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City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

Looking up at Tyler camr in, Kate nodded and gave him a smile of relief. She had desperately been hoping that this guy was good, and he was proving to live up to Kate's high standards.

"Unfortunately no. She's not in a coma, thank God, but the doc said the fall probably shocked her brain and basically set it into reboot."

Sighing and stretching out her long legs, Kate stood up,

"Eric did a number on Tony though. Rat bastard snuck in when the movers propped the door open and took the chance to grab Ele. He swears he was just trying to talk to her, that she hit him first and he was defending himself but the security camera shows otherwise,"

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

A nurse at the information desk directed Tyler where to go, the second floor close to the elevators. In Ele's room, Kate was curled up in the provided chair, her phone in her hand as she replied to emails and played Ele's favorite Spotify station, country music, even though Kate herself hated the genre. She hadn't left her best friend's side since the moment the nurses had allowed visitors, always alert for a change in Ele.

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

"You had better drop everything, dude."

Kate said firmly, settling back into her seat and putting the paperwork back in her lap,

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Hanging up the phone, Kate held it out to Eric,

"Thanks."

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

"Tyler, it's Kate,"

She said, hearing the concern in Tyler's voice,

"Its about Ele, she... Well... Tony got to her and they fell. Ele is getting tests done, but she's not awake, I think you need to be here."

Movement caught Kate's eye and she stood when she saw the attending coming towards her,

"Hang on, the doctor is here, I'll put you on speaker."

Pulling the phone away from her ear, Kate held it in her hand as the doctor explained what was being seen.

"She's a very lucky young lady, that fall could have done far worse. At the moment we're seeing some swelling, but nothing out of the norm. She's still unconscious, but if she comes to soon we can look to release her in a couple days. We will be admitting her for observation, and once she's settled in she can have visitors."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Kate said, taking the phone off speaker and speaking to Tyler again, this time her voice was lowered,

"The first person she'll want to see is definitely not me, so I hope to God you're packing a bag to come out here and be with her. If not, you need to gracefully exit her life. She is like my sister, and I will protect her heart like its my own. So what's it going to be?"

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

Setting the papers aside, Kate blew out a breath and shook her head as she took the phone from Eric. In no way did she blame him for Tony attacking Ele, from what she had gathered it had happened so quickly that you would have had to have been psychic to prevent it.

"No one has told me anything, just that she is getting an MRI at CT scan soon. I have to let Tyler know."

Pressing Tyler's name, Kate put the phone to her ear and crossed one leg over the other, waiting for Tyler to pick up.

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

In a flurry of lights and sirens, both Ele and Tony were taken to the hospital for injuries. Once in the E.R., Ele was taken for tests while Kate, who was Ele's emergency contact on file, arrived in a state of calm, collected, ready-for-the-worst, the same posture she took when she was about to face down a business meeting. Inside though, she was a wreck as she filled out Ele's paperwork in the waiting room.

"Tyler first, then a lawyer, probably talk to the police... Did she even give me his number? Crap, what was her last... Ugh!"

Kate muttered quietly to herself as she wrote, her mind making a list of things to do next.

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

Taking a shuddering breath, Ele felt tears spring to her eyes as her thoughts of staying in the city stilled and images of a life with Tyler took their place,

"I'm sorry, I just had to know. I love you so much Tyler, I can't imagine life without you now."

Wiping her eyes as hurried footsteps came up the stairs below her, Ele sniffled,

"What Eric said scared me, I could only think... Hey!"

There was a scuffle over the phone, and Ele's panicked voice rose incoherently, a man's voice said something, then the phone went dead.

Ele was screaming as Tony grabbed her, the two of them fighting in the stairwell, Ele's phone laid shattered on the landing below. With a grunt, Tony lifted Ele who screamed again, this time the two of them fell backwards, tumbling down the flight of stairs.

The last thing Ele thought was of Tyler, and how she would miss him so much.

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

Listening quietly, Ele felt a little better, but something else poked at her. In a quiet voice she asked,

"And what happens when you wake up one day and see me as too old?"

There was a quiver in Ele's voice and she cursed her insecurity. This needed to be cleared up though.

"Or when a younger, prettier woman walks by and all you can see is my age?"

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

"Hi..."

Ele said, unsure of how to start. Deciding that beating around the bush would only complicate things, she dove right in.

"Eric told me yesterday that you prefer younger women. How come you told me that you had only dated one woman, but not about the string of others that came after her?"

Trying to keep her voice even, Ele leaned her elbows on her knees, her long hair falling over her shoulders to curtain her face.

City Comes to the Country (Tyler Night and Whitelily)

That squeeze on her heart again made Ele wince. Tyler having the day off would have made her jump for joy just two days ago. She would have spent as much time as she could on the phone to him, chatting about anything and everything.

Taking a deep breath, Ele looked down at her phone, her thumb over the call button. She needed to do this before she completely uprooted her life, completely changed everything for a man she had known for two weeks.

Pressing the green call button, Ele went out into the hallway, then to an empty emergency stairwell where she could have some privacy.