fluff- your ex boyfriend tom being your emergency contact and him turning up hospital after you were in a car crash.
"We called your emergency contact. Your boyfriend should be here any minute." The doctor told you as she wrote your stats down in your chart.
"Okay. Thank you." You smiled in appreciation at her. Just a few seconds after she left your room, Tom ran in. He almost slipped from how fast he ran into the room but caught himself on the doorway
"Tom? What are you doing here?" You asked as you sat up in surprise at the sight of him. You hadn't seen him since your relationship ended in flames the year prior and hadn't expected to see him ever again. Not counting every time you turned on your TV and saw him in a new trailer, of course.
"The hospital called me. They said you'd been in an accident?" His face twisted in concern as he pulled a chair up to sit beside you.
"You must still be my emergency contact." You realized. "I forgot to change it."
"Oh. Right." His face fell slightly in disappointment. "Well I'm still glad I came. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. You should see the other guy." You cracked an embarrassed smile and pointed to your head bandage.
"Oh no." His eyes widened. "You didn't get into another fight at Target, did you?"
"Not this time. It was just a car accident."
"Just a car accident? That sounds pretty serious. What happened?" Tom asked as he took your hand into his.
"This kid ran in front of my car and I hit the brakes too soon. I smacked my head against the window and cracked it."
"Cracked your head or the window?"
"Both." You smiled sheepishly.
"Ouch." He chuckled. "What's the damage?"
"20 stitches and a killer headache. I'll be okay though." You shrugged and gave him an assuring smile. Tom sat up in his chair and gently touched the side of your head to inspect your injury. You gulped a little under his touch and hoped he wouldn't notice.
"Yeah. You were never one to be sidetracked by pain." He returned the smile. "How many times did I ask you if you were okay before you finally admit your appendix burst?"
"Hey, in my defense, we'd been hiking all day and I was not about to miss that sunset. The pain wasn't even that bad." You chuckled as you patted your appendectomy scar.
"Not that bad? Your organ exploded." He pointed out with a laugh.
"But remember how beautiful the sky looked? And we had those delicious doughnuts." You sighed and squeezed his hand.
"I remember. You still had powdered sugar on your face when they took you away in the ambulance." Tom smiled softly as he remembered the day.
"Yeah. You sat at my bedside for hours. So long that they then had to check you in for chronic neck pain."
"Yeah. They really don't make these chairs comfortable." Tom said as he moved uncomfortably in his chair. You laughed at what he was doing before letting out a pained sigh.
"Thanks for coming. You didn't have to do that. I know most people wouldn't have driven down to the hospital to see if their ex girlfriend was okay." You smiled in embarrassment and rubbed your aching head.
"Most people don't have the pleasure of calling you their ex girlfriend. Of course I'm here, darling. I came as soon as they called." Tom smiled sweetly as you and rubbed his thumb on the back of your hand.
"Well I appreciate it. I'm glad you're here. I hope I didn't pull you away from anything important." You sighed and gave his hand another squeeze.
"Don't worry about it. Nothing is more important than you. I am going to ask you to pay my parking fee, though. Since you went and got yourself in a car accident, it's the least you can do." Tom teased you.
"Fine. I'll loan you the $12." You humored him.
"Good." He smiled. "I couldn't have afforded it otherwise."
"Please. I see your face on a new billboard every month. Nice Rolex by the way." You said and nodded towards his wrist.
"You bought this for me." He reminded you as he held up his arm.
"I know. I just wanted to point out how pathetic you were for wearing a gift from your ex girlfriend. I didn't realize you were obsessed with me." You pretended to cringe and looked to the side.
"You caught me." He laughed. "But how could I not be obsessed with you? You managed to make a hospital gown look hot."
"It's open in the back." You winked
"Say less." He whispered as he leaned in. You both laughed as you pushed him away.
"You look good, by the way. I like your hair grown out." You said as you reached out to touch his hair.
