Broken (A Josh Hutcherson Imagine)

Chapter 55

55.1
[Josh's POV] "Henry?" I question, unable to believe what I'm seeing. "Henry what are you doing here?" He clearly is trying to think of something to say to make it less awkward, or come up with a good excuse but finally he just says "Josh, I need to talk to you. And I know you probably don't want to talk to me, but we're going to go somewhere where we can sit and talk because there's a lot of shit I have to say." I take a deep breath, I know I have to say yes to Henry, despite not wanting to. "I have to bring Tiff back to her car, you can ride with and then we can go grab a bite to eat and talk if you want" I say as steadily as I can. Henry nods without saying another word, and we all start waking in silence through the hospital. Finally we get to my jeep, and Henry climbs in the back without question. Finally it's him to break the silence, saying "so, are you guys like.. Dating?" Tiffany literally laughs out loud. I'm glad, because I know we're on the same page and I can answer more confidently than originally planned. "No, no we're just old friends." I say, "Tiffany used to date a friend of mine." I add the last part for a little extra certification. Maybe Henry will tell Savannah I'm not seeing anyone. Maybe he'll be able to tell me how her chemo is going, and when she gets to go home. She was starting to get much better, and I wouldn't be surprised if Henry was telling me the day she was going to be released. I must have zoned out thinking about her, because I snap back to Tiffany saying "Earth to Josh! You were supposed to turn right there!" I take a quick right hand turn, circling my way back to where her car is. "Sorry" I say, "I wasn't paying attention I guess." "Great to hear my life is in your hands" Henry chimes in from the back. Man how I've missed his sarcastic remarks, as well as Savannah's. I glance at him through the rear view mirror and I see her face in his, making me flinch and direct my eyes back to the road. I pull up to Tiffany's car in the Target parking lot and she smiles saying "it was nice to finally see you Josh, I'll see you around! Nice to uh, nice to meet you, Henry" Henry says "nice to meet you too" and he jumps up into the front seat as she gets out. "See you later Tiff!" I say, and like that she's gone. I start my car and start driving, "where do you wanna eat?" I ask Henry, not knowing the proper etiquette for something like this. "Somewhere around here." He says simply. I pull out of the parking lot and drive for a few blocks, pulling to the side and parallel parking near a chipotle. "This okay?" I ask him. "It's great." he responds coldly and we both get out and walk inside. After we order and sit down, both taking the first bite of our burritos I say "so what do you need to talk about?" He looks at me like I'm the dumbest person on the planet. "Uh, Savannah. You know that girl you dated, your precious roommate, the girl you said you loved, my sister, cancer patient, is that enough of an explanation for you or should I go on?" "Henry listen.." I start out but he cuts me off. "No Josh, you listen!" He says in a raised voice. He rants and me for a few minutes and nothing really sinks in until I process some of what he's saying after he's already finished. She got much sicker. She wouldn't talk. Wouldn't sleep. Wouldn't eat. Wouldn't do anything. Weaker. Sicker. Feeding tube. Can't walk. Can't stand. Can't even have chemo anymore because of how bad she got. I catch up to what Henry's saying and hear him say "and now she's on death bed. And I have to do something. I have to do something to save my sister." He's quiet for a minute and then Henry continues "I have to do sown thing and as much as I hate it, you being such a douche and all, you're the only thing that has made her happy. And I have to try and make her happy again because.. I can't loose her. I can't loose my big sister too. But even more importantly, if she doesn't make it.. I need her last few months, weeks, days, or minutes to be the best of her life. And god it kills me to say this but you're the only thing I can think of that makes her happy, so will you PLEASE just help me out. Because you owe Savannah at least that." I don't say anything, I just get up and Hug Henry. We both just grab our things and move to the doors and then to the jeep. That foods not important, Savannah is. And we have to get to her. I drive about 65 miles and hour on the short trip to the hospital. We get it and I walk the families route to my old room. I take a deep breath and walk through the door, seeing her eyes for the first time in what feels like years.
