Bridget Pandigaeshik (pandabridge) wrote in morningstar_mnr, @ 2010-01-31 01:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | bridget, grigori, layla, neil, phin |
Saturday; Pandapartment to hospital; Bridget, Phin, Grigori, Layla, Neil, kids, dramz
It was happening again. One second Bridget was sitting on the floor, building a cardboard brick fortress with the kids, and then the next it was like all the air pushed out of her and that surprisingly familiar feeling of someone else inside her head was back. The fortress didn't last long after that and the kids, now frightened for reasons they couldn't really figure out, were soon forgotten as Bridget found herself abandoning them in favor of the balcony attached to the master bedroom. Her brain said she wanted to feel the wind on her face.
Phin had scheduled a half a day so he could be home in time for a lunch date of sorts with Bridget and the kids. He'd stopped to get some food on the way home that everyone would like and then to grab the mail. Once he got inside he stopped and put the food bag, mail, and his keys on the table by the door before he started putting his jacket away. "Anybody home?" He called as he shut the closet door. He was immediately met with the sounds of the kids running for him from the dining room. Their eyes were wide and he barely had enough time to crouch down to catch them as they latched onto him.
"Whoa, it's okay, what's going on?" He asked as they both started babbling away about mommy. Phin arched his eyebrows. "What's wrong with mommy?" He asked. The kids were practically shaking. Phin frowned. "Okay, you two stay here, I'll go find mommy." It took a few minutes to convince them to stay amidst their protests but eventually, Phin was moving up the hall, looking around the room as he went. "Bridget?" He called as he went, trying to figure out where she was. From the cold air coming up the hall, he thought maybe she was out on the balcony.
That's where Bridget was, or Bridget and whoever was in there with her. Both the bedroom door and sliding glass door to the outside were open, two things that Bridget would never, ever do under normal circumstances with the kids around.
It was definitely uncharacteristic. Phin's brow furrowed as he walked into the room and toward the balcony sliding door. "Bridge, what's going on? The kids are all freaked out, are you o-"
Grigori could practically smell this woman's vile husband as he approached. Pity he couldn't possess the man and make him useful instead of pathetic. He turned Bridget's body to face Phin and gave him a wicked little grin.
"Are you okay?" he asked, stepping closer to Bridget.
Grigori had much better control over Bridget's appendages now. He reached her hands up and placed them on his chest, tracing down his collar. It would be so easy to simply send him over the railing wouldn't it? He thought gleefully. How long would his fall take? They were too high up for him to survive, oh goody! He curled her fingers around the shirt material, preparing to get a good hold to make good on this idea.
Bridget had been trying to get herself to step away from the balcony for the past ten minutes or so, but to no avail. When she heard Phin calling for her, she briefly felt a mixture of relief and fear. The kids wouldn't be alone anymore. And Phin would hopefully see that something was seriously wrong and do something to help. He had to. But then he approached and she felt the urge to toss him over the balcony. He deserved it after what he'd done to her, right? And he'd said himself that she'd be better off with the insurance money instead of having him around, always ruining things.
No. No no no no no. She didn't want to do that at all. It was this thing in her head. Her hands on his shirt shook a little as she fought against the horrible urge that kept flaring inside her. What did it want from her? From her family? Her eyes turned up to Phin's and she hoped he could see a brief flicker of the fear she was now feeling.
Phin looked down at her hands in confusion, not that he minded her hands on him but something wasn't right. And then he saw a strange look on her face. "Bridget," He said more seriously and definitely with more concern. "What's wrong?" He asked.
Grigori almost snickered but didn't. He gave a half smile though. He deserves it he kept repeating mentally. He could feel her struggling to be free of him and he'd already had control of her for awhile. He wouldn't last much longer but hopefully he could take the husband out before he moved on to the kids...those vile little vermin. He needed to dispatch of them, so he could have Bridget all to himself. Do it he said. He hurt you. You deserve revenge. Think of all you could buy with that insurance money... he gripped Phin's shirt tighter and tried to heave. He hadn't counted on Phin's reactions.
