Veto Syndrome// m.c

[7]

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Her breathing was shallow, but the steady beeping of the heart monitor beside her bed had him at ease. She was incredibly pale, paler than he had ever seen her. Her body looked so small and fragile under the thick and hideous tan blanket the nurse had brought in.

He was scared to touch her. Her hand laid beside her, taunting him. But he was scared. He couldn't blink because all he could see was her pushing him away, trying to get out of his hold. He hadn't cried, but lord did he want to. He wanted to hide away, embarrassed. The first time a girl says yes to going on a date, and she ends up being hospitalized. Beautiful.

The door swung open, a woman and a man running in. The woman frazzled, her wide, blue eyes filled with panic. Blue like Steph's, he noticed. She was most likely her mum, and the man beside her must be her dad, he thought.

"Michael?" She asked, tears in her eyes as she reached the side of the bed. He nodded, too nervous and scared to respond. They'd never let Steph near him again, right? They'd stop their friendship, end it. He'd be miserable and alone, and maybe that'd be best. He felt toxic right now.

"Oh, sweetheart." She placed a hand on his shoulder, wiping tears away. "Are you okay?"

He stared up at her, confused. Her daughter was laying in a bed, for no goddamn apparent reason, and she was worrying about him?!

"I am perfectly fine, ma'am. But, what the fuck? Step-"

"She's fine," she cut him off, sitting down on the bed beside him. She sniffled, trying to compose herself enough so that Michael wouldn't be as freaked out. "This is not the first time she's had this happen, dear."

"What do you mean? She just goes places and randomly, fucking, faints and nearly dies in peoples' arms?"

Nic sighed, turning to look at her husband. "I think Steph would rather explain all of this to you, so just hold off a little longer."

"Why'd you walk in freaked out if you knew she was okay then? Huh?" Michael asked, growing upset with his lack of information on the entire ordeal. What had Steph kept from him that seemed so damn important?

"Do you think it gets any easier for me, seeing my child in a hospital? It doesn't, Michael. Not one bit."

Daryl cleared his throat, stepping forward. "Look, son, we've got it from here, if ya wanna head out."

Michael shook his head, rubbing his palms against his jeans. "No way, I was there for her when she lost consciousness, I will be here when she wakes up," he promised, placing his hand on her bed and intertwining their fingers.

The parents nodded, sending one final look at their daughter. "We'll be in the waiting room, okay?" Nic placed a kiss on Steph's forehead before following her husband out of the room.

-

Hours passed and nothing had changed. The nurse had came in and checked on her each hour, informing Michael of her condition and reassuring him that she was perfectly fine, just resting from the intense panic attack she had endured. But he didn't know how to explain that it wasn't the nurses or the doctors he wanted reassurance from, but from Steph herself.

He was exhausted, not being able to sleep because nightmares of losing Steph plagued him. He was tempted to slide into the bed with her, to wrap his arms around her and hold her close to him, but he knew he shouldn't. Her parents were just down the hall, it was disrespectful, surely.

Michael got up from his seat, stretching as he walked to the bathroom that was attached to the room. He quietly shut the door and did his business, looking in the mirror to see an extremely worn out version of himself. His hair was a mess, pointing in every direction due to him constantly running his hands through it. Bags were prominent under his light, jade green eyes from his late-night gaming sessions with Luke and Calum. His lips were redder than normal, looking bruised because he had been biting at his bottom lip. Hospital lights made you see things differently, he decided. The bright limelight showed your exhaustion and worry, but it also showed what mattered most to you, he thought, his mind drifting to Steph.