A Handful Of Moments You Wish You Could Change (Patrick Stump Imagine Story)

Long Live The Car Crash Hearts

Author's Note: Thanks to Stumphalicious for helping me out with the beginning of this chapter, I don't know what I would've done without her <3 -Rachael

By now, you're probably thinking that the worst of the worst has happened. That things can't get any worse. But you can't be more wrong.

You hear the door slam shut as Ethan leaves, but are too stunned to leave your spot, so you remain seated.

What feels like three hours, but is only ten minutes, passes by before you hear Gabby shout, "Mommy! There's someone on the phone for you." You notice she's missing from her seat. "Something about Ethan."

You raise your eyebrow before rising up from the dinner table and making your way into the kitchen, not before noticing that your keys are missing from the dish by the door. Your heart begins to pound against your chest as you gingerly take the phone from Gabby. "Go play, honey," You tell her, taking her down from the countertop she crawled up on. She nods and runs off, leaving you in complete privacy with the doctor on the phone. "H-Hello?" You stammer.

"Yes, is this Mrs. Stump?" You hear a male's voice emanate from the speaker, his voice full of caution.

"This is her. Wh-What's going on?" You retort nervously, standing there with the telephone wire between your fingers.

"Your son, Ethan, was involved in a serious car accident and is in critical condition," He informs you with uncertainty and pity, as all doctors do.

At this moment in time, your whole world comes to an abrupt stop. Your heart stops beating and your mind goes blank.

"Please come as soon as possible, we're doing everything we can but there are some things-"

You hang up and quickly dial the first person that comes to your mind - Patrick. He's his dad, why wouldn't you call him? But of course, he doesn't pick up. "Fucking asshole," You grumble under your breath with tears in your eyes before you call the next best person - Pete. He's not his dad, but he cares about him like he is. He answers within two rings.

"(Y/N)? What's wrong?" Pete asks you tiredly, he must've been asleep.

"Ethan stole my car for god knows what reason and he got into an accident and...and now I need a ride to the hospital," You ramble off, panicking.

You hear Pete jump out of his bed as soon as you told him the news, "I-I'll be there in three minutes!" He exclaims before ending the call. You put the phone back on the receiver and storm out of the kitchen, finding Gabby in the living room playing with some of her dolls. She looks up at you, not quite understanding the situation just yet. You race over to her and pick her up, "We're going to visit Ethan, Gabby," You announce, attempting to regain your composure for your daughter's sake.

"Where is he?" She inquires as you make your way over to the front door, where you sit her down on the bench you have and help her get her shoes on.

"He's at the hospital," You answer honestly.

"The hospital?"

Before you can explain to her what the hospital is (though you didn't really want to in the first place), you hear a car horn from outside.

"We've got to go," You respond to her instead, sweeping her up in your arms and whisking her outside, slipping into the back of Pete's car. "Go!" You snap at him, "NOW!" He slams on the gas pedal and speeds forward.

After neglecting the speed limits (luckily not getting caught by the police), Pete drops you and your daughter off at the hospital entrance. You rush inside, Gabby in your arms, and right up to the help desk, rattling off your son's name. The receptionist tells you what floor he's on and you run up there, not even bothering to wait for the elevator.

A doctor in one of the hallways stops you and asks you if you're Ethan's mother. You nod your head and he guides you down the hallway, explaining the situation to you, and how they're not sure if he's going to make it out of this, and if he does, how badly his life will be changed. You can't hold back the tears that flood your eyes and stream down your cheeks.

The doctor shows you the room Ethan will be brought to once they're done operating on him and suggests you sit down, have a glass of water or treat yourself to a cup of coffee you can get in the waiting room. You shake your head in understanding and the doctor leaves, giving you a pat on the shoulder.

Minutes later, Pete arrives, breathless seeing as he ran up there. You immediately pull him into a tight hug and start crying into his shoulder.

"He...He might not-" You try to tell him, but Pete cuts you short by "shh"ing you, comfortingly rubbing your back.

"Let's not think about that, okay?" He whispers in your ear.

"I can't lose him, Pete," You confess, "I just can't."

"You're not going to lose him."

"But how...how do you know?" You sniffle.

"Because...Ethan's a fighter," He answers, leaning back and looking into your red and puffy eyes, tucking a piece of your hair behind your ear and smirking at you, "He can survive anything."