"Bridget!" Phin shouted as she leaned heavily backward and started taking him with her. He threw his hands out and brace them on the railing, straightening his arms out and locking his elbows, eyes wide. "Stop!" He braced his feet and bent his knees slightly before he let go quickly to wrap his arms around her and forced them to step back. They tripped over the end table but the sliding door frame stopped them from flailing to the floor since he rammed the middle of his back into it. He blinked, dazed and stared at Bridget in a little bit of shock and some horror. What the hell was wrong with her?
Bridget's will had been weakening and she was so close to giving in right before Phin pulled her back. In the moment after they hit the frame, she felt power over her weaken and she could almost think clearly again. "Phin...run...take the ki--"
"What?" Phin asked as he finally regained his balance. He started dragging her back inside. "Bridget, what's going on?" He asked, letting her go only so he could shut and lock the sliding door before he moved to put the cut off broomstick in the track. He turned back around to her only to wind up pushed back against the sliding glass door.
Grigori was irritated. Bridget was fighting him and his control was weakening. He growled and grabbed Phin's collar again and shoved him hard against the glass door he'd shut. His grip was slipping and he started feeling that pulling sensation when he was close to being pushed out of her body. No! He couldn't lose control now!
Yes! She was succeeding! She could feel it. She still had Phin pinned up to the door, though. Speaking, she found, was easier than moving. "Phin..." she said again, slowly and with great effort. The thing in her head seemed to be focusing all its effort on holding Phin back, Bridget mustered up whatever she could to continue talking. All the competition in her head was making her dizzy. She blinked a few times, against both her own and the occupant's will. "This...this isn't..."
Phin's eyes were wide. He glanced at the door to make sure the kids hadn't come up the hall. He reached out to put his hands on her wrists to try and pry them off of him to get some for of bearing. "Bridget..." he said a little breathlessly. What was wrong with her? He didn't know what to do.
The dizziness was the last of it. Grigori couldn't hold on. He mentally muttered a cuss in his native tongue before he was gone and on a different floor altogether.
Bridget headed for the floor as well, mumbling out the curse that ran through her head before her eyes rolled back and her entire body went slack.
Phin's eyes widened even more if possible. He gasped out her name as he let go of her arms so he could try and catch her. He at managed to catch her head but in the tumble he took when he lost his balance, she may have hit it on the corner of the trunk at the end of the bed. "Shit, shit, shit, Bridget? Bridge!" He shouted her name as he scrambled on his knees toward her head. He shook her shoulder as he put his free hand under her head and neck. "Bridget, wake up. C'mon. C'mon, Bridget..." He reached his hand in to try and find her pulse on her neck but then he saw her inhale and he moved his hand to hit her cheeks lightly. "Hey, c'mon. Wake up!" Shit, shit, shit! He panicked and looked up at the phone on the night stand. Should he stay with her or should he call an ambulance? What about the kids? Had she shoved them around too? No. No, she couldn't have. Bridget wouldn't hurt the kids. He said her name louder.
Bridget let out a quiet groan and turned her head slightly, which made her wince. She had most definitely hit it on the way down. She had no memory of it happening, however. She thought she could hear Phin calling her name, but couldn't be sure. Maybe she was dreaming.
Phin almost breathed a sigh of relief when she groaned. "That's it. C'mon, Bridge, wake up." He pleaded, patting her cheek lightly a few times again. He looked up at the phone again and then reached up to grab the blanket from the trunk at the end of the bed so he could put it under her head. "Please wake up..." he pleaded again, leaning like he was about to get up to go get the phone. He needed to check on the kids too. Jesus what the fuck just happened?
"Phin...whassgoin on?" Bridget squinted her eyes open when he lifted her head. She was pretty sure she wasn't dreaming now. "My head..." She reached back to feel it.
