Chapter Text
Carlos wasn’t worried when he walked into a quiet house. With their lifestyle, it wasn’t entirely unusual to come home and find TK in the shower, or taking a nap. When a wander around the house proved that the house was devoid of life other than himself and their Pathos plant, he still didn’t worry. TK must have run out to the store, or on another errand. It wasn’t until Carlos saw the one-way flight confirmation that he felt his heart rate pick up and he fumbled with his phone to call his fiance. Swearing when both of his calls went directly to voicemail, he grabbed his jacket as he headed out the door, praying he was able to catch TK before the plane took off. Still aware enough to drive safely, he used Siri to call Owen.
“Hey Carlos, how-”
“Is TK with you?” Carlos blurted out, only wincing a little at interrupting his future father-in-law and his heart sinking when Owen answered.
“He’s not. What’s going on?”
“He’s going to New York,” Carlos ground out as he weaved in and out of traffic as carefully as he could while still desperately trying to make it to the airport on time, “I saw the confirmation email on the computer, and he’s not answering his phone.
“When does the plane leave?” Carlos risked a glance at the clock, and nearly started crying when he realized it was later than he thought, and the plane had already taken off.
“It already did,” he managed to get out as he pulled over to the side of the road so he didn’t have a mental breakdown while driving nearly seventy miles an hour, “Why did he leave?”
“I don’t know son,” Owen said softly, “Come over to the house and I’ll see if his mom knows anything.” Carlos nodded before he realized Owen couldn’t see him.
“I’m on my way.”
In a Brooklyn Hospital waiting room, TK bit his nails absently as his leg bounced with a mixture of nerves and anxiety. His mind was racing with everything he’d done wrong in leaving Austin the way he did, and to top it off he’d forgotten his phone charger. The palm-sized computer was sitting useless in his back pocket, and he was kicking himself that he didn’t have a way to tell his fiance what had happened.
“Mr. Strand?” TK jumped to his feet when the nurse called his name, smiling sheepishly at her when he realized he probably looked like a spaz, “You can follow me.” TK could only nod softly and trudge along behind the nurse. He hadn’t heard from Catrin in years, but he’d never stopped trying to get a hold of her. To make sure she was okay, and getting a call from her out of the blue had sent him scrambling to her side. They had met during TK’s second stint in rehab, the one he’d actually wanted to do to get better. Catrin had been there involuntarily as part of her misdemeanor theft conviction, but had taken the opportunity to try and get better. It had stuck for less than a year. TK had gotten out of rehab and gone right into a great support system, while Catrin had gone back to nothing, except for TK. He had done his best to be there for her, but she had slowly slipped away. Still, TK had called the phone number he had for her almost daily for six months before he finally confirmed that she had slipped back into actively using. It was hard to see, but also served as a reminder of what he was fighting against himself and just how lucky he was. He still called, just to remind her that he wanted to be there for her, and that all she had to do was reach out. He just hadn’t actually expected to hear from her.
The nurse stopped outside a door and tilted her head to let TK know they’d reached their destination. He had to take a deep breath to steel himself, not knowing what to expect when he walked through the door.
“Hey T,” a weak voice called, and TK couldn’t stay outside any longer. The sight of her for the first time in nearly three years almost broke him. The lively girl he knew was replaced by a skeleton covered in hospital blankets to thin to warm even the healthiest person. Her belly was distended, but the rest of her was practically skeletal and there was a sickly yellow tint to her skin from jaundice. The paramedic in him knew it wasn’t good, but he prayed he was wrong. Not wasting anymore time, he strode across the room to drop into the chair at her bedside.
“What happened?” TK asked as he took her hand, trying not to think about how fragile her bones felt in his hand.
“Well,” Catrin started with a wry smile, “Between the drinking and the Hep C, my liver was already shot. Then I got pregnant, and she’s perfect.” TK let out a sharp breath at the news and the bright, happy smile on his friend’s sunken face.
“You got clean again,” TK surmised, hoping he was right and the baby had given his friend something to fight for.
