Addicted

Chapter Thirty-One: Snow Storm Troubles

Two weeks, that's how long Megan had been back in rehab. It had been a long couple of weeks. During her time back at Safe Space, Megan had been going to therapy as well as group sessions. She was slowly starting to feel more like herself again. A freak snow storm had hot Austin. It was horrible outside. Obvious to the chaos outside, Megan was in the lounge was some of the other residents, watching television.

Meanwhile, in reception, Max - Megan's key worker at the facility, was heading back to his office again, after being told there was someone there to see him. He looked up as he walked into his office.
"Ahh, it's good to see you again officer Reyes-" Max had met Carlos the last time Megan was in the facility.
"Please, Carlos is fine." Carlos cut Max off.
"Carlos, what can I do for you?" Max asked as he put away the file he had walked into his office with.
"You mentioned before that Megan was able to for day release under certain circumstances?" Carlos asked.
"That's correct, yes. Under proper supervision she's allowed day releases. Why?" Max asked, as he sat down across from Carlos at his desk.
"Well, TK was involved in a car accident in the snow storm. He's currently in the ICU. We were hoping Megan could get a day release to go see him. The last thing I want to do is affect her recovery and I think telling her about TK and then leaving her stuck here will do exactly that." Carlos explained. Max stayed quiet for a moment.
"I think you're right." Max nodded.
"I can approve the day release for today, we just need to do some paperwork first. It won't take long." Max informed Carlos.
"Great."
"Firstly, a few conditions to Megan's day release." Max started.
"Anyone on a day release has to have one primary career that they have to be with. But two other people can be added to the paperwork to take on the role throughout the day as well." Max explained as he got up to grab the necessary paperwork from the cupboard near his desk.
"Okay well that would probably be TK's father, Owen Strand and her boyfriend, Jason Anderson." Carlos stated.
"I've met both of those people so I can sign off on that." Max nodded, having met both Jason and Owen through visits before. Max returned to his desk and started showing the paperwork to Carlos so that he could fill it all out.

Twenty minutes later, they were all done.
"If you go wait in reception I'll go get Megan. I'll tell her she's got a day release but I'll let you explain why." Max told them as they walked out of his office. Carlos nodded before they went their separate ways. After a few minutes, the door to the reception are buzzed open and Megan was led through by Max. They walked over to Carlos who stood up when he saw them.
"Is everything okay?" Megan asks, concern lacing her voice.
"Max said I've got a day release but wouldn't say what for." She added, glancing back at Max before she turned back to Carlos.
"I'll leave you with Carlos, I'll see you later, Megan." Max told the teen before he left.
"T.K. is in hospital." Carlos informed her straight away, getting to the point.
"The freak snowstorm yesterday caused a lot of car accidents and he was involved in one." He explained before she could say anything.
"How bad?" Megan questioned, clearly worried.
"I'll let Owen tell you when we get to the hospital." Carlos stated.
"C'mon."

On the way to the hospital, Carlos told Megan everything he knew about what happened to TK and the condition he was in before he moved on to explaining how her day release worked. She had to be with either himself, Owen or Jason at any time and had to be back at Safe Space by 10pm. Twenty minutes after setting off, Carlos and Megan arrived at the hospital. After parking in the visitor car park, they headed up to the ICU floor where everyone else was. As soon as Avery and Jason saw them, they stood up and walked over to them.
"Hey." Avery smiled slightly as she hugged her best friend. Megan and Jason then hugged each other and as they pulled apart, Jason kissed her cheek. "
"How you doing?" he asked her quietly.
"Good." Megan nodded. Now was not about her, it was about TK.
"Dad said to take you through to T.K. when you get here." Avery told Megan. She motioned for Megan to follow her and they both started walking to T.K.'s room.
"So, how are you doing?" Megan asked her friend, wanting to see how well she was coping with this whole situation.
"Well, I climbed out of a window to get here so-" Avery laughed.
"They had to put him on a ventilator this morning but dad wouldn't let me come because he didn't know how bad it was. He said it's worse than it look. A delayed collapsed lung and then he couldn't maintain his airway." Avery explained as they walked to TK's room. When they reached T.K's room, Megan saw Owen sitting in a chair.
"Dad." Avery said. Owen turned to face them and stood up.
"Hey, Megan." Owen nodded.
"Hey." Megan smiled slightly.
"Thanks for letting me come here."
"You mean a lot to T.K., and T.K. means a lot to you." Owen simply said.
"It wouldn't have been nice for us to hold you back from seeing him when he's like this." He continued.
"Docs are hopeful he won't spend too much time on the vent. They're going to reassess tomorrow." He informed both the teens, passing on the information he had received a little while ago.
"That's good." Avery nodded.
"I'll leave you two alone with him. I'm going to go and speak to the nurse's about allowing him more visitors at once. At the moment, it's only two. Come and get me if you need anything." He walked over to the two girls.
"We will." Avery told her dad. He brought Avery in for a hug and kissed the top of her head before walking out of the room. The two girls moved to sit in the chairs beside his bed.
"He tough." Megan said after a minute of silence.
"Yeah." Avery agreed.
"He's been through worse, he'll be fine." She added, trying to reassure the both of them. "I told him and dad about Ollie the day before yesterday." She said, changing the subject.
"What'd they say?" Megan questioned.
"Turns out they already knew." Avery chuckled.
"I understand now why they never bought him up but I got pretty angry at them, but it feels good that I told them. Even if they already knew."
"That's good." Megan nodded. Avery looked over at T.K. and saw his eyes open.
"Go get my dad and a nurse." Avery told Megan, as she quickly stood up. Megan nodded and ran out.
"T.K." Avery grabbed his hand as she saw him start to panic.
"It's okay, you're in hospital." Owen and some nurses ran into the room.
"I need some space." The nurse said bluntly, moving Avery out of the way.
"You lot will have to wait in the waiting area." The three of them nodded and walked to the waiting room.
"What's going on?" Carlos asked when he saw them.
"He woke up." Avery told them.
"We were sent out, I assume his doctor will come and update us." Owen added. Ten minutes later, Dr Driscoll walked into the waiting room.
"T.K. is awake and off the vent." He informed them.
"We've relaxed visiting for him, so you can all go and see him, but please keep noise to a minimum." Everyone sighed with relief.
"Thank you, doc." Owen nodded. Dr Driscoll smiled before walking off. Everyone got up and followed Owen to TK's room.

A little while later, Megan, Jason, Carlos and Avery were sitting in TK's room with Owen. They were the only ones who remained as the rest of the 126 went home to get some rest. Jason and Megan had been talking quietly in the corner.
"Am I alright to go for a walk with Jase? We're just gonna get some fresh air and something to eat. We'll be back in less than an hour." Megan asked Carlos quietly. She wanted to ask him considering he was the main person responsible for her.
"Of course." Carlos nodded.
"Do you guys want anything?" Jason asked Owen, Avery and Carlos.
"I'm alright thanks." Owen shook his head.
"No thank you." Carlos added.
"Ave?" Jason asked Avery who was reading quietly in the corner to distract herself.
"I mean I know you'll get me something anyways, soo." Ave simply shrugged. Jason laughed a little.
"True, true." He agreed.
"We'll be back in a bit." Megan said, before she left with Jason, the couple walked hand in hand off down the corridor.

——————————————————
A/N - Be sure to check out ChloeOgradyXo book 'This is the Moment' for more of Avery's story and TK's recovery :)