You're Not Just A Teenage Dream | C.H.

"I can't thank you enough!"

The longer Calum paced, the more he realized that there was absolutely nothing he could do but wait. He knew he couldn't ask Ashton to come back, he had already given up most of his day. Luke and Michael were off doing something, and his parents were still visiting his sister in London. He hadn't felt this alone in a long time.

He slumped into a chair in the waiting room, unsure of what he should do. Just as it felt like he was reaching rock bottom, Dakota's phone vibrated in his hand.

Sue!: So...did you tell him yet??? We're dying for details over here!!!! Sue had sent a message, and it was then that he realized that no one back in the States knew what had happened to her.

"Shit. I need to tell them!" He kept trying to open the message, but it kept asking for her PIN. "Dammit, I have no idea what it is!" He tried to rack his brain for it, thinking he had seen her put it in before. The harder he thought about it, the more clear it became that she wasn't on her phone very often when she was with him. That did make him crack a tiny smile, but it didn't resolve the issue at hand.

"Oh! I'll just find Dakota on Twitter, and then Sue or Hannah, and DM them!" The idea finally struck him. He set Dakota's phone on the arm rest of the chair and pulled out his own. He almost started scrolling through his 4.8 million followers, but then he remembered the fans that he and Dakota had met the other night outside of the hotel. They had to have found her Twitter to mention in the pictures or something.

"Come on, someone had to have found it..." He was scrolling through his mentions, trying to find something. Just as he was about to lose hope, he finally reached a picture of them walking into the hotel. He perked back up and scrolled a little slower, just to make sure he didn't miss anything. A picture of Dakota and one of the fans came up, and even though she wasn't mentioned directly, she was still tagged in the picture! With a renewed sense of urgency, he went to her profile. It was surprising active, despite all of the time she had been spending with him.

"She must not sleep very much, geez." Calum was surprised as he saw how many tweets she had, but he was more interested in who she was following. Thankfully for him, she was only following 187 people, so it wouldn't take him long at all to find someone he could talk to. He found Hannah's account first, but since it was protected, he couldn't take the chance and wait for her, so he kept scrolling. He found Sue's account, followed her, and quickly sent her a message.

Hey, do you know the code to Dakota's phone?

Yeah, why? Sue responded almost immediately.

I need it. He wasn't trying to be rude, he just needed it as quickly as he could possibly get it.

Sure, it's 2018, her college graduation year.

Thanks! He jammed his phone back in his pocket and picked Dakota's back up. Sure enough, when he put in 2018, it unlocked. He felt weird about being on her phone when she wasn't there, but he knew he needed to let people know what was going on. He opened her messages, hoping that she had been texting someone from her family lately. He didn't recognize anyone immediately, but he saw a conversation with someone named Jordan, and when he opened the contact picture, it appeared to be Dakota and her twin; it was almost scary how much they looked alike.

"Wait, she doesn't have a twin...does she? She said something about sisters, so maybe this is one of them?" He muttered to himself before he decided to take a chance and see. He knew he couldn't call, so he just started sending a message instead.

Me: Hi, my name is Calum, and I don't know if Dakota has told you about me, but we're dating. She got into an accident today, and I'm at the hospital with her right now, but they just took her back for surgery. I don't really know what's going on beyond that. He knew that wasn't the best way to break the news of Dakota's accident or of them being official, but he wasn't even sure if he was texting the right person, so he just went for it.

The minutes ticked by as he waited for a response. He had been sitting in the waiting room for almost an hour now, losing his mind with worry and trying to get a hold of someone from Dakota's family. He had eventually found her parents in her messages, and sent them the same thing he had sent to the person he believed was her sister, but neither of them had responded either. He was starting to get impatient; he was tired of not knowing what was going on and anxious to get a response from someone in her family.

---

An hour after the nurse had escorted him back to the waiting room, he got a response from Jordan.

Jordan: I'm Dakota's sister. What do you mean accident? Has anything else happened? And Calum, as in, the bassist from my sister's favorite band?

"Wow, she really doesn't mince words, does she. Must run in the family." Calum almost laughed at his little joke, knowing Dakota wasn't afraid to be blunt when she wanted to be. He responded, saying that he still didn't know exactly what was going on, but that Dakota had been hit by a car and now she was in surgery, and that, yes, he was that Calum.

Jordan: She was hit by a car? What the fuck? Jordan apparently wasn't impressed by who he was, but frankly, he didn't care. They all had bigger things to worry about right then. Just as he was about to start typing out his response though, the nurse who had escorted him out came back through the doors. He immediately jumped up and started searching her face for some kind of indication of what was going on, but she was unreadable.

"The surgery was a success." A flood of relief washed over him. "We stabilized her, and right now, she's in recovery. You won't be able to see her until we get her moved to a new room and she wakes up. The neurosurgeon will be out here shortly to explain what exactly happened to her." The nurse smiled at him and walked back into the emergency room.

Me: The nurse just came out, she pulled through! The surgeon will be here in a little bit to explain what happened. I'll keep you updated!

Calum's worry may have plummeted, but he was still extremely anxious to know what happened to Dakota and why a neurosurgeon was involved. He resumed his pacing, although it was much slower now.

"Are you Dakota Zamora's significant other?" A new doctor interrupted his pacing; he was still dressed in his scrubs and was taking off whatever he had on his head.

"Yes, I'm her boyfriend. Can you please tell me what the hell is going on? No one has given me any straight answers, and now I'm in contact with Dakota's family, and they're just as worried as I am." Calum realized he had started rambling.

"Of course, mister..."

"Hood."

"Mr. Hood. You are aware that she sustained a subarachnoid hemorrhage during the accident?" Calum nodded. "Yes, well, brain injuries always carry a high risk of complications, and that was the case here as well. The migraine and drowsiness she experienced after waking up were symptoms of a particular complication called 'acquired hydrocephalus'. That basically means that there was a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid surrounding Dakota's brain, causing pressure to build, which made her slip into the coma. Luckily, we caught it before there was any permanent damage. The surgery we did was implanting a tube into her brain to help drain the excess fluid into her abdomen to be absorbed into her bloodstream. There will be a small lump under her scalp where the valve to the tube is, and there will be a scar, but her hair in that spot will grow back, and the rest of her hair should cover it. Her stitches will dissolve in a few days, but she will need to stay in the hospital until then. We do expect her to make a full recovery." The neurosurgeon finished his explanation and waited for Calum to take in what he just said.

"That was a lot to take in..." Calum said slowly.

"I understand. Do you have any questions?" The neurosurgeon's voice was full of patience.

"You're sure she'll come out of this okay? I don't think any of us can take anything else happening to her..." He said cautiously.

"Well, just like with any medical procedure, there is always the risk of complications, but I believe that she should have no other issues as a result of anything."

"I can't thank you enough!" Calum almost hugged him, but managed to restrain himself.

"It's my job. Excuse me." The surgeon smiled and walked back through the doors. Calum quickly sent as much of the explanation as he could remember to Dakota's sister, and tried to settle back in the chair, knowing someone would come get him when him when they moved her to her new room.