Phin exhaled a long breath of relief. He leaned over and kissed her a couple of quick times, a little too worked up to realize that she was confused about what had just happened. He was just relieved she was awake. "You're okay," He said even though she might not be. "You hit your head when you passed out. I tried to catch you. I'm sorry." he moved to brush her hair away from her face before he moved his hand along her cheek. And then he heard sounds in the hallway. The kids! Oh shit! He looked over his shoulder and then looked back down at Bridget. "Don't move, " he told her. "Stay right there. I just - the kids - they were scared - it's okay - I just need a...stay there," he kissed her forehead and then quickly pulled himself to his feet to go into the hallway. He didn't want the kids to see this.
"Shhh, shh, shh, it's okay. It's okay. Mommy's just feeling sick, it's okay," He said as he hugged them both close and picked them up, giving a couple of kisses to the side of their heads. He wanted to carry them into one of their rooms but he didn't think they'd stay put. "It's okay, mommy just hurt her head," he said as he reluctantly carried them into the master bedroom. Jeth hid against his neck and Penny let out some distressed sounds. "Shhhh, it's okay," He carried them to the bed and then went to grab the phone before he went back to kneel down next to Bridget.
Bridget opened her eyes wider as Phin stammered. She didn't respond before he left; she was still too confused to do much of anything aside from pressing the back of her head and wincing at the tenderness there. She passed out? Why? And when did Phin come home?
She was in the middle of trying to sit up when Phin returned. "Phin," she said with a look at both of the kids, "what happened?" Passing out wasn't exactly something that happened regularly.
Phin knelt back down and tried to get her to lay back down, gently. "You shouldn't sit up. Lay back down. We need to take you to the hospital. I'm gonna get Neil. Or Layla. Layla might be home right?" he rambled at her quickly with a glance to the kids. He could answer her questions later. There were important things to take care of right now, namely Bridget. She'd passed out and hit her head. He wasn't going to go taking any chances, no sir. He looked down at her as he started dialing Neil and Layla's number without even looking. He reached down and put his hand on the side of her face. "Are you dizzy? How bad does your head hurt? Do you know what day today is?" He ranted off some questions as the phone rang, almost ignoring whether or not Layla or Neil answered.
"Saturday," answered both Bridget (frowning) and Layla (confused) at the same time. "What's going on?" Layla continued. It wasn't often that she received phone calls from Phin.
Bridget looked over at the kids and frowned further when she saw how freaked out they looked. She remembered the last time that happened, when she had blacked out in the hallway. That was when she realized it had happened again. "Phin..." She tried to sit up again.
"Layla!" Phin blurted when he heard her say what day it was as he reached out to put his hand on Bridget's shoulder to keep her from sitting up again. "Bridge, seriously. Don't sit up. You'll get a head rush." He said before he turned his attention back to the phone.
Jeth was in the process of lopsidedly crawling off the bed to the floor. Penny was huddled up amidst the pillows as if they were her fortress of protection. Jeth timidly walked up toward Bridget, but stayed half hidden behind his daddy, still scared. "...Mommy?" He asked quietly, kneeling down like daddy was and crawling just a little closer. Mommy had a boo-boo of some kind.
"Layla," Phin said as he closed his eyes and shook his head to get his thoughts to form cohesively. "Layla, can you come watch the kids for a little while? I'm gonna take Bridget to the hospital-," he said as if Layla already knew what had happened. He was still panicked, he wasn't thinking straight!
"What? What happened?" Layla demanded. "Is she all right?"
Bridget frowned at Phin after he pushed her down again. The up and down was already giving her a head rush. Instead of trying to sit up again, she caught sight of Jeth and lifted her arm toward him. "Hey, honey...are you okay?" she asked quietly.
Phin glanced at Bridget and quickly said. "Stay there..." before he stood up and went to the farthest corner of the room since the kids were in earshot. "I don't know. I came home. She was acting weird, she passed out. I tried to catch her, she hit her head on the trunk by our bed. She's awake now. Can you come down? The kids are freaked and I don't want to drag them with us." He rambled off quickly. There was no time to waste after all.
Jeth stopped his crawling when mommy reached out. She was talking normal again. He looked over, almost panicked, when daddy stood up and walked away. He turned back to look at his mom warily, just a bit out of arm's reach. He frowned. "You gotsa boo-boo..." he told her.
