#akdbhdhdhshdhhc

[lizmitches]

8, 7, 12 or 25 for the hurt/comfort prompts :33 (i couldn't pick :'p)

25. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Melissa slams the side of the vending machine in a fit of rage, earning nothing for her efforts except an aching palm and a candy bar that hangs precariously in the balance. Leave it to this ancient piece of shit to eat her last dollar and her last nerve.

She’s winding up for a second attempt when her phone starts ringing in her purse. “Hey, sweets,” she answers.

“Any news?”

“Nothing yet. Your dad’s still trying to hunt down the doc for an update. You girls doing okay?”

“Just worried.”

“I know, hon, but listen. She’s gonna be okay. They got her in as soon as they could and they’ve been workin’ on her ever since.” Gerald enters the waiting room as she says it, looking exhausted but no worse for wear. Melissa internally sighs with relief; as long as he’s upright it means that Barbara’s still breathing.

Next to her, he successfully retrieves a soda from the other machine, taking it to the table in the middle of the room. She purses her lips as she looks at her own purchase—one that’s not so easily retrievable—and bends down to try and reach it through the slot. Her hand outstretches as she attempts to make contact, fingers curling to try and give it a nudge, but she can’t get close enough. Her bad shoulder protests the action, inspiring a string of expletives that make a nurse pop her head into the room with concern.

“What happened?” Taylor asks through the phone.

She tucks the phone underneath her ear, waving off the nurse with her free hand. “Oh, nothing, I’m just having a standoff with the world’s worst vending machine. Che cazzo, who runs these things?” She grunts as she finally withdraws her arm, standing back up and glaring through the glass. “Listen, You should get to bed, okay? It’s been a long day. I’ll pick you up first thing in the morning.”

“Okay,” Taylor replies. “Love you.”

The sound of it is music to her ears; that even as a college student, Taylor would still say such a thing. “Love you too, kid.” She drops her phone back in her bag–the one she'd hastily packed with only a hairbrush, a novel, and a change of underwear. In her rush to get to the hospital, she’d forgotten something: sustenance. She stares longingly at the candy bar once more before turning to the table where Gerald sits.

“What’d you learn?” she asks.

He runs a hand over his eyes, opening his can of Coke with an echoing pop. For better or worse the ER is deadly quiet tonight, and so far they’re the only ones who have sequestered themselves amongst the bad coffee and broken snack machines. In the corner, the local news recaps the Groundhog Day festivities. Looks like the damn chipmunk saw his shadow after all.

Just what we need right now, Melissa thinks. A never-ending winter.

“They couldn’t tell me much—just that she’s stable and they’re still running tests. They won’t know the damage to her heart until they get the results back.”

Melissa joins him at the table. “Lotta help that is.”

“One of the doctors asked me if she’s been stressed lately. I told him what I knew, but figured you may know better. With how much she’s at the school these days it seems like I only see her when she’s sleeping.”

“I mean, not to break best friend confidentiality or anything, but…” Melissa sighs. “Work’s really been getting to her. A bunch of office politics mixed with a really tough handful of kids. No budget to speak of, not enough hours in the day. I mean, you know her better than I do, but it does feel like this year’s the toughest she’s had in awhile.”

Gerald’s attention is focused solely on the can in front of him, his fingers catching the drips of condensation before they can hit the cheap veneer of the table. “Sometimes I question that,” he says.

“That things are tough?”

“That I know her better than you do.” He looks into the hall as another nurse passes by. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s my number one, but that head of hers. Man.”

Melissa smiles knowingly. “Hard as a brick, huh?”

Gerald chuckles; a hearty, warm thing that brightens up the otherwise cold and drab setting they’ve found themselves in. Just as he laughs, though, his expression turns, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “If I’d known she was so stressed I could have done something. Taken her to see someone. Forced her to get off her feet.”

“Hey, c’mon,” Melissa lays a gentle hand on his forearm. “You’re husband of the year. Your wife loves you, your kids adore you. You did all you could. Sometimes it’s just a bit of bad luck.”

Her phone buzzes again in her purse, but she knows without looking that it’s not one of the girls. The two of them sit and listen to the sound—accompanied by an insurance commercial that plays at a low volume—until it stops. “Speaking of which,” Gerald says, changing the subject. “How is Joe doing?”

Melissa’s shoulders droop. “She told you?”

He shakes his head. “Didn’t have to. She’s been over at your place so much I figured either something happened or she was about to come home with a penchant for eating Italian.”

“Sorry about that.” She winces. Here she is taking up all of Barbara’s free time and now the woman's booked herself a week-long stay at UPenn Presbyterian. “He, uh, actually served me divorce papers this morning. So at least the chapter is finally closing on that one.”

Gerald leans back in his chair. “Ah.”

“I didn’t get a chance to tell Barb that yet, actually. When you called from her phone I thought—“ She has to swallow the lump that’s in her throat, ignoring the pain as it settles in her chest. “Anyway. Looking back on it I should’ve given her a break from all my bitching and moaning. Hell, maybe it was her heart’s last straw.” She cautions another glance to the vending machine; the forbidden candy still dangling behind the glass. She can’t help but feel, briefly, that she always wants what she can’t have.

“Look, Melissa, I know we haven’t done a lot of one-on-one bonding since you entered the picture, but from the way my wife talks about you, well. You’d think you hung the moon.” Gerald looks at her with such kindness in his eyes, and Melissa wonders what’s in the water at the Howard house that gives all of them the ability to hold onto her heart so tightly.

The tears fill her eyes now, and she has to look up at the fluorescents in an attempt to stop them them from falling. Tissues. That’s another thing she forgot to bring.

“What I’m trying to say is that after a day like today…” He inhales shakily. “Thanks doesn’t even begin to cut it. The way you take care of my girls—all three of them—it’s good to know I have someone like you in my corner.”

Melissa clears her throat, dabbing at her eyes. “Jeez, and I thought Barbara was the only one who could dole out a life-changing compliment.”

Gerald smiles softly, and in his eyes Melissa can see no one else but her.

“Come on, big guy. You’ve had a long day.” Melissa stands, pushing a few of the chairs together to construct a makeshift bed. “You should get some shuteye. If we get any updates you’ll be the first to know.”

At his hesitance, she adds, “Don’t worry. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Thank you, Mel. For everything.” He lays down, bringing his arm up to cover his eyes from the light. For a guy that usually stands so tall, Melissa thinks he’s looking awfully small right about now.

“‘Course,” she says softly. Across the room, there’s the sound of a hollow thunk. She almost thinks she’s imagined it, save for the fact that—when she looks over her shoulder at the vending machine—her candy bar is no longer hanging by a thread. Cautiously, she approaches, retrieving the fallen treat before it can change its mind.

Despite its treacherous journey, the wrapper is pristine; shiny and enticing under the bright lights of the waiting room. Even so, as she holds it delicately in her hands, she can’t bring herself to open it—as if at any moment it could disappear. Resigned, she drops it into her bag for safekeeping. She’s not hungry anymore anyway, her stomach still tied in knots from worry. Either way, she thinks, it’s hers.

She’ll just have to hold on to it until the time is right.

#abbott elementary #melissa x barbara #work wives #my fic #a real penchant for….eating…….italian #akdbhdhdhshdhhc