The Gunman

Chapter Forty-Seven: Ellie

                                                                                    ~One Day Later~

I had been sitting at the hospital for hours. Anna had been in her room the whole time, not once opening her eyes. The doctor had told us that if she ever woke up, which might not ever happen, that she might not be the same. She was in a coma, and had swelling in the brain. The butt of the gun had cracked her skull, nearly shattering it. At least she hadn't been shot.

Peter had sat by her side the whole time. It looked as if he had gotten no sleep at all in the past twenty four hours. I approached him, and sat silently next to him, "So," I began, "Have you had any of the food here? It tastes like melted plastic." It seemed like a safe way to start a conversation, and he gave me a sideways glance.

"First of all, how do you know what melted plastic tastes like? And second, no I haven't. My parents brought me pizza from the place across the street." He had a bemused expression and I just nodded like I found that interesting.

"Don't ask questions that you don't want to know the answer to." I winked at him with a playful smile on my face. "How is she?" My smile disappeared and I looked at my friend's still body.

He looked at me for a second, completely serious, then he said, "Don't ask questions that you don't want to know the answer to." Then he turned back towards Anna's body. I sat there and stared at him for a little bit.

"Why?" I asked him suddenly, and he gave me a confused look. I looked back in wonder, "Why go back in after a girl you barely knew? A girl that practically told you to leave?" I leaned forward towards him like it was some big secret, and he rubbed his chin. He was thinking hard before he answered that question.

"Because," He started, "I would never be able to live with myself if I had just left the school knowing a girl was in there. And she was going after the shooter, which was definitely a death sentence." He smiled softly.

I looked at him; there was something else I needed to know, "So you got her out okay." He nodded, "Why are you still with her? Sitting here?" He looked puzzled that I would ask him that question.

"You're her best friend, you should know." He looked from me to Anna and said, "Because she's amazing. She's strong and beautiful, and she's so brave. I couldn't believe how confident she looked just walking down the hall walking towards Xavier." He scoffed. I turned to look at her and smiled.

"You like her." I said to Peter and he nodded. It was obvious, though Anna probably wouldn't have noticed if she were awake. She was oblivious like that. She always had been, even when we were little kids.

"I do." He said it like it was the most simple thing in the world to say, "The funny thing is, I would probably never have really talked to her if the shooting had never happened. I don't know, there was never a reason to talk to her. And now, we have just gone through what happened yesterday together and I just feel like I know her so well. I know, it's silly. I don't even know her middle name, her favorite color, or even animal. I hardly know her at all, but I just feel like I do." He sighed and slumped in his feet.

"Marie." I said and he looked up, confusion written all over his handsome face, "Her middle name, it's Marie. Her favorite color is orange and her favorite animal was an otter. Or at least that's last I heard. Maybe it's changed, we don't really talk about that stuff much." I shrugged, and Peter laughed.

"An otter?" He asked and laughed. His lips curved into a smile, and his white teeth shined like little pearls. His blue eyes sparkled in the hospital room lights. "What's so great about an otter?"

"Don't ask me. I have no clue, they aren't my favorite animals." I wrinkled my nose, "Personally they remind me of fish with hair. Or at least they smell like fish." I shuddered and squinted my eyes.

"Agreed." He said and faded off, looking at Anna. He looked at her as if she was the most amazing thing in the world. Maybe to him she was, and it made me smile. Her brown hair was gracefully spreading out over the super white pillow which her head lay.

"Where are her parents?" I asked him, and he looked at me.

"They went out to get food; apparently they don't like the food here either. And before you ask, no they don't care that I've been here the whole time. They just don't like how I haven't gotten any sleep." You could see the lack of sleep in his tired eyes. There were bags under his eyes and his mouth was drooping slightly.

"You should sleep." I said and pointed to the small couch next to the windows in the rooms. He looked from me to Anna to the couch. There was a second when it looked like he was about to leap over to the pale green couch.

But he stayed and looked me in the eyes, "But what if something happens and I'm asleep? What if she wakes up and I'm not here to talk to her? I can't go to bed; I'm going to miss something."

"No, I'll tell you if something happens, I'll wake you up. Trust me Peter, I'll let you know. I promise." I gave him an open smile and he nodded. Without another word, he got up and walked over to the couch. Almost immediately he was curled up in a ball, fast asleep.

I sat in that seat for hours, even after her parents had come back from eating. They both looked distressed, and Dean stared at his sister with a look of confusion. He didn't get how she could sleep so well, or so he said. After a while, Peter was back to his spot. Nothing had happened, and nothing happened the rest of the night, or the next day.