"Yeah, but I'm okay," Bridget said, straining her arm a bit to reach him. She didn't think she was okay at all, but she didn't want Jeth to worry even more. "I'm sorry I scared you," she added and then looked toward Penny. "Both of you."
Layla was already on her way out of the door of her apartment. The story Phin recounted was completely bizarre, so she assured she'd get there as fast as she could. After they hung up, she immediately called Neil.
Jeth hesitated when she reached him. Penny hid a littler further back in the pillows. Jeth frowned some more and then crawled over to curl up at Bridget's side before he immediately started mimicking what she did when he got a boo-boo, which was to shush her and tell her it was okay. He would've kissed her boo-boo too but he didn't know where she'd gotten hurt.
After Phin hung up with Layla he started to go back over to Bridget. He stopped and glanced at Penny and went over to briefly let her know it was okay, just enough to get her to stop hiding behind the pillows. Then he went to kneel back down next to Bridget. "Okay, pal, Aunt Layla's gonna come watch you so mommy and daddy can go get mommy's boo-boo all fixed," he said with a forced smile though he couldn't stop himself from looking completely worried.
Bridget wrapped her arm around Jeth when he finally approached. She fixed Phin with a worried look, unable to appreciate the cuteness of Jeth's reassurances at the moment. She wanted to know what happened, how long it went on, and when Phin came home, but she knew better than to do so with the kids around.
"I can sit up," she said as she moved her hand over Jeth's back.
Phin frowned. "Maybe you should wait until Layla gets here." he suggested. He still wasn't sure if he should call an ambulance or not. Jeth hugged Bridget back, glad she was back to normal, but still freaked out.
"What good would that do?" Bridget asked though she wasn't planning on protesting too much. She was the one who couldn't remember what happened, after all. She gripped onto Jeth a little tighter.
Phin shrugged some. "I don't know. We should move you as little as possible." he said. He looked over his shoulder when he heard the knock on the door. He'd forgotten that he'd locked it when he'd come in out of habit. "I'll be right back." He assured before he stood up.
He went to scoop Penny up on his way in hopes of calming her down some. "Shhhh, everything's okay now." he promised as he unlocked the door and pulled it open, stepping aside to let Layla in. "I'm sorry to bother you," he told her even though he knew she wouldn't mind in this type of situation.
"Is she all right?" Layla asked right away, her eyes pretty wide. She looked around for Bridget as she stepped into the apartment. "Still awake? Where is she?"
Phin nodded as he rocked Penny a bit. "She's in our bedroom. She's awake," he said as he started leading the way back up the hall. "And alert." he added.
"Do you think it has anything to do with what happened a while back?" Layla had heard about Phin taking Bridget to the hospital for weird blackouts before. She reached out to take Penny from him before they reached the bedroom.
Phin handed Penny over to Layla before they went into the room. "I don't know. It could be. I don't know." he answered, clearly worried and still kind of panicked.
Layla pulled Penny close and glanced at Phin before entering the bedroom. She saw Bridget lying on the floor with an equally worried look on her face. She was whispering to Jeth and moving her hand up and down his back.
"Are you all right?" Layla asked quietly as she stepped in.
Bridget turned her eyes to look at her. "Yeah," she said, just because the kids were around.
"Neil is going to meet you guys at the hospital," Layla nodded.
Phin was already frowning, thankfully, before Layla mentioned that Neil was going to meet them at the hospital. Neil probably thought this was Phin's fault somehow. He nodded. "Okay," he said before he went to crouch next to Bridget and Jeth.
"Hey, Jeth, why don't you come say hi to aunt Layla, she came over to see you guys," He said, hoping to peel Jeth away from Bridget so he could help her sit up. Jeth shook his head and held on tighter, determined to make mommy's boo-boo feel better first!
"It's okay, Jeth," Bridget assured. "Daddy's going to take me to get my boo-boo fixed. I'll be okay." She turned her head slightly and kissed Jeth's before trying to pull him away.
