Hearts and Armor

Chapter 23: Hotel Happenings

Part 23

Kimberly spent the next five hours in hospital undergoing a series of tests before the doctors discharged her in favor of the more critically injured. They could find nothing wrong with her and went so far as to remove the stitches in her side as the wound had completely closed. She'd refrained from telling them just how long her stitches had been in and was relieved to have them gone.

Tommy stayed with her as much as possible. He didn't leave the waiting room, came with her when he was allowed and waited when he couldn't. Since they were obviously "together", the nurse brought him in for the final diagnosis, releasing Kimberly to his care with a stern admonition to let her rest and recover.

There was one day left of competition - which had been cancelled - and Kimberly now had the room at the dorm to herself. She had no desire to stay, but as she was leaving the hospital, news crews had swarmed them, wanting to know how she felt. She turned her face away, still too numb with the shock of the last several hours - which had only begun to set in - to answer any kind of question with regards to the meet. Tommy had shouldered his way through to a waiting taxi cab and bundled her inside without a word to reporters.

Dangerous, perhaps, but necessary.

They hadn't spoken on the way to the athlete's dorm to collect her bag, nor had they spoken when they'd entered his hotel room, Tommy depositing her on the double bed with the utmost care. He'd respected her need for silence, disappearing into the bathroom and she heard water running a moment later. He didn't reappear immediately, but she could see him fussing in the washroom, getting the towels ready for her. A smile almost touched her lips, but it was weak at best.

Tommy.

What was she going to do with him? She was unsure of herself, remembering the feelings from earlier when she'd known things between them had shifted back to normal. The normal from before. The normal when they'd been attached at the hip and she'd taken delight in simply being with him for no other reason than he'd expected her to be nothing but herself. The normal when they'd complimented each other like peas in a pod.

She looked away from the scene in the mirror, her gaze falling on his duffle bag where it sat on the small table. The room was fairly plain and small - a double bed, a table with two chairs, a small love seat and coffee table, a television and a long dresser with a mirror above it. She shied away from the mirror, dreading the scene that would greet her gaze, and knew without looking she was a mess. She was still covered in blood - both her own and her mother's - and likely look like an accident victim. No wonder Tommy was running her a bath.

"Hey."

Her gaze swung back to his anxious one. She read everything there - everything she'd dreaded and hoped for and it made her all the more confused and exhausted. She wasn't up to dealing with the emotional upheaval the discussion they needed to have would bring. Thankfully Tommy understood - he'd always seemed to understand what she needed better than she did - and he didn't launch into what she expected him to. Instead, he settled next to her, his expression worried.

"Think you can manage a soak before you sleep?"

She nodded, feeling the strain from the day eating through her system and wondered abstractedly if she would be able to sleep. The numbness would soon subside to be replaced by what she'd seen and the emotional toll would be heavy. She knew it as surely as she knew her name, and found herself desperately hoping that the Machine Empire would give her a few days to move past the initial shock.

Tommy's arms were around her again and she felt his heavy sigh through her side. "You're supposed to head for the bathroom if you're intending to soak, Kim. Besides, it'll feel good to be clean."