Meeting Dan (Danisnotonfire)

Chapter 15 - The longest night

Dan's POV

I walked into the room and hated what I saw. My beautiful girlfriend, laying motionless on the hospital bed with tubes and wires everywhere. I was sceptical about going in any further, but the doctor gave me a reassuring nod and tapped my shoulder before leaving the room. I slowly made my way over to the bed and sat down on the chair next to it. I took her hand in mine and kissed it tenderly, using my other hand to move her fringe out of her face. I would have given anything to have her open her eyes and let me know she was okay, but this didn't happen. I knew I wasn't going to leave her side. Like the doctor said, the next 24 hours were critical, and I had to be there for her. I thought that talking to her might help, even though I had no idea whether or not she could hear me.

"Ivy..? It's Dan. Don't be scared babe okay? I'm here, and i'm not going anywhere. I just want you to wake up. Even if all you do is shout at me or something for being a crappy boyfriend, anything to let me know you're okay. You can't leave me now. I need you. I love you. But i know you're strong. And i know that you're going to pull through this.." I couldn't say any more. My throat felt so dry and i began to cry again. I rested my head on the side of the bed, still holding onto her hand when i felt a presence behind me. I turned around to see a young nurse giving me a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but do you know if Ivy has any family we should inform?" Shit. I completely forgot about her family back home. They would surely hate me for this. For being such an awful boyfriend and not protecting her. "Um, yeah her parents back at home. They don't live in Londom, umm.. I don't have a contact number for them though, sorry." "Oh no, it's fine. Ivy had her phone in her pocket when she came in, i was just wondering who to call so i could get the number from it." With that she smiled and left the two of us alone again. I was dreading coming face to face with her parents. How was i going to explain this to them? I didn't even know if they were aware of her self harming problems.

I heard a gentle knock on the door and turned around to see Phil's head poking through. I wasn't sure if he was allowed in or not but i nodded at him signalling him to come in. He headed over to me and stood next to me and i could see how much it hurt him seeing Ivy in the state she was in. "Phil, Ivy's parents are on there way here. Can you let me know when they arrive so i can come out and explain everything to them.?" "Mate, are you sure you don't want me or Leah to do it?." I shook my head and sighed a huge sigh. "No, it's better coming from me." Phil nodded before asking if i wanted a drink. I shook my head and felt him rub my shoulder as he exited the room.

I looked up at the clock and saw the time. 4pm. It felt like we had been here so much longer. The doctors were not in the room at this point, so i seized the opportunity to gently ease myself up onto the bed and lay down next to Ivy. I placed my head on her chest and felt it slowly rise. This gave me hope that she was going to be okay, i felt myself slowly began to nod off when all of a sudden i heard a loud scream from outside Ivy's room. I headed over the door to hear a woman shouting "WHERE IS SHE? WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER". Oh no, this was it. I was going to have to confront them. I headed over to Ivy and kissed her forehead before leaving the room.

I walked into the cold hallway to see a woman sitting on the floor sobbing with a tall man behind her crying into his hands. I was half expecting her father to lunge at me and beat the hell out of me when he saw me, but to my surprise, the complete opposite happened. Her father turned to look at me and tapped her mother on the shoulder. The woman looked over at me and stood up. She must have seen that my eyes were all red and puffy because she walked over to me and pulled me into a huge hug. I didn't even know her, but i hugged her back and burst out crying. Her father then came over and patted me on the back. "I'm so sorry that this has happened, i should have been there for her." Her mother just looked up and me and wiped a tear from my cheek. "Darling this isn't your fault. The doctor has explained everything to us. You couldn't have stopped this." I was so relieved that her parents were this nice. They asked to see her, but the doctor said that she couldn't have too many visitors at once. Her parents asked me if they could go and sit with her for a while and of course i agreed and went back to sit on my loyal blue seat in the hallway.

As i was sitting there waiting to go back into Ivy's room, Phil headed over to me with Leah by his side. "Hey Dan, i'm going to take Leah home and try and get some sleep myself. Do you want to come? Or do you want me to bring you anything?". "No i'm fine honestly, i'm just going to stay here." Phil nodded before taking Leah's hand and heading towards the exit. Almost an hour had passed before Ivy's parents came out of her room. "We are going to try and find a hotel close by so we can stay here until she's better. Promise me you will stay here with her and let us know if there is any change." I gave her mother a nod before hugging her and shaking her fathers hand. As soon as they left, i rushed back in to be with Ivy. I don't know why, but a part of me was expecting to see her sitting up in bed smiling, but this wasn't the case. She looked the exact same as before. I pulled a chair closer to her bed and again took her hand in mine.

A few hours had passed and i was still by her side. And there was still no change. I was shattered, but i didn't want to sleep. I rested my head on the side of her bed and closed my eyes. I was about to drift off when i felt something. My hand.. Something had squeezed it. I looked up to Ivy and saw that her eyes were still closed. Maybe i was dreaming. I stood up and leaned closer to her face. "Ivy babe, can you hear me? Can you squeeze my hand again so i know you're okay? Please." A few seconds passed and there was nothing, but suddenly it happened again. She squeezed it! I began to cry tears of joy. I felt like she was going to be okay. I looked at her and couldn't believe my eyes. Her eyes slowly began to flicker open, and i saw a glimmer of green shine through. I began to smile like an idiot as i waited for her to slowly regain consciousness. My smile slowly disappeared though as i saw that she seemed to be choking and not able to breathe. The monitors began beeping and i ran out of the door to get help. "PLEASE SOMEONE COME IN HERE NOW, HELP!". I suddenly saw the male doctor from earlier rush by me with two other nurses. I followed them in and began screaming in panic. "What's wrong with her?! What's happening?". One of the nurses came over to reassure me that everything was okay. "It's okay, don't panic, she is just having some trouble breathing because she has a tube down her throat which has been helping her to breathe whilst she has been unconscious." I looked over at the doctor who removed the tube from her throat and i saw Ivy sit up slightly trying to catch her breath. I ran over to her side and grabbed her hand. "Ivy, it's me Dan, look just breathe slowly okay, you can do it." She looked at me and began to calm down as she pulled her arms out and pulled me in for a huge hug. "I'm so sorry Dan." She cried into my chest and i just held her close not wanting to let go. I was never going to risk losing her again..