Fallout
.
“Can you call Chris?” Tobin asks again rather frantically as Sinc and Lindsey help her up the embankment, “Please, I really need to see her face,”
“We’ll call for sure,” Sinc assures her, “right after Bailey and Pierre check you out, okay, bud?”
“Okay,” Tobin nods, growing silent as they continue to slowly make their way up to the road.
“You okay?’ Nadine asks with concern.
“I don’t feel so good,” Tobin answers quietly.
“We’ll get you up there, buddy,” Lindsey assures her, adjusting her grip on the waistline of Tobin’s jeans as her and Sinc basically carry her up to the road.
XXXX
“Hey, Chris,” Sinc’s face comes through on the video call, “I’ve got Tobin here,” she states, “hang on a sec,”
“Thanks, Christine,” Christen says anxiously. Her and Tyler were almost out the door when her phone buzzed with a video call.
Tyler, Becky and Kling crowd around Christen when she sits at the kitchen table, the three women peering over her shoulders.
“Chris?” Tobin calls out, anxiously looking at her screen.
“Hi, honey,” Christen greets, her voice wavering a little with her first view of Tobin.
“You’re safe, right?” Tobin asks, squinting at her, “You’re okay?”
“I’m fine, sweetheart,” Christen replies, “are you okay?” She has to hold back her shock and fear when she sees how Tobin’s face is streaked with mud and blood, reminding herself
to remain calm for Tobin’s benefit. If she panics, she knows Tobin will panic.
Tobin gives her a half smile, “I’ve had better days,” she admits.
Christen looks her over, frowning at the scrapes on Tobin’s chin and forehead near her temple. Her face is muddy with crusted blood from her nose that was being wiped up as they spoke, a gloved hand wiping at her skin. Another set of gloved hands were holding her head carefully, as if they were concerned for a neck injury.
“She had a gun,” Tobin says as tears well in her eyes, “she said her friend had you,”
Christen's stomach tightens up at the thought of a gun being pointed at her. She takes a quick breath. “I’m okay,” Christen soothes, “I’ll see you at the hospital,”
“I don’t think I’m gonna play on Saturday,” Tobin says randomly as she frowns looking down. Christen can’t see what’s she’s looking at.
“Ambulance is here,” Sinc announces, “Tobin, we have to hang up,”
Tobin looks at Christen, her eyes wide, “I love you,” she says earnestly, “I love you so much,” she says as she begins to cry softly.
“I love you, too,” Christen nods at her, “So much,”
“Tobin, the paramedics need to get in here,” an accented male voice says apologetically off camera. Christen recognizes it to be Pierre, Crystal Dunn’s husband.
“I’ll see you at the hospital, sweetheart,” she says lovingly, “you let them take care of you,”
“Okay,” Tobin nods slightly, closing her eyes for a moment, opening them to stare at her, “you’re okay,” she mumbles and heaves out a deep sigh. “Thank you, God,” she weeps.
The phone moves and Sinc’s face is looking at her apologetically, “I’m sorry,” she says with a crooked frown, “you heard they’re gonna take her to PPMC, right?”
“Yes,” Christen nods, seeing the background change behind Sinc, the area filled with the flashing lights of emergency vehicles.
Sinc nods, taking a small sip from a water bottle. Christen thinks she looks tired.
“You okay?” she asks her with concern.
Sinc nods, “I should be asking you that,” she states wryly.
“I’m relieved to talk to her,” Christen admits, “but I won’t relax until they’ve checked her out at the hospital,”
“Fair enough,” Sinc nods, “she might be a little concussed,” she warns, “and her wrist is really messed up,” she says, “she said she had her hands up to protect her head and her wrist took the impact.”
Christen grimaces at the news. “Christine,” she says, suddenly feeling emotional, “I can’t thank you enough,” she says as she tears up, “what you did, the teams, everyone…”
Sinc gives her a warm smile, “We take care of each other,” she says, then points at her, “but you and Tobin are buying drinks next time we get together,” she chuckles.
Christen smiles and chuckles, “Steak dinners, too,” she adds.
“We’ll talk soon,” Sinc says, “please keep Kling in the loop and she’ll update us, okay?”
Christen nods, “Seriously,” she says, “thank you,”
Sinc nods and they end the call.
XXXX
The news had broke.
The incorrect news, that is.
The news of Tobin Heath’s car being involved in a violent and fiery fatal crash.
While sitting the emergency room bay waiting for Tobin to return from getting X-rays and cat scans, Christen decides to switch to Tobin’s Twitter account and make a simple statement. She goes back and forth with Tyler on what she should write, agreeing on what would sound most Tobin-like.
She goes with a simple “Wasn’t me in the car. I’m alive and well yo” complete with a shaka emoji and peace sign.
She’s already contacted Tobin’s family and given them an update as well as her own family. She spoke to Kling and learned Becky had updated the National Team to let their teammates know Tobin is okay. The Thorns have updated a few reporters, letting them know Tobin is alive and her car was stolen, which technically, it was. Statements from the team were published in hopes of quelling the erroneous rumors that Tobin was dead.
