Taylor held a bobbie pin in her mouth and pulled her hair back into a bun as she walked around the kitchen getting the twins' breakfast and hers ready. Nicholas and Christopher were in their high chairs banging with the silverware of course, just to be making noise. AJ stumbled in wearing boxers and a wifebeater and yawned. "They are soo loud.," He said grabbing a cup of coffee.
"Uh huh..," Taylor said distractedly while trying to pull her hair back.
"You fix your hair, I'll get them."
"Thank you dear.," She said taking the bobbie pin out of her mouth and putting it in her hair.
He smiled and set a bowl of Cheerio's in front of each of the boys. Taylor grabbed the orange juice out of the fridge and handed it to AJ. "Does it look okay?"
He looked at her and smiled, "You look fine."
"Okay..I have a huge meeting this morning with a bunch of bigwigs and I'm running late and all that..you taking them to your mom's?"
"Uh huh..she said she was going to call the day-care center and see if they have any openings."
"Okay..bye boys.," She said kissing the tops of the boys' heads.
"Bye bye!," Nicholas said with cheerio's in his mouth.
"That was attractive Nicky..," Taylor said turning from the boys'.
"Have a good day.," AJ said.
"You too..you going to be at the studio?"
"Yep..then we have a meeting..I'll pick them up before I come home."
"Okay..bye J."
He smiled, "Bye baby."
She kissed him, and then kissed him again.
He walked to the door with her and..kissed her..again. "You know..at this rate I'm never gonna get to work.," She murmured.
"Is that so bad?"
"Hmm..no..not really.."
"But..I'll get chewed out by the guys if I don't get to the studio.."
"I'll see you tonight.," She said smiling.
"Okay."
"Bye."
"Bye."
She walked down to her new blue camry and got in. She started the car and backed out of the driveway.
Taylor looked down at the figures for one of the company's big clients. Her boss, Mr. Simpson, was lecturing about something. She glanced at her watch, it was already 2 p.m. and she hadn't even gotten a lunch break. She took a drink of the water sitting in front of her. The door opened and Mr. Simpson's secretary poked her head in. "Sorry to interupt sir, but there is a phone call for Taylor McLean?"
Taylor looked up questionable. Mr. Simpson nodded, "Go ahead, but hurry back."
"Yes Mr. Simpson.," She said getting up.
She followed the secretary to Mr. Simpson's office. "Its on line 2."
She smiled, "Thank you."
She pressed the button for line 2. "Hello?"
"Taylor? Its Kevin."
"Hi Kevin..whats up?"
He sighed, "Can you get down to the hospital?"
She swallowed the lump forming in her throat, "Do I want to know?"
"You need to get down here.."
"What happened?"
"Nobody really knows..umm..AJ was in an accident..thats about all I know.."
"Is..he..okay?"
"Want the truth or do you want me to lie?"
"That bad?"
"Yeah.."
Taylor sat down in the chair she saw. "Oh God.."
"Do you want me to pick you up?"
"Umm..yeah..yeah..wait..where are-"
"At Denise's..he had just dropped them off.."
"Okay..okay..umm..yeah..come pick me up..I gotta get out of this stupid meeting.."
"I'll be there in fifteen.."
"Okay.."
"Bye Taylor."
She hung up and walked back to the meeting room. She gathered her stuff together in a daze. "Taylor? Where are you going?," Mr. Simpson asked.
"Something..came up. I..I need to go to the hospital.."
"You can't just leave, this client is worth alot of money.," He said firmly.
"Yeah..well..my husband means the world to me and I..I have to go.."
"Fine."
She walked out, not looking back. If she lost her job, she lost her job. She got in the elevator and rode down to the lobby. She saw Kevin walk in and walked over. They walked out to his 4-Runner and got in and drove towards the hospital. "How'd you find out?"
"His i.d. said to call his mom..his mom called me and we all went down to the hospital. She wanted me to call you.."
"Oh..what happened?"
"I..I don't really know..something happened on the expressway and something with a semi-truck."
"Oh my God..it doesn't sound..good, does it?"
"Truthfully? Not really..but..we have to keep our hopes up."
