Splattered Paint - Dan Howell

Good Morning Sunshine

Dan's P.O.V

I was glad Darcy hadn't woken by the time I arrived back at the mental hospital. I was becoming impatient though, and that day I continued to watch her, and it wasn't till the next day that she finally woke.

I had gone home the night before, deciding I needed a proper sleep and shower. The doctor was most happy to inform me of any occurrences, thankfully. Then the next morning I did as I had planned before quickly driving to the hospital.

When I arrived, nothing much had changed. But within a few hours, Darcy had started to twist and turn in her sleep. I had hope she would finally wake up.

I waited for a while before finally, she became still and I began to think she had fallen asleep again. But then I was surprised, and not in a good way.

Darcy had started shaking and I didn't think anything of it until she fell to the floor and scrambled her way to the wall behind her.

She was crying, I could hear her sobbing through the glass and it broke my heart.

The doctor was standing now, watching her with a straight face, and showing no sign of what might be happening to her. I suddenly ticked, any sign of humanity leaving my mind.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? HELP HER!" But the doctor simply shushed me and continued watching with an intense stare. This only angered me more and I clenched my fists.

"SHE'S CRYING! WHY CANT YOU COMFORT HER? IF I CAN'T AT LEAST YOU DO IT!" But the doctor didn't listen, instead he just turned his attention to me and glared for a moment.

"Dan you must calm down, I warned you she might not wake up in a good state. Now be quite, she isn't supposed to hear you"

I sighed, he was right but that didn't stop be from being slightly pissed off. This whole situation was stressful and heart breaking.

"So what do we do now, just wait until she tries to get out or something?" Dr Hodgons shook his head, still watching Darcy.

"We will leave her like this for two days, bringing her food every morning whilst she is asleep. Then after that I will gradually have communication with her. I will ask her questions but if there is any sign she is having an attack we will instantly drug her. The idea is, she doesn't have any attacks and after a few weeks she will be able to leave. But we still don't know what is going on in her head. She could have amnesia, she could be normal but either way you will have to be patient" I didn't want to promise anything, but I guess he was a professional and I just wanted Darcy back as soon as possible.

"Sure, I will"

"Good" He responded and that was the end of our chat. We must have stood there for hours watching Darcy extremely observantly. I didn't even want to blink.

She was just sat against the wall, her hair covering her face, and knees brought up to her chest. She was wearing one of those white hospital gowns and I knew she wouldn't like it, but at this moment I didn't think she even cared what her clothing was.

She looked scared, why would she be scared?

She was in a hospital, shouldn't she feel safe?

But she didn't even look around, just fell off the bed and scrambled to the wall.

I could only hope she was okay, that she wasn't in any way scared, and that she didn't have amnesia.

I was worried that if she had amnesia, she wouldn't be able to remember me. That was my biggest worry, which was pretty selfish.

That afternoon I kept a constant eye on Darcy except from the few minutes I spent texting Phil, and sending him a picture. He said he wanted to come by and check on her but I told him not to bother.

She wasn't moving, just sat still at the back of the room.

And it wasn't until that evening that she moved again, this time she shifted her hair out of her eyes and I saw her beautiful eyes for the first time in what felt like years but was really only a few days.

Her reaction was heart-warming, watching her eyes widen for a moment and then she stood up, carefully holding onto the wall for support. I internally cheered her on, the grin on my face growing.

Darcy looked around, her eyes scanning the room and for a while she stared at the mirror before taking her first step in my direction. I knew she couldn't see me, in her point of view it was just a mirror but it was obviously not, it was the window I was watching her from. She carefully made her way to the window and stood directly in front of me, my heart thumping in my chest.

Could she see me?

But I could see the reflection in her eyes and it only showed a blank mirror with her reflection.

Darcy just stood there, emotionless, until she brushed her curly hair behind her ears and straightened her gown. Suddenly her lips curved into a small smile, and she turned away before walking over to the door. Darcy's hand grabbed the door knob and she turned it but it didn't budge. She tried again, twisting the knob back and forth but nothing worked and the smile had left her face.

She started banging on the door, her fists smacking on the white painted wood in order to bring attention to someone. I assumed she realised she was in a hospital, because it looked like it. Little did she know, it was a mental hospital and she was being watched.

Then a thought made its way into my mind.

Did Darcy remember me?

"Doctor, shouldn't you go talk to her?" I asked, taking my eyes away from Darcy for a moment.

"I would, but she only woke up today. Luckily her actions showed she was just confused not scared, so we will talk to her tomorrow. The best thing to do is just let her settle for a little while. We don't want to rush things, she needs time." I nodded, and we watched Darcy scan the room again, still confused.

I tried concentrating on positive thoughts, reminding myself to stay optimistic but questions kept circling in my head.

And questions were reduced to only one.

Does she have amnesia?

And by now I was probably just overthinking. The doctor said there was a chance, it wasn't certain. So I shouldn't have been worrying as much as I was.

I probably just needed sleep and a decent meal after missing so many.

So I decided to go home that afternoon, though the doctor did promise to text me if ANYTHING happened and he would send me the video footage of the hours I was gone the next day, which I said I would appreciate.

Phil was also glad to see me home again, catching up with Facebook and friends and family. He knew I wouldn't respond to my texts, I never did. I was always too lazy or distracted.

And that night I slept peacefully knowing Darcy was awake and she would be out of that darn hospital soon.