Sodor's New Worker (Semi-Hiatus Due to an AO3 rewrite)

Visiting Hours

   It's been a few weeks since James' accident, and he was doing alright. He finally got his brakes replaced, and a brand new coat of gleaming red paint. He felt splendid.

  Or at least he should have.

   The entire time he was getting repaired, all he thought about was Maddy. STH hasn't said anything about her to anyone, so he assumed the worst. Not even Thomas knew, and it was eating him up inside.

"My friend.." said Victor, the little narrow gauge running the Steamworks. "I'm sure your little girlfriend is fine..!"

"..She's not my girlfriend, for one Victor. Two, I don't think you understand. She's human! She's not as resilient as an engine! Maddy could be dead and it's all my fucking fault!!"

     His last few words echoed within the building. Victor had nothing to say for a while. But when he did..

"Why..don't you go visit her? It shouldn't be hard to find which hospital she's in."

"They'll never let me visit her! I'm the reason she's there!"

"You're too pessimistic, my friend.." Victor sighed.

   After a few more minor fixes, James was finally out of the Steamworks. Even with all his thinking about Maddy, he felt good to finally be out on his wheels again. Now all he had to do was find her hospital. Shouldn't be hard, right?

   Thankfully, he was right.

   In his new human form, he ran into the hospital, and up to the reception desk.

"Hi, I'm looking for a Maddy..? Madison, maybe..?"

"Last name?"

"I don't know! No one knows!"

   Luckily for James, there was only one Madison within the hospital.

"Room 105, down the hall to your right."

  James thanked them profusely and ran to her room as fast as he could. It was a great sign that they let him visit. At least she was alive.

  He knocked on the door, just in case she was awake.

"Knock knock.." he quietly called out. There was no answer, so he just went on in. Boy, did his stomach drop at the sight he saw.

   Maddy was hooked up to a lot of machines. James had no idea what they did, but he knew they were trying to keep her alive. That was all that mattered to him. Christ, he did that to her. Her poor face was bandaged up. Would she be blind? Could she still work? Would he ever see that pouty face so cute that he wanted to bully her for it?

   Wait.

   James smacked himself in the face. He knew this chick for two days before the accident. There was no way he should be thinking like that. 'Whatever..' he thought to himself, taking the seat next to her bed. As he sat, he got a closer look at her. She was rather pale, and much much smaller now that she wasn't all hidden in her hoodie. James had to guess she was about 1.6 meters tall (5'3" for you American folk like me-). Her hair was a medium shade of brown, and just a tad bit longer than his own hair. He bet it was soft. Human hair had to be soft, right? Only one way to find out.

   He carefully reached over, running his fingers through it. Hey, it was soft. Really soft. For a gal that liked to get down and dirty with trucks, she took real good care of her hair. Tiny, but mighty. Shy, but snarky. Almost as snarky as he was, and he respected that.

"It's only been two days.." he said to her unconscious figure. "Please wake up.."

  He waited in that room for what felt like hours. An eternity that he could never ever escape from. She had to wake up, she just had to. James wouldn't be able to handle the guilt if she didn't. He thought he saw the bed shift. No, it couldn't have. Maybe he's just sleepy. No, he definitely saw it move.

"..Maddy?" he whispered.

"...Five more minutes."

   James went quiet. Then he laughed. He had to. After that horrible accident, that was all she had to say.

"Shut the fuck up, loud ass.."

   Ah, there she is. There's the snark. 

"You're okay..!"

"I'm not dead. I'm not okay, but I'm not dead. Be useful and help me sit up.."

  James did help her as best he could. He didn't want to hurt her more.

"So why're you here..?"

"Sir Topham Hatt never told us how you were..everyone just thinks you're dead..!"

"That fat asshole..I don't go down that easy."

"You uh..got quite the mouth."

"Words are fun."

"Fair enough."

"...You look nice."

  Maddy had finally gotten a good look at James. He looked mostly the same. The tips of his hair were dyed red, and he had a dark red button up shirt, with his number sewn onto his left breast, and a heart shaped piercing on his right ear. He looked better like that, it hid his asshole nature. Those eyes she was still fond of were the same.

   James, on the other hand, never got a good look at hers. She was never close enough, and when she was, something was always in the way.

"Your eyes are..quite peculiar."

"..Thanks, I guess?"

They both went quiet. James made it awkward and he internally yelled at himself for it.

"So..when do you get out?"

"How should I know? I just woke up, asshat."

"I don't know how these human hospitals work! Cut me some slack!"

"You should be smart enough to know that I wouldn't know, dumbass!"

  And they bickered at each other until James had to leave.