“I got clean and sober the minute I found out I was pregnant,” Catrin confirmed, squeezing TK’s hand weakly, “But my body couldn’t handle it. The doctors tried, but my blood pressure went up at the end.”
“Pre-eclampsia,” TK said, the paramedic part of his brain providing the information for him.
“Yeah,” her voice was sad, but accepting, and TK had a hard time controlling the tears that wanted to stream down his face, “We tried to control it, but when my liver numbers started looking worse, they decided to take her out early. She was born almost a month ago, but we got her to thirty-four weeks.” TK didn’t know everything about pregnancy, but he knew that while the timing wasn’t ideal, it could have been worse.
“Do you get to take her home?” The question was a stupid one, he knew, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking. There was still a small part of him that hoped it was all a mistake and she would be fine. Maybe he could convince her to move to Austin with him for a fresh start and an amazing support system. She and Grace could bond about being moms, while Paul and Carlos plied her with food to get her weight back up. But, the sharp shake of her head crushed the dream.
“I’m not getting out of this bed again,” she told him, and for the first time since they’d started talking, her brave face was cracking, “I’m too far gone for a transplant, and I’ve only got a little while left.” TK broke, and the tears started streaming down his face. It wasn’t fair. Catrin’s life had been rough from the start, and she’d never gotten a break. She’d been born to a pair of addicts who sold her to whoever would pay so they could support their drug habit and had gotten her addicted when she was barely fourteen so she’d stop fighting. At nineteen, she’d run away and lived on the street doing her best to get clean, but eventually falling back into using to escape from the pain. Now, the drug problem that she hadn’t chosen was killing her while TK, who walked into drugs willingly, was happy and healthy. Living the life Catrin deserved.
“What do you need?” He knew there was a reason Catrin had called him beyond being with her at the end. He would have been there even if that was the only thing she wanted but, knowing her, there’s something else.
“Take her? Please,” Catrin’s eyes filled with even more tears, “You have a great life, with a smoking hot man, and yes, that was a firefighter reference.” TK chuckled through the tears, and shock, remembering Catrin’s corny sense of humor. He briefly wondered how she knew about Carlos, but assumed she’d seen him on social media, “and it’s what I want for her. A better life than I ever had, or could give her even if I was going to get better.”
“Are you sure?” His brain was most likely still compartmentalizing with how little he was freaking out about being asked to adopt his dying friend’s baby, but he knew a freak out would happen eventually.
“I can’t think of anyone better,” Catrin assured him, “You’re not perfect TK. Nobody is, but I know that you would do absolutely anything for your family.”
“Remind me to introduce you to my fiance,” TK chuckled wetly, “He’s the closest to perfect I’ve ever found.”
“I’d love to meet him,” Catrin shifted in bed, clearly uncomfortable, but still smiling, “I know you picked a good guy, I may have been stalking you on Instagram, so I trust you both with her.”
“What’s her name?”
“I haven’t named her yet,” the mother admitted, “I have some ideas, but as soon as they told me I was terminal, I knew I was giving her to you. I wanted you to name her.” TK opened his mouth to argue, when a nurse walked into the room.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, “But we need the room for a few things.” He gave TK a look that asked for him to leave, politely, and the paramedic stood with a nod.
“I’ll be back as soon as they’re done,” he assured her, running a hand over the thinning hair on her head. At her tired nod, TK left the room, absently cleaning his hands with the hand sanitizer right outside. Once he was in the hallway, he made his way over to the nurse’s station.
“Is there somewhere I can borrow a phone charger?” He asked the head nurse, “I left home in a hurry and forgot my charger. My fiance is probably freaking out right now.” The nurse gave him a sympathetic look and nodded.
“What charger do you need?” The nurse pulled open a drawer and TK saw that it was stuffed full of chargers. He wasn’t sure if the hospital or staff had bought them, or if they had been collected when people forgot them, but it was a godsend that he wasn’t going to ignore. Thanking her, he took the charger back to Catrin’s room and set connected it to his phone so he could call Carlos as soon as there was enough power to have a call outside of her room. Until then, he sat with his dying friend and just talked so she had something to focus on other than the pain.