. 'Who is this?'

Tamsin clutched her abdomen, watching Lina's eyes widen. She nodded, even though he couldn't see her, and replied, 'We'll be right down!'

'Tamsin— 'Lina began, but Brett interrupted.

'What the hell is going on?'

'Her mom has been in an accident. That was the police on the phone. They want us to come down to Greenwich Village Hospital now.'

Tamsin gasped for air between sobs. 'No!' She yelled. 'I can't— '

'Tamsin, it's your mom,' Lina's sharp tone seemed to somehow propel her out of the chair and out of the room. Lina walked ahead of Tamsin, rushing into the elevator, while Brett held her close to his chest, supporting her from behind. Tamsin couldn't stop crying. They hadn't said anything had happened to her mom...that she had died...just that she had been in an accident. But surely, if she wasn't hurt badly, they wouldn't be calling Tamsin.

Twenty agonising minutes later, Tamsin, Brett and Lina stood outside of Greenwich Village Hospital. Tamsin had sat next to Brett in the cab on the way over, who didn't let go of her hand once. His other hand was either on her shoulder or back, supporting her. When Lina had sat in the front passenger seat in the cab, Brett lead Tamsin to the backseat, and even though he didn't know her well, and she knew next to nothing about him except that he liked sports, he let her lean on him for the entire ride—her back against the broad plains of chest. It was an intimate kind of position to be in, for two people who could pass as strangers. But knowing he was behind her gave Tamsin a sense of security. Strangely enough, she didn't want him to move away from her.

Tamsin took a deep breath, holding in her tears. It was just an accident, she told herself. Just an accident. Her mother was a survivor. When she nodded, the three of them walked inside briskly. They reached the front desk eventually, but when Tamsin told the nurse her name, the nurse's face had fallen.

'This way, hon,' she drawled, motioning down a hall. Brett made no move to release Tamsin, and this time, she didn't like it. This time it felt like he was restraining her rather than helping her, and she needed air. She couldn't be surrounded by so many people and breathe.

'We'll wait out here, Tamsin,' Lina said. Her hand brushed Brett's shoulder, her usually playful eyes utterly still and serious. Almost automatically, his arms dropped from around Tamsin.

He nodded stiffly at her. 'We're right here, if you need us.'

Her heart squeezed when Brett's warm figure left her side and joined Lina on a nearby chair.

The nurse smiled sadly and lead Tamsin down a long, white corridor that had seen better days. Doctors in blue uniforms rushed past her hurriedly, concern dancing in their wide eyes.

'Nurse,' Tamsin said, before they turned into a room.

The nurse turned expectantly. 'Yes, hon?'

'What— 'Tamsin swallowed, 'what happened to her?'

'Dr Cunningham will be in soon to see you and your mother. I'm not allowed to disclose her medical condition.'

'Was she in an accident?' Tamsin whispered, ignoring her.

'She was,' the nurse confirmed. 'I can't reveal any more than that. In the past half hour, she was removed from the scene and brought to the hospital.'

'Is she awake?'

The nurse sighed softly. 'Go on in, dear.'

To her shock, when Tamsin swung open the door and the nurse disappeared, there sitting by her unconscious' mother's side, was Trey.

His tiny face lit up with relief and he jumped into her eyes, letting out a sob that had obviously been held in for a long, long time. The relief and dread and happiness and sadness that ran through Tamsin in that moment left her rendered speechless. Here he was, Trey in her arms, and there her mother was, in critical condition, lying unconscious on a hospital bed.

Tamsin was surprised to find a tear snaking its way down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly. She didn't want Trey to see her cry.

'How did you get here?' She whispered.

'Police brought me here.'

'How are you?'

Trey didn't answer. His solemn, grey eyes were fixed on the bed, full of fear. Suddenly, the fear was replaced with tears. 'S-She won't wake up, will s-she?' His bottom lip trembled.

Tamsin swept him into another hug and ignored the pang in her own chest that made her want to cry, too. 'We have to have hope. Without hope there's nothing.'

Trey sniffled and pulled away from her. 'What now?'

'Now,' she whispered, 'we wait.'

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