Survivor - Connor x OC

Fix You

                   Coldplay – Fix You

Alex arrived at the hospital at 9:47 pm. Connor had been there for almost eleven hours, barring his brief trip to the truck stop shower to wash Taylor's blood off. Hank had also made a brief trip to walk and feed Sumo, but now he was dozing in one of the waiting room chairs, his head lolled against the wall beside it.

Alex came sweeping into the room, impossible to miss in the nearly silent waiting area. His black hair was a tangled mess around his face. There was a duffle bag slung over his shoulder with the airport tag still attached to it. He somehow appeared half-asleep and frantic at the same time, his eyes jumping around the room until locating the two of them.

He had called Connor as soon as the plane landed, but all that he could relay was what the doctor had told him. There would be no more information until Alex arrived. He walked toward them now, dumping his bag into an empty chair, still making more noise than the room had been exposed to in a while. There was only one woman sitting in the far corner, and she gave them a sour look. The man behind the reception desk was watching with interest.

"I tried to call on the way over to get information, but they wouldn't give me anything over the phone," he said by way of greeting. Hank had startled awake when he dropped his bag and was blinking up at him sleepily. "They said I had to speak to the doctor when I got here."

Connor felt that sense of unease returning. It had been so blatant when the doctor had used the word 'stable' on him earlier, but time and waiting had worn it down. He'd talked himself around his worry, convinced they were just being cautious.

He produced the phone number that the registration woman had left for him, written on a sticky note. It was the number for the trauma surgeon, she had explained. The doctor would change, but the number would not. He gave the slip of paper to Alex.

"This is the number they said to call when you arrived," Connor explained when Alex gave him a perplexed expression. "It's for the trauma doctor."

Alex seemed to pale as he looked at it, but he pulled his phone out, nonetheless. He turned away to dial the number, pacing back across the waiting room as he did so. Holding the phone to his ear, he held a two-minute conversation before he returned.

"The doctor is on the way." Connor stood. He reached up to adjust his tie, then remembered he was wearing Hank's clothes, so he didn't even have a tie on to straighten. He couldn't tell if the unpleasant tittering in his systems was nerves or excitement that he would finally know, finally get to see Taylor.

The locked door that connected the waiting room to the unit opened several minutes later. All three of them looked up, nearly in unison. To Connor's surprise, it was Dr. Amelia Odell. Her shift must have ended already, but she was holding a cup of coffee in her hand and looked surprisingly alert.

As she approached the three of them, however, her eyes giving Alex a once over, she didn't look impressed. The cap she was wearing earlier was gone, her dark brown hair tied back in a short ponytail. When she stopped in front of them, she stuck her hand out in the space between, offering a slight smile.

"Doctor Amelia Odell," she said in greeting. Alex shook her hand but couldn't manage a return smile. He looked nervous. "How are you related to the patient?"

"I'm not related to her by blood," Alex responded. Though he still looked pale and somewhat uncertain, he spoke firmly. "My name is Alex West. I'm Taylor's legal guardian and power of attorney."

"I see." She seemed to relax at this. She considered him for another few seconds before she finally released his hand. "Follow me."

Doctor Odell led them out of the waiting room, but not through the locked door she had come from. Instead she walked down the hall, into a tiny room. Connor read the sign beside the door as they entered, simply dubbed the 'Quiet Room'.