Swell (Complete)

Chapter Fifty-Eight (Part One)

"I can't see through the stars in my eyes.
And I don't recall breathing steady, ever since you've been in my life.
So, let me catch my breath, before you steal it once again.
I should be dead by now."

....

The slice in Adora's side still hurt the next day, but it didn't hurt as much as the strain on her heart when she woke in the hospital again.
Iain sat upright on the chair beside her and she saw relief washing over his body as she groaned.
"Thank fuck." He muttered, scraping the chair closer to her bed and putting a hand on her forehead.
"Where's Will?" She whispered, afraid to look beyond her cousin's face in case she missed a lie in his answer.
She watched Iain swallow a lump and lick his lips before speaking. "They airlifted him to the city."
"Oh my gosh..." Her eyes started to burn.
"I don't know much more than that, the other Taylors followed, of course." He couldn't meet her eyes.
"He's dead, isn't he?" Her question barely made more than a breathy noise from her chapped lips.
"I-I don't know." He forced himself to meet her eyes as she felt her eyes pinch tears down the side of her head.
It took a few minutes before she could gain enough control over her sobs to speak again. "Where did they take Marti?"
"She went to a holding place somewhere to be treated. She'll recover."
"I don't care about her." If Will died and Marti survived Adora didn't know if the pit in her stomach would ever refill.

It felt similar to the one that had opened up when she'd learned her father had died.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know anything else yet."
"Where's Mum?" Adora whispered.
"Dodge sent her home for some sleep. They were here all night." Iain shifted in the seat and Adora looked from him to the window.
Clouds covered the sky as far as she could see. All night... That meant it was Tuesday. How had it happened so fast?
"Are you alright?" She asked, turning her face back towards him.
"Yea, gunna have a headache for a week, but I'm lucky, and I know it." He tried to make a joke to go with his smile and she couldn't help but scoff.
She held a hand out and he took it. "I'm sorry, Iain."
"Not like it's your fault." He shook his head. "But thanks." He lifted her white hand to his lips and gave her a kiss on the back of her hand.
"Has anyone told Brett it was Marti?" Adora suddenly felt the well in her stomach get deeper.
Marti had them all so fooled; first it was Tom, then Gus, occasionally Will, but had anyone thought of it being Marti?
"I don't know. I can go over later if you want me too?"
All she could do was nod.
"It's not your fault." Iain broke the silence a few minutes later and Adora felt her face pinch.
"Feels like it is."
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and shook his head. "Not. There's something wrong with Marti, not with you."
"Is it actually over? Like good and proper?"
"Even if she gave guards the slip this time, she's somewhere with security and more guards, as opposed to just a cop on watch at a hospital." Iain gave her a small reassuring smile.
"Have they said when I can go home?"
"Not to me, but they may have to your Mum."
"Do you think you could try and call Tom and check on Will for me?" Adora bit her lip in worry.
"I can try." Iain nodded and released her hand. "I'll be back."

Tom groaned as he started coming to. He could feel his mother's hand holding his and he let his eyes flutter open.
"Where's Will?" He asked croakily, glad he was too sedated to feel anything aside from exhaustion.
"Still in ICU." Her head tilted and he could see relief and worry in her forced smile.
"Where am I?"
"We're in Recovery." He watched her shift closer to his bed and her other hand moved to brush away some hair from his forehead.
He gave her a half smile. "Did I help?"
She almost started to cry, her smile grew as she nodded and closed the space between her lips and his forehead. "So much, my precious first born." She whispered hotly onto his skin.
He felt relief sink into his body and closed his eyes. "Am I safe?"
"Perfectly."
"If I fall back asleep, I'll definitely wake up again, right?" He opened his eyes and watched her expression.
Pride and affection, he hadn't seen that since before they moved to Wheeler Falls.
"I'd bet your Jeep on it."
"Awesome." He felt the sleep hit his head before he even finished muttering the last word.

The next time Tom woke his father was beside him.
"Dad..." Tom groaned and shifted in the hospital bed.
"Hey kiddo." Mr Taylor smiled crookedly.
"Is Will alright?"
"He's in recovery now. Thanks to your donation."
"He really wouldn't have made it?" Tom pushed himself up on the bed and frowned.
His father looked to the window and shook his head. "On top of Friday's attack, and losing a kidney from that..."
He could hear the choke in his father's voice and felt sick.
"Can I go see him?"
"Your mother's in with him now, might be best to wait until he's awake."
"Marti really tried to kill him..." It was a barely audible statement that Tom struggled to connect with.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry, Dad." Tom couldn't imagine how his parents would feel knowing that Marti had murdered people and tried to murder more.
It had been hard enough trying to avoid that thought when they had suspected he was responsible.
"Is Adora alright?"
"Her cousin called your phone yesterday afternoon. She'll be fine, recovering from a few wounds at the Wheeler Falls hospital, but safe."
"Do I have new rules to live by now?" Tom frowned and looked down at the blankets covering his waist.
"Just try and be mindful and healthy to the fact you only have one kidney now."
"Does that mean I can't party drink anymore?" Tom tried to remember which organ had the most to do with alcohol.
"Pretty sure that's more the liver... Which you already only have one of anyway..."
"I was kidding, after the drunken amnesia that started all this, I think I'll swear off alcohol." Tom chuckled. "Do we know when I'm allowed to go home?"
"We're staying in a hotel at the moment." His Dad answered.
"Wait, what day is it?" Tom realised he had no idea how much time had passed since they arrived at the city hospital Monday night, or even Tuesday morning some time.
"It's Wednesday, late Wednesday."
"You're kidding?" Tom looked around the room and tried to see a calendar or clock, something to support the possibility that his Dad was joking.
"Unfortunately not."
"Wow." Suddenly he felt the urge to attend an all-you-can-eat function. "Is there good food here?"