Fiction

What isn't being said

"The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't being said. The art of reading between the lines is a life long quest of the wise."
~Shannon L. Alder

Phil POV

My eyelids flickered open slowly, feeling heavier than they ever had before. I had been fighting to open them for the past half hour, and had only just been successful.

"Phil?" I heard, and saw Chris and PJ appear above me, faces split open in matching smiles. The ceiling was white,  and the whole room looked weirdly clean and sterile. There was a girl in purple leg warmers and leggings in the corner, watching us with a happy expression. She gave a little half wave when she saw me looking, before getting up and leaving.

"Who's that?" I ask, voice cracking slightly from lack of use at the end of my sentence.

"Oh, that's Izzy. She's probably the only thing keeping us all sane at the moment. Dan met her and took her under his wing when he found out she was kicked out of her home." Chris explained. "She's probably gone to get Dan, I think she managed to convince him to have a shower."

At that moment Dan burst into the room, and ran to my bedside. His hands went immediately to me, stroking my hair, tracing my cheekbones, gripping my hand.

I flinched.

I couldn't help it.

His eyes locked on mine, and I could see he understood. He took a small step back, smiled sadly at me, before walking out of the door. Izzy shot me a quizzical look, before leaving as well.

"What?" Chris asked. "He didn't leave your bedside for the week you were gone, and now when you wake up he just leaves? Why would he-" He is then cut off by PJ putting a hand over his mouth, whispering something in his ear. His face scrunches up in confusion before he understands what PJ is saying. They both look at me sadly, almost pityingly.

"I'll get a nurse, tell them you're awake." Chris says, pecking PJ on the cheek before leaving. PJ stares after him, his eyes suspiciously lower than they should be.

"Really?" I say, and PJ seems to snap back into reality. "I woke up less than five minutes ago after a week of being in hospital, and that's all less important than checking out your boyfriend's ass?" He smiles sheepishly at me and shrugs.

A nurse walks in at that moment, smiling at me before checking a clipboard she holds in her arms.

"Hi Phil. I'm Layla, I'm the nurse that's been checking on you whilst you've been out." She smiles, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear in a surprisingly nervous and young gesture.

"Hi." I say, and PJ waves at her.

"Okay, so you broke both your ankles and one of your legs, and you have a rather nasty bruise on the back of your head, we think that's what caused your prolonged sleep, along with the emotions you must have been feeling. Your legs should be fine within five to seven weeks, but we're going to have to give you a wheelchair until then. You can probably start using crutches a bit after about a fortnight, but not too much or it might aggravate the breaks. We'll need you to come in every week for X-Rays on your leg and ankles, and every day for a meeting with our suicide and depression councillor for the next couple of weeks. Is that okay with you?"

"I don't need depression counselling." I said, before realising how stupid that must sound. I did just jump from a bridge.

"We can't take any risks, Phil. She's going to come and see you now, if that's okay? Your friend can stay with you if you'd like."

"Er... Yeah, that's fine. I'd like PJ to stay."

"Okay then. You can call me at any time by pressing that button there, next to the bed." She said, before turning and leaving.

PJ immediately turned to me, his face scrunched up in worry. "Are you sure you want me to stay? I can call Dan, or Chris."

"No, I don't want Dan. And Chris, whilst he is brilliant, is not known for his mature and understanding way of looking at things." I said, and he laughed at that.

"True. I'll tell him he can go home. He's found this new TV show, Shadowhunters, and it's rapidly taking over his life. He's reading the books it was based off now, I think he'd like to go back to them." He smiled at me, patted my hand, and then walked out of the room, leaving me, for the first time since I woke up, properly alone.

Dan was here.

I didn't know how I was supposed to feel about that, and my feelings about him were now an even more confusing mess than they had ever been. I loved him, of course I did, but, at the same time, he was the one that put me here. I didn't  know why yet, but I had a feeling that he would get someone, probably Izzy, to tell me.

Izzy. She was another thing. I'm sure she was nice and all, but I couldn't help but think that I was missing out on an important part of Dan's life, and I also couldn't help but feel slightly replaced.

I'd always assumed that Dan was either straight, or somewhere on the bisexual spectrum. Could he have moved on from me that quickly?

I didn't know what to think.

Also, Chris and PJ. I knew for a fact that they would not have let Dan anywhere near me if they had thought he had done something to harm me. He must have a pretty good story for them to forgive him, even slightly.

There were too many things to think about. My brain felt like it was either going to explode, or collapse in on itself and start dribbling out of my ears.

My head was pounding. The white walls of the hospital room seemed to be spinning and closing in on me, and I felt like I was going to throw up.

With my last few remaining seconds of consciousness, I smashed my fist into the little red button by the bed.

Then everything went black.

Hey guys!

So, my alert on my phone is working, so you should be getting an update every Saturday.

I have mocks next week, and I'm a lot less freaked out than I probably should be, especially since I have done around about no revision.

Oops.

Hope you enjoy the new part, and also MALEC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peace out bitches!

*eats donuts and aggressively rides a dragon through your town throwing them everywhere*

~RuneStarArrow