she’s grateful for enid’s gentle touch in more ways than just one. of course, it’s a needed reminder that even something as straightforward as sitting up too quickly wasn’t the best idea just yet.
beyond that, it’s the comfort of that familiar touch. somebody who actually —
been in hospital, but not that he’d gone so far as to withhold information. “oh, enid, i’m sorry. i said i didn’t want any fuss.” she admits quietly, guiltily almost, automatically feeling at fault for his actions. “tony has always been better at enforcing rules than following —
monica smiles fondly at the invitation to walk on with enid, brushing shoulders with her as she listens to her story. it’s like they’ve gone back in time for a moment, gossiping and giggling like schoolgirls.
her laugh gets arguably a little 𝑡𝑜𝑜 loud at the mention of her —
own circumstances, though. she’s overcompensating, but she can’t help it. “oh, that’s rarely a problem.” the second it comes out of her mouth and she hears how it sounds, she wants to take it back.
“well, as you can imagine, the children are all at the stage where —
monica’s time in the hospital had been a lot lonelier than she had expected it to be. she thought it’d be healing, recovering in private. nobody to pity or mollycoddle her.
but then tony had bypassed the no-visitors request, because 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 he had. the familiarity —
‘a lot of blood’, rupert had said. a lot of blood, and the tangy scent of petrol, and glass under his feet, and a ringing in his ears from the wind and the sirens and the firemen telling him to 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, and - (@livelikeblazes)
needs to claim she said something else. as her eyes slowly flutter open, she quickly realises that she definitely hasn’t lost the plot just het. at least she hopes not.
“enid.” there’s fondness in her voice now, relief even. she finds herself trying to sit up, find strength —
/ this heatwave has genuinely been making me feel sick as FUCK so sorry for going quiet. i’ve set up my fan so that it’s literally staring into my soul rn so i should be able to catch up on things tonight. hope everyone is staying hydrated and cool as possible 🫶🏻
this is exactly what she wanted to avoid when she requested no visitors for the timing being. there’s a 𝑙𝑜𝑡 she wanted to avoid.
she couldn’t bear the thought of her children seeing her in such a state, for one. nor the thought of anybody greeting her with the inevitable —
‘ oh monica, what were you 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨? ‘ speech that she wasn’t ready to hear, certainly not before she knew the answer to that question herself. above all, she couldn’t think of anything worse than facing tony.
not like this, when she’s vulnerable and weaker than she —