55.2
There's silence in the room as you and Josh stare deep into each other's eyes. You both just look at each other for the longest time. You don't know how long, but it's a long time. Finally you blink, unable to hold the stare any longer, and you look down at your hands unable to get the courage to look at Josh again. "Oh, my, God." You hear Maia whisper to herself in the bed next to you. You press the nurses button and Nicole walks in immediately. "What do yo-" Nicole starts off and then says, "Josh?" She's almost as shocked to see him as you were. "Can uh, you help Maia out of bed so Josh and I can have a few minutes alone?" You ask her. You know Maia wants to meet Josh and you feel back kicking her out, but what is about to go down shouldn't be heard by people you and Josh don't know, especially 15 year olds. In fact, it probably shouldn't even be heard by people you do know. "Of course" Nicole says and crosses the room helping Maia into her wheel chair and then as she's wheeling her out, she says "it was nice to see you Josh." "You too" are the first words you hear him say. The girls leave the room and shut the door behind them, leaving you and Josh completely alone. You're both quiet again, this time without looking at each other. Well, you can feel his eyes on you, but you're unable to bring yourself to look him in the eye for quite a few moments. Finally you meet his eyes, and there's instant tears in your own that you force back, and you can see what looks like tears in his too. Finally he breaks the silence. "Your hair, it's getting really long." Your hand reflexively goes to your scalp, touching your hair. After you got done with chemo, and stated your old treatment again, your hair started growing back immediately. Although the strands of hair are not even an inch long, it's much longer than the completely bald head you had last time Josh saw you. "That, oh- Savannah.. That's not, uh. That's not what I meant to say. I shouldn't have started out that way.." Josh is fumbling over every word, "I just, I um just saw your hair and I couldn't hold it back." "It's okay" you say. You know you should probably be angry. Angry that was the first thing he said. Angry that he shows up here after all this time and just walks into your room. Angry that he's pretty much healthy and you're not. Angery about the whole situation, but you're not. You can't be angry because the only thing you want to do is have Josh hold you in his arms and protect you. You just want him to kiss you and tell you everything is gonna okay. You just want him to be the Josh he used to be to you. "Savannah?" You focus on the present time again as Josh's voice brings you back. "Yeah, sorry I was uh, zoning out for a minute." You say quietly. "Is it okay if I sit down, I have something really important that I need to tell you." You nod, and Josh sits at the bottom of your bed right next to your legs, in almost the exact position you were in when you told him about your parents in the bed across the room. "I uh, this is going to come out really jumbled. And it's probably not gonna make much sense.." He starts out. "Just talk Josh," you say, "you have a way with words even if you don't feel that you do." You answer. He starts our by saying "I first need to say I'm sorry. There's nothing that excused what I did. I thought you still liked Raymond, and were going to get back together with him. I know I overreacted and I should've just stopped and listened to you.. But after Claudia... I just, I couldn't handle that again. Secondly I just wanna say that I will.." He clears his voice and you see him wipe a single tear that rolled down his cheek. "I will um, I will always love you Savannah. I have loved you since the moment I met you. I never stopped loving you, and I'm never going to stop loving you. Because my world is so much better when I get to be with you. Loving you makes me a better man. And I know what I did was wrong and I know that you'll probably never be able to forgive me. Which is why I put off coming here so long. But that was quite selfish.. And I wanted to give you the explanation you deserved. So I guess I'm just here to ask if we can still be friends, because if I can't have you to call mine, I want to at least be your friend." He finally finished, a few more tears escaping his eyes as he finished. You take a deep breath and say "I'm sorry Josh, but I'm never going to be able to be friends with you again."
55.3
More tears flow from Josh's eyes. It breaks your heart, but you can't bring yourself to do or say anything else. You just look at him. His perfect face. His perfect jawline. His perfect little nose. His perfect almond shaped hazel eyes. The perfect way his lips fit together and the perfect way you know they fit with yours. "I deserved that." he finally says, "I deserve exactly that. I'm sorry again Savannah, I want you to know that I truly am sorry for everything I caused." Josh gets up and then realization occurs and you realize the love of your life is walking out of the room, when that was never the plan. "Josh wait!" you say, pushing off the blanket, and trying your best to get up. "You don't have to say anything else Sav.." he says, turning back to see you. With the help of your bed, you stand up for the first time in a few weeks and start walking to Josh. "I don't have to say anything, Josh. But I want to." At that point, you realize you're not going to be able to stand any longer. You feel your legs start to give out from underneath you after holding more weight than they had for a long time. "JO-" you start to scream Josh's name as you feel yourself fall, but before you can finish, you see Josh's eyes and watch him go into protective mode. You feel his arms around you and he catches you just before you fall to the ground. He picks you up like a feather, holding you in his arms like a baby "I gotcha Sav, shhh.." he says soothingly, "I got you baby." You tense as you hear him say baby. He realizes what he said as he sits down on the bed, you still in his arms. "I'm sorry.. It was um. It was just a reflex." He moves as if to put you down and he says "I should go.." You burry your head into his shoulder. "Please don't" you say, clinging onto him as he continues to hold you in his arms. "But.. I thought.." He stumbles again. The Josh that's usually so good with words and knows exactly what to say. "I thought you said we couldn't even.. I thought that uh, I thought you didn't wanna be friends." He finally gets out. "I don't wanna be friends, Josh." you say, looking up at him. "Because being just friends with you would drive me crazy. It would drive me crazy to see you and not say 'I love you' or greet you with a kiss. It would drive me crazy to give you advice for other girls. It would drive me crazy to be around you knowing that we're *just* friends." You take a deep breath and say "Josh I told you that I couldn't be friends with you, because I can't. It would break me into a million pieces to be just friends with you. Because I love you Josh.. I love you so much."A second after that, you feel Josh's lips against yours. "I love you too, Savannah." he whispers breathlessly after a moment. You kiss him again. and again. and then again. You lay there in his arms him sitting on the edge of your bed. "One question." he says finally. "Anything" "Why the hell didn't you just say that from the beginning. You had me thinking I had lost you forever.." he says, "You're such a lil shit." You giggle and smile at him, "I was trying to be romantic. and cute." Josh kisses you again. "Just a word of advice, next time you don't have to break my heart to be cute. You're cute all the time." Josh says. "I don't think I need that advice," you say, "there's not going to be a next time." Josh smiles and says exactly what you were thinking. "Exactly. Because baby, I'm never gonna stop loving you."