"Yeah. I went a little crazy with the hair gel in 2020. My family had to hold an intervention." He laughed shyly as he ran his hand through his hair.
"How are they? I miss Sam and Paddy. Harry, not so much."
"They're good. They ask about you sometimes." Tom nodded and avoided eye contact.
"Aw." You smiled sadly. "I always wonder how they're doing."
"Do you ever wonder how I'm doing?" Tom asked as he slowly looked up at you
"I know how you're doing." You shrugged. "You're an extremely successful actor. You're living your best life."
"I'm not, actually. I haven't been living my best life since we-"
Before Tom could finish his sentence, a man came into the room in a hurry. You quickly pulled your hand out of Tom's and pretended to scratch the side of your head.
"Are you okay, baby? I came as soon as my game ended." The man said.
"Baby?" Tom looked at you in confusion.
"Tom, this is Cameron. My boyfriend." You smiled weakly and gestured to the man. Tom's face immediately crumbled as he looked up at the incredibly handsome and incredibly tall man you were calling your boyfriend.
"Oh. Sorry, I didn't realize. Hey, man." Tom got out of his seat and held out his hand.
"Hey. Who are you?" Cameron asked and shook Tom's hand.
"I'm Tom."
"Isn't that.."
"My ex. Yeah." You nodded when Cameron trailed off.
"Sorry, why are you here? Do you guys still keep in contact or something?" Cameron laughed awkwardly as he tucked his hands into his pockets.
"No. He was still the emergency contact in my phone. It was just a misunderstanding." You explained.
"Oh, okay. You should probably head out then." Cameron said to Tom. Tom nodded as his sad eyes fell to the floor.
"Don't go!" You said without thinking about it. Tom looked at you with hope in his eyes while Cameron looked at you in confusion.
"I mean, he came all this way. Why not stay a little while?" You quickly followed up.
"Okay. I'll stay." Tom smiled and sat back in his chair. Cameron gave you an annoyed look and you felt yourself start to panic.
"Cam, could you get me some ice cream from the cafeteria?" You asked through a forced smile
"Sure. What flavor?"
"Mint chip." You and Tom said at the same time. Tom turned around in his chair and gave Cameron a smug smile
"But with extra chocolate chips on top." Tom said with a wink.
"What he said." You chuckled. Cameron gave you both an unamused smile before leaving the room
"I'm sorry about that." You smiled apologetically. "I should've told you I was seeing someone."
"No, no. It's okay. I got ahead of myself. I thought getting the call and seeing you again was the universe pushing us back together or something. But I guess not because you have a boyfriend." Tom forced a laugh and tried to hide how upset he was.
"Yeah, I do." You faked a laugh as well. "Are you seeing anyone?"
"No. I haven't seen anyone since we broke up. You have though! And I'm just so happy for you." He said through a forced smile.
"Tom, I feel like we should talk about this." You said as you sensed his indifference
"His nickname for you was strange, right?" Tom laughed awkwardly. "You hate being called "baby". You said it made you feel like you were being catcalled."
"I know. But I'm trying to be more open minded. You always said I was too negative, so." You shrugged and looked to the side.
"I did say that a lot, didn't I?" Tom realized. "It's funny. I don't remember you as a negative person when I think of you. I only remember the good parts."
"You don't remember all the fights we had over the long hours you work?" You raised an eyebrow. "And all the times you said you'd show up for something and didn't?"
"Now that you mention it, I do recall a lot of screaming." Tom chuckled.
"It wasn't always the bad kind of screaming." You reminded him, making him blush.
"I know. You used to get so excited when you beat me at Scrabble." Tom teased.
"Not what I meant but okay."
You both laughed and felt the tension leave the room. It felt like it did before Cameron showed up, just two people who deeply cared for each other remembering why they did
"I should've showed up for you more." Tom said after a beat. "A job is just a job but you were never just a girl."
"You showed up today. That counts." You said as you reached for Tom's hand.
