If You're Hurt They Bleed

Promises Mean Nothing

Pushing my conversation with Grayson out of my mind, I rushed to my car after school, excited to get to the hospital to talk to Dad. Since Mom didn't tell me anything, I decided to get there as often as possible. 

On my way there I called the hospital, pretending to be my mother, to make sure my name was on the visitation list. It worked, and when I said my name at the front desk the attendant just pointed down the hall. I went to the same room he'd been in before. 

He was reading again, but when he saw me his face lit up. 

"Hi, Star." He gave me a kiss on the cheek and I sat in the chair next to his bed. "Any news?"

Moll and I are singing Take Me Or Leave Me for choir." I said. 

"That's awesome. Are you singing anything with Grayson?" He wiggled his eyebrows. 

"Yeah." I looked at converse. 

"Oh." Dad bit his lip. "So, do you want to talk about it?" 

"No." I sniffled. 

"Come here, Star." He held out his arms and scooted over on the bed, and I let him wrap me in a hug. "It'll be okay. I promise." I nodded, and he stroked my hair until I stopped crying. 

I pulled away, wiping away the last of my tears. "Thanks."

"Of course, Maya." He gave me a small smile. 

We talked for a while, mostly about shows we wish Julie could get the rights to and what Dad wanted to do when he got out of the hospital. At about 5:30 I went down to the cafeteria to grab some dinner and a nurse came into the room to change his IV. 

I came back with a bowl of mac-and-cheese and a couple of pudding cups I snuck from the nurse's station. 

"Hey, Dad." I sat back down. "How you feeling?"

He turned to me, and it scared me how pale he was. "Not too great, Star."

I felt his forehead. He definitely had a fever. I quickly pressed the call button, and a nurse popped into the room. 

"What's up, sugar?" She asked. 

"My dad has a fever," I told her, worry coming through my voice. 

The nurse grabbed a thermometer and took his temp. It read 105.2. 

"Daddy?" I could feel a lump in the back of my throat.

"Is that you, Star?" He asked sleepily. 

"It's me, Dad. Stay awake. Please." He was numb to my pleading, and his eyelids fluttered closed. I heard his heartbeat speed up and the nurse gasped. 

"Hon, you have to go. Your dad needs a CT scan and blood tests right away." 

I felt my heart racing. "What? Why?"

"He's in a coma." I didn't even feel her hand on my shoulder. 

"No." I whisper. "No no no no no NO!" My voice rises to a screech. This wasn't supposed to happen. "You... you promised..." I fell in tears to the floor. "He was getting better... He promised he was getting better... Please..." I curled up in the corner. 

The nurse gently guided me past the doctors rushing into my dad's room. She sat me down in a chair in the waiting room, where I could feel the stares of countless others. 

"Do you need anything? Some juice? Coffee?" The nurse asked. It was then that I saw her nametag. Linda Barton. Barton? Isn't that-

I shook off the numbness. "No. Thank you." I leaned back. 

"I'm so sorry, baby." She gave me a sad smile and got up. 

Promises were made to be broken. 

A/N: Yeah, so... umm I'll start with the nickname, I guess. Star is what my Grandpa called my Aunt, and still does, whenever she does shows. I just thought it would add to their relationship. As for the rest of this, the Barton name you might have to search for if you want to find it in the story. It is relevant, though. Bye, lovelies.