55.4
Josh stands up and puts you down in your bed, covering you back up with your blanket. "Where are you going?" you ask him as he starts to walk away from the bed a little bit. "Please don't leave." He smiles at you "I'm not leaving, just going to get your brother. I'll be back in a few seconds." "Henry?" you ask confused. Josh grins the grin you've missed so much. "He, uh, He just came and found me today and told me everything that's been happening." So that's why he ran off so fast. Josh walks out and comes back a few minutes later trailed by Henry. "Thank you Henry" you say, nothing else needed. "Any time Savi" Josh sits in your bed right next to you, his arm around your shoulders and your head resting on his. Henry sits on the end of your bed cross legged and you all sit and talk for a little while. Just you and your two favorite guys, catching up. After a while, Nicole comes back in pushing Maia. "Josh, this is my friend and roommate Maia, She's a big fan of yours!" You say seeing the pure joy in Maia's eyes as she sees Josh sitting there smiling. "Hey Maia, I'm Josh!" he says sweetly, getting up. "I know" she whispers shyly with a big smile crossing her face. "How are you?" he asks her, making sure to make eye contact. "I'm a lot better now." she says, "Could I uh, maybe take a picture with you?" she asks. "Of course, come here!" Josh says crossing the short distance to her. Your amazed by how swiftly he moves. In the last month, it's clear that he has made huge improvements. He goes to her wheel chair and picks her up in his arms, holding her like he held you just a short time ago. He backs up to your bed and says "Can you grab my phone, it's in my back left pocket" You grab it out of his pocket, pinching his butt a little bit. He laughs and kinda jumps away from you, "hey now!" he says, "We have a young lady in our room don't be inappropriate Savannah Rose!" "To be fair, she wouldn't have even known I pinched your butt if you hadn't said anything, she was facing the other way!" Henry then butts in (LOL get my pun) saying "nevermind the teenage girl who probably doesn't care one way or the other, what about the fact that your teenage brother was sitting right next to you as you did it!" Josh turns around and says "Savannah would you be ever so kind to take a picture of my and my new friend Maia?" "I would love to!" you answer. As they both smile at you, you snap the picture. Josh lays her down in her bed and says "I know how much that machine sucks sometimes, so I'll just put you down!" he says nodding towards the machine Nicole has to use to help them into bed. "Thank you so much Josh." Maia says smiling again. Josh takes his phone and tweets the picture with the caption of "Everybody meet my new friend Maia." The four of you talk for awhile, just hanging out. You grab your phone to go and favorite Josh's tweet, and you see quite a few tweets that completely overwhelm you. There's many that say things about how cute it is that Josh's visiting hospital patients, but there's also some speculating he's with you again, and it makes you happy on how happy they are. You see a tweet then from Connor to Josh that says "@jhutch1992 CALL ME BACK RIGHT. THIS. MINUTE." Clearly he can tell it's your room. "Look at your phone Josh" you say, and when he does he sees 18 missed calls from Connor, and 7 texts. "I guess I should've told him we got back together.." he says laughing a little bit, dialing Connor's number and putting it on speakerphone. "JOSH?" Connor answers on the second ring. "Yes? do you need something?" Josh says completely calmly. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU AND SAVANNAH GOT BACK TOGETHER BEFORE POSTING IT FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD TO SEE?" Connor screams at his brother. "It just happened, like an hour ago. and also, the entire world doesn't know because they've never seen the room. Most of them just think I'm visiting patients." Josh answers. "Tell Savannah I love her and that I'm so glad you're done being a dick." Connor says simply in response. "I love you too Con." you respond. "Sav??" "Hey Connor!" you say, grinning despite him not being able to see it. "This makes me so incredibly happy." he says. "What am I chopped liver I'm the one who made this all happen." Henry chimes in. "HENRY? OH MY GOSH BRO I MISS YOU SO MUCH." "Miss you too, chutch." Henry says. "Hey listen guys I gotta go, there's a bunch of people over watching the game and I'm missing it. I'll talk to y'all later okay? love you all." he says and clicks off after finishing goodbyes. Soon Henry leaves as it's getting late, and Maia falls asleep after a long day not much later, leaving you and Josh alone. Or as alone as you're going to be. You snuggle deep into each others arms, just laying there in the darkness quietly. "I'm