"Maybe. But I'm too late. I remember the day you walked out. You said you were setting me free. But I never wanted to be free from you. I wish I realized that before it was too late." Tom gave you a sad smile before bringing your hand to his lips to kiss the back of it. You opened your mouth to say something, but Cameron came back before you got a chance.
"Hey baby. I brought you the brownie. Oh, he's still here." Cameron said when his eyes landed on Tom.
"She asked for ice cream." Tom scrunched his nose as he took the browning from Cameron.
"Excuse me?" Cameron scoffed and stepped up to Tom.
"Oh my God." You groaned. "Don't even start. Nobody wants to see you two fighting. It wouldn't even be a fair fight."
"Why do you say that?" Cameron asked you.
"No reason." You said quickly, making Tom snort.
"Cam, could you check me out at the front desk, please?" You asked to get him out of the room again.
"Sure, baby. Are you cool to drive home? The suns setting and you know how I feel about driving with the sun in my eyes." Cameron asked as he gestured to his eyes.
"I'm sorry, you want her to drive home? From the hospital? That she's in because she just got into a car accident?" Tom asked as he got out of his chair.
"Is there a problem with that?" Cameron asked and stepped closer to Tom.
"Yeah. Do you need me to spell it out again or do you think you could figure it out by yourself this time?" Tom asked as he cocked his head.
"What's this guys problem?" Cameron asked you.
"Cam, just go sign me out." You sighed. "Please? I'll be out in a minute."
Cameron gave Tom one last look before leaving the room. The tension returned and you looked anywhere but Tom.
"He's a real charmer. Where did you find him? Home Depot?" Tom asked sarcastically. You went silent and played with the heart monitor on your finger.
"What?" Tom wondered.
"I did, actually." You admitted. "I found him at Home Depot."
"No way." Tom held back a laugh.
"He moves wood or something. I don't know." You laughed and covered your face with your hands. This time, Tom was the one to go quiet.
"What?"
"Is he bigger than me?"
"Tom." You groaned.
"Sorry." He mumbled. You chuckled at the fact that he hadn't changed and decided to throw him a bone.
"No." You told him. "He's not. He's not funnier than you either. Or kinder, better looking, or really surpassing you in any way."
"He's taller, though." Tom said with a coy smile.
"That's true." You chuckled. "He's 6'1."
"Wow." Tom playfully rolled his eyes. "Sounds like a real keeper."
"You know wanna know something? I was driving to Cameron's house when I got in the accident. I had some pretty tough news to tell him."
"Oh yeah?" Tom raised an eyebrow and sat back down on your bed
"Yeah." You smiled coyly. "I was on my way to tell him that I'm still in love with my ex."
"Oh really?" Tom tried to remain calm as his face heated up in a blush.
"Not you, though." You told him. "The guy before you."
"Right." Tom played along. "Pony trail guy? Who made candles in his bathroom and called all women in his life "pumpkin"? That ex?"
"Yeah." You humored him. "I've been thinking about him a lot lately. I could really use some more candles."
"Tell you what. How about you break up with that boyfriend of yours, as charming as he may be, and you let me take you on a date? I'll drive, since you're clearly very bad at it." He teased you as he took your hands into his. You looked down at your hands and felt the spark reignite in your chest, though you weren't entirely sure it ever left.
"I don't know." You sighed as you looked up at him.
"I'll buy you all the candles you want."
"Even the ones with the stupid names?" You raised an eyebrow.
"I don't see how a candle can smell like a Sparkling Midnight Angel but yeah, if it makes you happy." He replied, his sarcastic tone making you laugh.
"Then it's a date." You smiled and started it lean. Just as Tom was leaning in the rest of the way, Cameron came back into your room.
"Are you ready to go? I've been waiting forever." He sighed in exasperation and pointed to the hallway behind. You looked at him for a minute before looking back to Tom. Tom gave a pointed look, silently asking you what you wanted to do. Lucky for you, you knew exactly what you wanted to do.
"You can go, Cam." You said without taking your eyes off Tom. "I'm good right where I am."