"C'mon, Jeth!" Layla said, putting on a cheerful voice. "I saw some blocks in the living room that look like they could use some building..."
Phin reached to pick Jeth up as carefully as possible. He set Jeth on his feet and gave him a hug and a kiss. "It's okay." he said. He gave Jeth an exaggerated smile and nodded toward Layla and Penny. "Better hurry up before Penny and Layla get all the good building blocks," he said, widening his eyes.
Jeth finally gave in, trotting over to Layla and holding his hand up to take her free one as he glanced over his shoulder at Bridget.
Phin moved closer to Bridget, to get ready to help her sit up.
Layla took Jeth's hand and started leading him out of the bedroom, not without a lingering glance back herself. She frowned briefly before putting on another smile for the kids as she started talking to them about the blocks.
Bridget watched them go before turning her eyes to Phin. "What happened?" she finally asked. "The last thing I remember is playing with the blocks...you weren't even home yet."
Phin frowned again. "You were out on the balcony." he told her. "Bedroom and sliding doors were wide open. I came out to see what was wrong and you grabbed my collar and..." he cleared his throat. "I brought you back inside and locked the sliding door. You shoved me against the door and then passed out. I tried to catch you but it happened to quick." he rambled.
Bridget's forehead creased up. It almost sounded like a joke, what he was saying. "What? I..." She closed her eyes and let out a long breath of air. Why couldn't she remember any of this happening? She took some more deep breaths, quicker than before. "This is just like before," she said as she opened her eyes again. "Minus the head injury. But not remembering anything..." She thought that stuff was over. What would its return mean for being alone with the kids? If she left the balcony door open, who knows what could have happened. And shoving Phin?
Bridget was already injured and worked up so he left out that part about her trying to take them over the balcony railing. For now. "Hey, okay, relax. It's okay. You're all right now. Let's just worry about getting you to the hospital right now." he suggested. "C'mon, we'll start with sitting you up, see how your head feels and go from there." And if that didn't work, he'd call an ambulance to avoid further injuries.
Bridget focused her eyes on Phin. She bent her arms to prop herself up now that he was finally letting her do so. She winced at the altitude adjustment and felt a momentary head rush, but waved Phin off when he tried to help her. "I'm okay, I'm okay," she said as she moved to full sitting position.
Phin put his arm out behind her back to keep her propped up after she waved him off. He moved to inspect the back of her head to make sure she wasn't bleeding.
"Do you think you can stand or do you want to wait a minute?" he asked.
"A minute," Bridget confirmed. She reached back to feel her head. There was already a nice-sized bump there. She focused on breathing for just a few more moments before she told Phin she was ready to stand.
There was a short wave of dizziness and her legs wobbled a little, but mostly she just felt the pounding in her head. "I'm all right," she told Phin once she had straightened up. She held her arms out a bit at her sides for balance, but she was steady.
Phin didn't let go of her right away and once he did, he stayed close and kept his arms ready. "Ready?" he asked after letting her adjust for a few long moments.
"Yeah." Bridget felt the back of her head again and frowned as she looked toward the balcony.
Once they made it to the hallway, Phin wrapped his arm around her waist firmly. He stopped to help Bridget with her jacket and to get his own jacket on. Then he put his arm back around her and grabbed his keys.
"Layla, there's food over here if any of you get hungry." he called. "We'll call and update you." he added as he looked at Bridget to see if she was ready to trek down to the car.
Layla nodded as Bridget assured Phin she was all right to walk. She said goodbye to the kids and told them that she loved them before they left.
The ride to the hospital proceeded without incident, thankfully. Bridget's head continued to pound, but she was sure she didn't have a concussion. She knew what those were like.
Despite her assurances, Phin still repeatedly asked her questions about how she felt the whole way there. Once they parked, he wrapped his arm around her again as they started walking toward the emergency room entrance.
Neil was pacing by the door waiting. He approached and sent a glare to Phin before his face washed over with concern. "What happened?" he asked, moving to get in between them to take Phin's place. Phin frowned as he wound up walking behind them instead.