Christen’s agent texts her who asks her if she’s okay and if there’s anything she could do. They agree to talk tomorrow and figure out if they need to say anything more than what’s out there right now.
“Just put it down,” Tyler insists quietly, “and drink some water.”
“You’re younger than me,” Christen retorts, “stop telling me what to do,” she smirks, giving her a small smile and pocketing her phone and picking up the water bottle next to her. She spins off the cap and takes a long drink and leans back into the uncomfortable chair. She’s still anxious, nervous to learn the extent of Tobin’s injuries. Nervous to hear exactly what happened in the hours they were apart.
Christen closes her eyes, letting her breaths slow in order to attempt to relax. She doesn’t even realize she’s dozed off until her eyes fly open and she jerks up upon hearing the curtain getting pulled back and Tobin’s bed being wheeled into the ER bay.
“Hey, baby,” a clearly drugged Tobin slurs at her, a wide tired smile on her face and her eyes half lidded as she looks at her. She looks pretty stoned.
Christen stands quickly, coming to the side of the bed. A nurse is attaching lines coming from Tobin’s body to an array of machines.
“She did really well,” the woman says, giving Christen a small smile, “it’ll be about an hour or so for the doctor to get the results of everything,”
“Thank you,” Christen nods, stepping closer to the bed, loosely holding Tobin’s hand she had raised in the air. “Hi honey,” she says tenderly to Tobin who sighs deeply and closes her eyes.
“All her vitals are good,” the nurse offers, “her temp came up, she was a little hypothermic, but she’s in good shape now.” She gestures to the machines along the wall, “This is all for precautionary measures,” she assures Christen and glances at Tyler, who is silently sitting up against the wall, “we’ll most likely remove them once the results of her tests come back.”
“Thank you,” Christen says quietly, “What..” she swallows, her throat suddenly drying up, “what are her injuries?” she asks nervously, looking down at the raised lump under the blankets that is Tobin’s right wrist.
“Most likely a broken wrist,” the nurse confirms, “maybe a grade 1 concussion,” she states as she finishes getting the lines in place. “They’re checking her head for any possible brain bleeds as a precaution, checking her shoulder and hip for fractures and any possible internal bleeding.”
Christen’s grip tightens, remaining mindful of the IV line on the top of Tobin’s hand.
“It’s all normal for what happened,” the nurse reassures her, “just precautionary,” she looks over her shoulder and then turns back to face her, “they did the CAT scans first, if they had seen bleeds, she’d already be in surgery,” she says very quietly and gives her a wink.
“Oh, okay,” Christen nods with wide eyes, letting out a shaky breath of relief.
“Just relax and the doctor will be in shortly.” The nurse advises and leaves the curtained area.
“Chris,” Tobin stirs and she then clears her throat, looking up at her with half lidded eyes, “I called my Mom about the holidays,” she says, her voice sounding brittle, as if she might begin to cry.
“Okay,” Christen replies, her stomaching turning queasy, “we can figure it out later,”
Tobin slowly shakes her head, her eyes near closed, consciousness fading, “She said she’s flexible to make it work for whatever,” she says, her words beginning to slur as she fades.
“Okay honey,” Christen responds, tears pricking at her eyes.
Tyler gives Christen a pointed look that Christen ignores as she focuses her gaze back on Tobin.
She can’t help but tear up as she looks down at her partner, her other half, her soulmate. Tobin is a bit pale, there are some light bruises forming in the corners of her eyes near the base of her nose. She wonders if her nose is broken. The absurd thought passes through her mind of Tobin needing to play soccer with a dreaded facemask for a few weeks. There’s a scrape on her chin, the side of her jaw and one near her hairline. She’s been cleaned up from the mud and blood when she saw her for a few fleeting minutes before being whisked away for the x-rays and scans.
She leans over and places a delicate kiss on Tobin’s forehead, feeling so incredibly grateful to be standing here with her now. She hasn’t had a chance to hear everything that happened to her and Tobin’s urgent need to know that she was safe and fine leads her to think.
She felt a piece of herself break when Tobin brought up speaking to her Mom. Here she is, lying in a hospital bed after suffering through a horrific ordeal and getting injured. For Tobin to bring it up right now just shows Christen how out of control she’s become. She has to get better. She has to talk to her therapist and find herself again. She’s been floating through this state of grief and feeling delicate since her Mom passed. It’s manifested in her becoming a control freak, trying to have everything in order, eliminating any surprises.
Just how much Christen’s own issues have affected Tobin have culminated here right now. Tobin, sedated and exhausted felt compelled to share with her that she spoke to her Mom. It shows Christen how bothered Tobin was when she left the house that she now brings it up. With everything she’s been through tonight, Tobin was still thinking of her and wanted to reassure her she had made the call she had promised to make earlier this evening.
Christen uses her free hand to wipe at her eyes, resolving to take steps to pull herself out of this dangerous place she’s gotten herself into.
XXXX