The Draw

28

They walked down to the end of another empty corridor, past curtained off rooms and busy nurses. A nurse greeted them and led them further into the unit. She opened the door to a privet room.

Stacey hadn't thought about what she might see. All she'd cared about was that he was alive. But nothing quite prepared her for seeing Dan like that. She could see his beautiful dark hair was matted with blood, his face pale and cold. There was a tube coming out the side of his mouth and lines going underneath the blankets, all leading to monitors, fluid and blood.

She walked to him slowly, surveying him closely. He looked peaceful, like he would wake up at any moment. The most haunting thing for Stacey was that he wasn't snoring. He was silent. He looked relatively unscathed but she knew underneath the hospital blankets and gown, he was torn up inside. She sat down next to him in a chair and put her hand over his and squeezed it. It was the first time she'd touched him for so long.

'I'm here.' She whispered.

She sat there all morning, never letting go of his hand. She couldn't. He was alive right now but the doctors had made it very clear that he was still seriously ill. The nurses came in and out, checking his monitors, temperature, drips. No one spoke. The three boys sat opposite Stacey, Dan in between them. She didn't dare take her eyes off him for a moment, but by lunch time she was so exhausted, her eyes closed and her head dropped onto the bed.

The next thing Stacey knew was her hand being squeezed. It was only slightly, but she knew immediately that he was going to be ok. She stood up over him, stroking his face. His eyes were fluttering. He was moaning quietly and starting to stir.

'I'm here, Dan, it's me. I'm here.' She found herself crying silently. She kissed his forehead softly. It took him a few moments, but his eyes finally opened. She saw those beautiful blue eyes looking right at her. 'Hello.' She smiled, with a tear escaping down her face. He slowly brought his hand up to her face and touched her cheek, wiping it away. Kyle went to tell a nurse that he was awake and within seconds one came rushing in.

'Daniel, you're in the hospital. There's a tube down your throat, helping you to breathe. I'm going to take it out now. I'll count to three, then you need to take a big breath out.' He nodded slightly. 'Ok. 1,2,3.'

He coughed as she pulled it out. He then moaned in pain.

'You're going to be really sore for a while, I'll up the morphine now and if you need something more, press this button here. Just lay still. I'm going to tell your doctor you're awake. I'm sure your lovely family can look after you for a moment.'

The nurse left and Stacey couldn't help but give Dan a big, but gentle, hug. They all did. The relief from everyone in the room couldn't be hidden.

'How do you feel?' Will asked. He tried to talk, but he was croaky. Stacey helped him drink some water.

'You're here.' He strained a small smile at her. His voice was so small and quiet.

'I've been here all night, waiting for you to wake up. We all have.'

'I can't really remember what happened....did I crash?'

'No. Someone went into us.' Kyle told him. 'You're very lucky.'

'I don't feel it.' He managed the tiniest of laughs. They all stayed with him for a few hours, the doctors coming in to tell him what he'd broken and what they'd operated on. He drifted in and out of sleep, waking up only because the painkillers had worn off. He wasn't exactly strong enough to hold a full conversation with and Stacey didn't really want to bring up their situation until he was out of hospital. His parents had returned, so Stacey and the boys decided to leave him in peace for a little while.

'We'll come back tomorrow, before you go back to surgery. Want us to grab you anything?' Will asked.

'Nah.' He said, his eyes closed. Stacey squeezed his shoulder softly and said goodbye. It was nearly tea time, she had to pick Evie up and get home. She was in desperate need of a shower and some decent food. She said bye to Will and Kyle, quickly swapping phone numbers and then she and Woody drove back to her house so he could get his car back.

'Thanks for coming with us Stacey. I think it's helped him. And I hope you guys work something out with Evie. I'd like to meet her one day too.'

'We'll see. It's up to him now. And that would be nice. She's probably been missing out on having three uncles.' They hugged for a long time, Stacey feeling like she could fall asleep on his shoulder. As horrible as the situation was, it had at least finally got them all taking again. She'd missed the guys. She'd always gotten on with them, Kyle mostly, but Will and Woody too. 'Take care.' She called as he drove off. She ran inside and found her phone in the bathroom. 39 missed calls and 20 texts. All from Liam and her mum. She immediately rang him back.

'I am so sorry! I left my phone at home. I've been at the hospital all night and day-'

'I know. With Dan. The guy you supposedly hate?' She knew he was pissed off. She hadn't really thought about him in the last twenty hours. She knew it seemed selfish and ridiculous but she'd hope he'd understand.

'Yeah, I have. He was in an accident.'

'I know. See, I got worried and rang your mum and she told me.'

'Yeah? And I would've rang you if I'd had my phone.'

'You rang your mum though?' He was getting more and more wound up.

'Because I know her number. I don't know yours. I'm sorry, but are you mad at me?'

'Yes I am Stacey. You've spent the last day with your ex. Am I supposed to be ok with that?'

'I wouldn't say 'ok with it' but you should at least trust me. He's been unconscious most of the time.'

'I don't care. You're the one who told me how much you hated him and that you never wanted to see him again. And then you spent all night by his bedside? Does that not seem weird to you?'

'Look, he asked for me. I thought he was going to die. I needed to see him. I needed to know why he'd abandoned me and Evie. But now he's going to be alright. So I think it might be a good idea for Evie to meet her dad.'

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

'I'm her dad.'

'I know you are. And that won't change.'

'So why does he need to meet her? What's he ever done to deserve that? Don't you think this will confuse her? I don't think this is a good idea...'

'Liam, please. I know it seems stupid. But I need this to happen. I'm willing to forget everything he's done to me for the sake of Evie.'

'For the sake of Evie?! What?! She doesn't know any different. But you go introducing her to him and she will suffer.'

'I...I...look. I'm tired. I need to go pick her up and go to sleep. Can we talk about this tomorrow?'

He didn't even say bye. He just hung up. She'd imagined he wouldn't have been overly happy about what she'd done. But he seemed totally disgusted by it. She'd rather not have spent the night in hospital with her ex. But it had happened and now she had to think about the future.