"I don't know," Bridget admitted, taking a glance back at Phin before she looked up at Neil. "I was playing with the kids and then...I was on the floor with raging head pain." She reached up again to feel the growing bump. "Phin knows more than I do."
Neil sent a warning glare over his shoulder. "I bet he does." he muttered.
Phin set his jaw and was about to snap at Neil but stopped himself. Instead he let out a long breath and said, "Why don't you go sit down. I'll go sign in," and get one of those information clipboards. Stupid pre-triage crap.
Neil waited until Phin walked away to look at Bridget and very seriously ask, "Did he hurt you?" as he led her to the closest chair to sit down.
Bridget bit her tongue at Neil's initial remark, planning on waiting until they were alone to tell him to lay off for the time being. Once Phin was gone, Bridget opened her mouth to speak, but Neil got there first with his question and she was left just to stare at him with her jaw still slack.
"Of course not," she said after a moment with a frown. "Cheating isn't a gateway drug to physical abuse, Neil. He would never do that. I've blacked out before. This is the first time someone older than a toddler has been around to see it."
Neil frowned over in Phin's direction. "I don't recall head injuries those times before." he retorted as he looked back over at her. "Seriously. You can tell me. I won't kill him." he would seriously maim Phin though.
"Neil." Bridget fixed him with her most deadly serious of serious looks. It was also a little impatient. "He didn't hurt me." Of course she couldn't be absolutely sure because she'd blacked out and all, but she knew in her heart Phin would never harm her. Physically, anyway.
Neil pressed his lips together and finally gave her a nod before he kissed her forehead since Phin was walking back over.
Phin took the seat on the other side of Bridget and started filling out the necessary information for her. He kept his eyes on the paper for now since he didn't want to watch Neil possibly glaring at him and accusing him of abusing Bridget. This was all highly absurd.
When Bridget saw Phin approach, she gave Neil a look, warning him to go easy on the guy. It wasn't just for Phin's sake, but also Bridget's. And her head's.
After Phin filled out the paper work he let Bridget sign it and then took it to the desk with her insurance card. Then it was a waiting game based on level of importance of injury. This served to drive both Neil and Phin crazy since they felt Bridget was pretty damn important.
"So what happened, exactly?" Neil asked as he looked over Bridget at Phin.
"I came home. She was acting weird on the balcony. I brought her inside and then she passed put and hit her head on the trunk by our bed." he explained.
Neil narrowed his eyes a bit at Phin.
Bridget turned to Phin. "How was I acting weird, though? Did I say anything?"
Phin shifted uncomfortably as Neil eyed him. "You told me to take the kids and run." he answered.
Bridget blinked. "I...what?"
Phin glanced a Neil, who was watching them with a mixture of confusion and concern. Phin glanced around and then lowered his voice. "You nearly sent us over the balcony railing." he said quietly. "Once we were inside, you shoved me against the glass door, said my name then said 'Run...take the kids.'" he told her with a frown.
Bridget could only stare at Phin for a few long moments. Eventually she turned her head down to her lap. "What...what the hell is wrong with me?"
Phin beat Neil to wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He kissed the side of her head and ran his hand along her arm. "You're safe now." He said. "We're gonna figure it out." he hadn't meant to upset her but he couldn't lie to her and not tell her.
Neil looked a bit horrified. He reached out to take one of Bridget's hands since Phin had hogged her in a hug.
Bridget nodded a bit, though she didn't say anything at first or even really believe what Phin said. If she was going to throw Phin off the balcony this time, what did she do the time she was all alone with the kids? Or even just before Phin came home?
"Where were the kids? When you came home?"
Phin frowned again. "They came running out of the dining room," he told her. Jeth was prone to hiding under the dining room table.
Bridget frowned, still looking down at her lap. "And...how long were you home before I passed out?"
Phin's brow furrowed up. "Five...ten minutes?" he said. "I told the kids to stay put and then went looking for you, found you on the balcony."
