Cut to the beat

I don't do mountains

"Are we there yet?" Ellen asked from the passenger seat, her feet up on the dash, half asleep. Patrick gave her a playful look, shaking his head. It was the third time Ellen had asked in the past thirty minutes but he wasn't angry, just playfully annoyed. The 9 hour trip to Tahoe took a while. Ellen sighed, leaning back.

"Want to play a game?" Patrick suggested as he sped up in the empty highway. Ellen rolled her eyes.

"No license plate games or I spy you are terrible at them both and there's no one out here for miles." She replied quickly, shutting him down. Patrick had to hand it to her, she was right. He was terrible at them, and it was empty outside. Once in a while they passed maybe two cars or one would pass them seemingly out of nowhere.

"Fine. Maybe we could just talk unless you want to sleep more..." Patrick said, turning down the radio he had playing softly. Ellen wiggled in her seat, licking her lips.

"Talk about what Paddy?" Ellen asked, pushing her hair back. Patrick watched from the corner of his eye. He smiled.

"Us? We talked about freedom a few days ago. Oh and I'm sure we don't know everything about each other." Patrick said quietly. Ellen's nostrils flared at his suggestion.

"Us? Patrick. I love you but that was stupid of me to think we could ever- you still want it? Oh of course you do sorry I don't want to sound rude," She rambled. "If you seriously want to come open...Patrick not now, please I was doing that thing where I talk but I don't exactly think-"

"You did a lot of that a few days ago huh?" Patrick said quickly. Ellen crossed her arms.

"Rude. But I won't deny that because I know I was a hot mess a few days ago." Ellen said, annoyed. Patrick sped up then put his cruise control on, facing Ellen for a few seconds.

"I was rude. Sorry. It's a stressful situation and we both don't want to talk about it. Let's back track, we don't know everything about each other. Why does your father get under your skin so easily?" Patrick turned the conversation around quickly, and Ellen noticed. She sipped her water and smiled. Neither of them wanted to fight, and he was trying so hard to not. Ellen hung her head, knowing she provoked the fighting.

"Easy. He's the only dad I've got. I spent a lot of my years defying him and acting out, only to realize it didn't bring back my mom. It brought me step moms and him passing me through my relatives like some delinquent, which I wasn't that bad," Ellen made a face, giggling. "So I try too hard to please him. I know that, and it doesn't always let me be a good person. This whole baby thing is me trying to please my dad because my family doesn't exactly approve of my career. Maureen supports me and that's about it. I came from blue collar Boston Patrick, it wasn't sunshine and follow your dreams. It was don't get murdered on your way to work by the mafia who could also be police." She let out a big sigh, finishing. Patrick was quiet for a few minutes, it kind of clicking in his head.

"So you weren't a delinquent? I'll have to keep that in mind," Patrick laughed.

"Well what about you? You never mention family." Ellen questioned him now. Patrick licked his lips, his blue eyes going dark.

"You know my mom has cancer. She's fighting. My dads alongside her. Everyone's supporting...I have my two sisters they're doing good. Got like 7 nieces and nephews. I was spoiled being the only boy and youngest but there was a responsibility placed on me I never matured into. School was hard."   Patrick mumbled, he grabbed a snack from the bag. Ellen watched him, a smile on her lips. This was the man she loved. Really loved. One hand on the steering wheel the other in his gorgeous head of dark curls, blue jeans hugging his hips, a tight tee on. Patrick looked at Ellen for a split second, his eyes lighting up again. He loved her, the way she sat scrunched down in the seat with her feet on the dash. Her jeans were tight across her thighs, her shirt too big. Her blue green eyes sparkled-

CRASH

They were the last thing Patrick could see before it went dark.
****
"Ma'am? My name is Dr. Yue, you can call me Allison. I'm your trauma doctor today, you're waking up from a car crash. You're in Arnold medical. Your head flew forward, you may have some whiplash, and a sprained ankle. You're going to feel like vomiting for a while. I'm going to page Neuro to check on your concussion."

Ellen squinted in the harsh hospital lights. She shivered, feeling cold. Car crash. I was in a car crash? Last thing she could think of was a pair of ocean blue eyes, and soft gentle voice- Patrick
*****
"Where-where," His breath was ragged, his hands clawing at machines wired to him. They weren't important. She was.

"Slow down, slow down man. Open your eyes first. You were in a car crash, you're beaten and bleeding. Nothing broken. I'm your trauma doc, Dr. Jamison." Patrick opened his eyes, his heart racing. Everything was unfamiliar, and white. He looked beside him, picturing the last thing...car crash. Green eyes. Ellen.

"Ellen, where?" Patrick coughed, feeling the spots where the windshield had cut him. Dr.Jamison rose his brows, looking down at him.

"Ellen is the girl who came in with him," A young resident said beside them, she pointed across the trauma bay. Patrick followed her finger with his eyes, finding himself growing shaky. He couldn't remember the crash, he didn't know what happened to Ellen. It was starting to hurt, this would be his fault. All he wanted was them to go and escape together.

"Whoa....um Patrick, is that- ah. Patrick, relax. Your girlfriend, yeah? She's okay. She's got a concussion. You need to stay here." A resident held Patrick back as he tried to get out of the bed. It all hit him, concussions don't sound deadly but when you've been acting as a neurosurgeon for years you know what they can lead to.

"I-I need to see her. I'm not emergent anymore. I please, before the press get here," Patrick begged the doctors, his voice breaking. He only had mere minutes before this became a thing. He grabbed his wallet from the table, his eyes pleading the doctors.

"Press?" Dr. Yue asked as she walked over, comparing charts with Dr. Jamison before police arrive.

"Actors. Ellen and I are actors. Read our last names, check a Google. We're not household names but-"

"Let him go." Dr. Jamison said, shaking his head. He knew. Patrick rushed across to Ellen's room. The Neuro resident had just left, and she was sitting up, her left leg elevated.

"Patrick?" Ellen asked quietly, biting her lip.

"Oh god Ellen," Patrick breathed out gently, reaching out to stroke her cheek. Ellen didn't look terrible, some glass scratched her cheek but mainly it was her ankle.

"We were in a car crash?" She asked, staring up into his eyes. They were the same pretty blue she remembered. He nodded gently, his thumb wiggling against her nose as he kept stroking her stinging cheeks. The idea that they could have lost each other made them shiver in each other's touch. Ellen pulled his hand from her cheek, clasping it with her hands. "Paddy," she murmured.

"The man who hit us is in surgery. Can you walk?" He asked. Ellen shook her head.

"Well I can walk but we should stay until he gets out..." She started to say. Patrick kissed her head.

"He crashed into us through the divider. Our car is towed into the parking lot here, but safe. We can keep driving to Tahoe. When the crash happened my assistant was called. He got the name of the tow company who called- this whole mess look we have a fixed car in the parking lot. We've also been out for hours." Patrick held up his phone, explaining to her the thousands of messages. Ellen yawned, leaning on him.

"You still want to go? I'm a liability now," she asked him. Patrick tilted his head, kissing her cheek.

"Yes. It's okay Ellen but we should go before the press arrive." He said softly. Something about the way she fell asleep on his shoulder was comforting. To have almost lost her shook him to his core. The stupid fighting they were doing was insane. Patrick loved her, with his whole heart.

"Mmmkay," Ellen mumbled, holding onto Patrick. Carefully he took her in his arms, scooping her up. She was gentle, delicate like carrying a sleeping child. Patrick walked to the car and strapped her in the passenger seat. He took a moment to reflect. They were so blessed to have not been seriously hurt. With that he started to drive again.

********