Taylor nodded, "I know..I know..is Denise coming?"
"She didn't want the bring the boys down..she wanted to wait till you came and then wait for you to decide what to do.."
"Okay..I'll call her when we get there.."
They arrived at the hospital and walked inside. They took the elevator up to the ICU and walked to the waiting room. The guys looked up when they walked in. "Anything?," Kevin asked.
Howie shook his head, "No..we haven't heard anything."
"I'm going to find something out..," Taylor said.
She walked to the nurse's station. "Yes?," The nurse sitting behind the counter asked looking up.
"Umm..my husband, AJ McLean, was in a car accident..I was wondering where he is and if I could see him?"
"He just got out of surgery..the doctor will come talk to you in a few minutes."
"Well..can you tell me anything? Like is he going to be okay?"
"I'm sorry ma'am, I can't tell you anything."
"Ugh..thanks for not helping."
Taylor walked back to the waiting room and sat down beside Howie. "Did you find out anything?"
"Just that he's out of surgery.."
"Ohh.."
A doctor, decked out in scrubs, stood in the doorway. "Mrs. McLean?"
Taylor got up and stood out in the hall with the doctor. "First off, I'm Dr. Radcliff and I oversaw the surgery on your husband."
"What happened?"
"A semi jackknifed on the expressway and your husband was right in the path.."
"Is..he going to be okay?"
"Well, we did the surgery to repair a collapsed lung and stop some internal bleeding. He has a 50% chance of survival."
"And a 50% chance of dying? What else is wrong with him??"
"Head trauma mostly. His brain is surrounded by fluid and is swelling a little, that causes some worry. He'll be in ICU for awhile."
"So..he didn't like break anything?"
"Oh he broke some things. He broke his right leg and broke his left wrist. Those are the minor injuries."
"Can I see him?"
"Sure..but only for few minutes."
She nodded, "Okay."
"Follow me then."
She smiled sadly at the guys before following Dr. Radcliff through the ICU doors and down a hallway.
She walked into a small room surrounded by machines. "These are helping him breath, so if it makes some odd noise, don't be alarmed.," He said.
She nodded, "Thank you."
He nodded and left the room. She looked closer and it didn't even look like the AJ she had just seen that morning. She pulled up a chair next to the bed. His head was bandaged, his eyes taped closed and he had a black bruise under one. A tube was down his throat to help him breath and the sound of the machines overtook the whole room. His leg was in a cast and elevated, his wrist was in a cast as well.
She took a deep breath and tried to keep from crying. "Okay AJ..what the hell were you thinking taking the expressway? You know its hell in the mornings..," She said softly.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffled a little. "You're going to get through this, okay? You have to. If not for yourself or me, then for those two little boys that are with your mom. Do it for them. I don't want them to grow up without you..I don't want them to not know you. They need you, the guys need you, I need you..."
A nurse walked in, "I'm afraid you'll have to leave now."
"Can I stay..just a minute longer? Please?"
"Fine..but only a couple more minutes."
"Thank you."
She turned back to AJ and took his good hand in hers. "I need you more than ever AJ. I think I lost my job..oh well. I had to be here. I need you AJ..without you I'm absolutely lost. Who's going to make me laugh and get angry all at the same time? I want to hear you whine about wanting to dye your hair..ugh..damnit..I keep crying and I can't stop..its all your fault too. I hate it when I cry..you know I do. So quit making me cry and wake up so we can go home..please AJ. You have to come out of this. I better go before the kick me out..I'll come back as soon as I can, okay? I love you.," She whispered before kissing his hand gently.
She walked back to the waiting room, wiping her mascara off her face. "Did you see him??," Howie asked.
She nodded, "Yeah.."
"How's he look?"
She sat down and put her head in her hands, "Not good."
"What'd that doctor guy say?"
"He has a broken leg, broken wrist, his brain is swelling and he has fluid around it. He had a collapsed lung but they fixed that. He has a 50% survival rate."
"Holy shit..," Nick muttered.
A tear rolled down her face again and it didn't stop with that one. She covered her face. "I can't lose him..not now.."
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