"I don't remember any of this," Bridget frowned. "Why is this happening again? I'm not as stressed anymore." She let out a sigh and leaned back in her seat, which meant she ended up bumping her head against the wall. She straightened up again with a hiss.
Phin grimaced and moved his arm to try and keep space between her head and the wall.
"Whoa, whoa, hey..." Neil grimaced too. "You don't need to hurt yourself any further, dumbass," He said, in an endearing way of course, the way only a sibling could. He forced a small smile too and squeeze her hand.
Bridget sighed, still wincing a little. She gave Neil's hand a small squeeze, but couldn't really bring herself to smile at the moment. People didn't just black out and pass out for no reason. And say crazy shit to their husbands whilst doing so. And try to throw them off of balconies. Something was seriously wrong. All her tests came back clear last time she'd gotten checked, but this was some serious brain tumor-level stuff going on. It would just be perfect that now that everything was back to normal with them that this would happen.
She looked at Phin. She was terrified, but she didn't say it out loud.
Neil frowned once Bridget was looking at Phin. This was really bad.
Phin's face contorted a tiny bit. He nodded. "I know," He told her before he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "We're gonna find out what's wrong and take care of it though." He said as he reached up to, carefully, run his hand through her hair without hitting the bump. "Let's just focus on finding out what's wrong. We'll go from there once we know," He squeezed her shoulder a little and ran his hand along her arm again. He was scared too but he wanted to display as little of that as possible.
Bridget could only focus on various worries as they waited. Last time she blacked out it took a long time before Phin was comfortable letting her drive and watch the kids alone again. And this time he'd actually witnessed the blackout himself. After hearing what happened this time, Bridget didn't think she would object to most of the safety restrictions anymore. And that would only cause more problems. She had a job and someone had to watch the kids while Phin was at work.
She was so mired in thought that she didn't even notice when her name was called.
They did have a daycare in the building now. There was that plus there were Billie, Neil and Layla close by if needed. Phin was just worried about keeping Bridget as calm as possible. She didn't need to get overly worked up when she'd hit her head. Sure she seemed fine now but didn't that actress feel fine when she hit her head skiing? And she died later because there was bleeding in her brain. Was there bleeding in Bridget's brain?
He blinked when he heard Bridget's name and then shook her shoulder lightly. "Hey, that's you. Let's go," He said quietly as he moved to help her up.
Neil stood up as well, and then the nurse told them that only one of them could go back with Bridget. Neil looked at Bridget. "Who do you want to go back with you?" he asked though he had a feeling it was going to be Phin.
Oh, great. All this going on and then she had to pick one of them? Luckily she realized she had an legitimate reason to bring one with her over the other.
"Phin," she said, giving Neil an apologetic look. "He saw what happened."
Neil tried not to look hurt. He nodded and leaned over to kiss her cheek. He squeezed her hand before he let go. "I need to go call Layla anyhow," He assured.
Phin gave Neil a little nod and then turned to follow the nurse with Bridget down the hallways and into an examination room.
Bridget told Neil she'd see him soon and then headed for the room. She took a seat on the cot as she waited for the nurse to start asking questions. Bridget made a private bet with herself, sure that this time, like last time, the doctors would come up with no real explanation for her.
Phin stood next to Bridget and held onto her hand as the nurse started asking her questions. He really hoped they found out what the problem was this time. It was kind of maddening, wondering about the possibilities. After taking her blood pressure and checking her eyes and ears, the nurse wrote some information down on her chart and inspected the back of Bridget's head. Phin spoke whenever appropriate. After about fifteen minutes of questions and examination the nurse told them to sit tight and a doctor would be in to see them shortly.
Bridget looked at Phin after the nurse left. "What are we going to do?" she asked. "Same as last time? No driving, no watching the kids alone for long stretches of time?"
Phin frowned some as he looked over at her. He gave her hand a squeeze. "Until we figure out what's causing this, I think that might be the safest plan of action." He replied, though he wasn't happy about the idea of treating her like a child. He knew she hated it but really, it was better than having the kids unattended (or worse) or her getting into a car accident.