The Ruins of Our Lives Prologue
Summary: This story takes place in October of 1996. Tim is in an accident at Tool Time (which he amazingly enough didn't cause), and a whole bunch of other bad things happen.
Jill's POV
Thank God it's Friday. I am sick of school, and of my professors.
As I walk into the house I barely have my coat off when the phone begins ringing.
I run over to answer it, not having a clue who it could be. I mean, who would call at 2:15 on a Friday afternoon?
'Hello' I answer.
'Oh Jill, thank God, I was worried you wouldn't be home. Tim and Al were in an accident on today's show. The roof collapsed, and everyone was hurt' Heidi said through tears.
'Tim is at the hospital, and Al…Al wasn't so lucky. He was electrocuted when the lights fell. No one knows yet what caused the roof to collapse' said Heidi, again through tears.
'Okay, I'll pick up the boys and be right there' I said, starting to panic.
Sure Tim has been hurt on Tool Time before, but never anything this serious I thought as I grabbed my jacket and was off again.
Once I got in the car, I decided to call the school and tell them to have the boys ready to go when I got there.
'Hello, Lakeside High front office, how may I help you?' answered a cheery voice that I could tell was fake.
'Hi, this is Jill Taylor. I will be picking up my sons Brad and Randy Taylor in a few minutes, and I need them outside waiting for me' I said, letting the military blood in me take over.
'Sure thing Mrs. Taylor' the secretary says in the same cheery voice.
Next thing I do is call Mark's school.
'Hello, Detroit Middle School, how may I help you?' asks another cheery voiced secretary.
'This is Jill Taylor. I will be picking up my son Mark Taylor in a few minutes, and I need him to be outside waiting for me' I say in the same commanding voice I used on the woman at the high school.
'May I ask what for?' the secretary questions, quite rudely.
'You certainly may not. Just have him waiting for me outside when I get there' I say.
The nerve of some people. It is none of that secretary's business why I'm picking up my child.
As I pull up to the high school, I can see Randy waiting outside, then I see Brad come running out as well.
'Buckle up guys' I say as they hop in.
'We're going to stop by and pick up Mark, then we have to go to the hospital' I said, without realizing that the boys had no idea what had happened yet.
'What happened Mom? Is someone sick?' Randy inquired.
'No, apparently today the roof collapsed at Tool Time, and your dad is at the hospital, in surgery'. I replied.
'Well, here's Mark's school, but I don't see him anywhere' I comment.
'You boys stay here, I'm going to go inside and see what's going on. I'll be right back' I say, getting out of the car.
As I walk inside, I don't see Mark anywhere.
I go to the main office, and ask if Mark has been by. The answer is no.
So I ask them to call him down here. The secretary does so.
In the meantime, I question the secretary as to why he wasn't down here waiting, like I requested.
'We need at least 15 minutes notice' the woman responds.
If I didn't have to get to the hospital, I'd stay here and give the principal a piece of my mind about how things operate at this school. But, that'll be for another day.
After about 5 minutes, I see Mark come walking down the hall.
'Hurry up Mark!' I say.
Once we get outside, he asks what's going on.
'Your dad was in an accident on Tool Time. The roof collapsed, and right now your father is in surgery. Heidi didn't say for what though' I reply.
Mark gets in the backseat next to Brad, and I speed off, going about 15 mph above the speed limit, but not giving a damn about it.
In a record time of 10 minutes, we arrive at the hospital.
We run in, and I ask the receptionist where to go.
She seemed a little ticked off that I had interrupted an important phone conversation about shoe shopping, but gave me directions anyways. As I walked away, I gave her some directions as to where she can go, which were met with smiles from the boys, and a scowl from the woman.
The waiting room for surgery patients is on the 5th floor. We took the stairs so we could get there faster.
When we got up there, I told the boys to just sit down, and I walked over to the receptionist there. Luckily, she wasn't on the phone.
'Hi, I'm Jill Taylor, my husband Tim is in surgery. Do I need to fill any forms out?' I ask, sounding like Speedy Gonzalez on a sugar rush.
'Yes, you need to fill out this information for insurance. I know you're worried Mrs. Taylor, but it will be all right. My husband had to have surgery about 4 years ago. It took the team of surgeons several hours to operate on him. Sixteen if I recall correctly. Of course that included the autopsy' says the receptionist.
'Thanks for the emotional support' I mumble.
Just as I sit down to start filling out the medical world's version of the SAT's, I see Heidi come walking into the waiting room.
'Oh Jill, I'm so sorry. I hope he gets better' she says to me.
'Yeah, me too' is all I can manage to mumble.
'Is there anything I can do? Maybe I could take the boys home, or get you something to drink?' she asks politely.
'No, I'm fine. The boy's won't want to go home anyways, they'll want to be here' I said.
'Okay, just let me know if you need anything' she says.
I return to the medical forms I have to fill out. The last time I worked on anything this thick was when I was in college the first time, before I dropped out.
And how does some of this information apply to my husband having a roof collapse on him? I mean, does his mother's maiden name determine the level of care he receives? Does the future of medical science rest on Tim the Toolman Taylor's fathers DOB? I don't even know half of the information.
But I plug along anyway, filling out what I know.
Just as I turn to the last page of the documents, the receptionist comes over to talk to me.
'Mrs. Taylor, the doctor will speak with you now' she says.
'Okay. Here's the information, I've filled out what I know' I say, handing her the clipboard that contains at least 10 square feet of rain forest wood.
I see the doctor come out. He introduces himself as Dr. Ravi Johnjockamo. (How do these people even make it out of the first grade with names like that?).
'Mrs. Taylor, I have some bad news, as well as some good news' Dr. Johnjockamo says.
A/N: Figured I'd leave everyone with a bit of a cliffhanger. Will Tim survive or not? You'll just have to keep reading to find out. And as always, please R&R.
-Yours truly, Randy Taylor.