so glad you're in my arms again." Josh says quietly, "It was so hard sleeping knowing that I could be doing this." "I'm glad I'm in your arms again too," you say, "Can you stay here tonight?" "Well Maia is in my bed and I don't have anything else here with me. I haven't bee home since this morning." Josh says. "There's a pair of your sweatpants in my closet.." you say, "You forget them here. And.. You can just sleep in my bed. I just don't want you to leave. I'm not ready for you to leave again." Josh stands and goes to your closet. He lifts his arms up behind his neck and pulls off his shirt, and unbuttons his pants, pushing them down leaving him standing there in only his boxer briefs. He opens the closet and slides on his sweatpants, and crawls back into bed next to you. The next morning you wake up, still in Josh's arms with his smiling face staring back at you. It feels like a dream and you know it can only get better from here. Happy, you're finally happy again.
55.5
A few days go by, Josh only leaving once very briefly to run home and grab a bag with a few clothes, his phone charger, laptop, and a script of a movie he's auditioning for in a few weeks. He's been sleeping in your bed with you the whole time, as Maia is still in the hospital as the therapists teach her how to adjust to a life with only one leg both physically and mentally. Health wise, you stay about the same in those few days but you do start to gain some of your strength back. You're able to move yourself around much more easily than you did just days ago before you and Josh made up. However, mentally you feel so much better and you can tell it really is helping your treatment become more successful. Hopefully soon you'll be healthy enough to start chemo again, and after that you can get out of this place. Hopefully move in with Josh. And start your life over. "I gotta go to therapy.." Josh says sadly one afternoon as you were laying in bed together. Josh told you that now he only has therapy every three days, because he's made so much improvement. So much improvement, he was able to go back to the set of Mockingjay and finish filming while you two weren't together. He said that he has exercises he has to do everyday at home, but other than his scar and not being able to walk, run, or jump as fast and long as he used to be, he has made a full recovery. He said he may even be more flexible and in shape than he was before, and as long as he continues to build his strength there should be nothing holding him back. "It's okay, I'll just hang out with Maia!" You answer truthfully, knowing he'll come back as soon as he possibly can, "She is about done with her therapy today!" "I'll see you in 31 minutes" he says, and you know you're not the only one counting down the seconds until he's next to you again. Moments later Maia comes into the room walking clumsily on her new prosthetic leg. "How was therapy?" You ask her as she sits down in bed. Although she is much younger than you, you've really gotta to love her much like a little sister. "It was great!" She says unable to suppress a grin, "I get to go home tonight!" A wave of jealously goes through you despite wanting to feel happy for her. She gets to go home and you're still stuck here, but you know it's not her fault so you smile "That's amazing Maia!" You tell her. "I'm so excited!" She says still smiling, "but I'm really gonna miss spending time with you and Josh.." She says. "You have my number and I have yours," you say, "when I get out of here I'll call you and I'll take you out for coffee sometime!" "That sounds perfect!" She agrees. She starts packing up her stuff. Her clothes, the personal things her mom has brought her, the cards and giftshop items friends and family had given her. "Keep the flowers here," she adds pointing to the vases of flowers on the windowsill, "I know they brighten up the place and you can think of me when you see them" Josh comes back 31 minutes later just as he said he would, and you all say your goodbyes, both of you giving Maia hugs and taking a final picture together, you standing right near your bed for support, Maia in the middle and Josh on her other side. That night after she left, Josh and you were laying in bed and you were feeling especially tired and weak. You decided to go to bed early after countless times of Josh telling you to get some rest. Fog hazes over and all of a sudden, you see a bright light in the doorway of your hospital room and you see your parents walk through. You try and push the sight from your mind, knowing this has to be a dream. Your parents are dead. "Come here darling" your Dad said as your Mom held her arms out to you. "CLEAR" you hear harshly pulling you out of the dream with your parents as what feels like a jolt of electricity runs through your body. You then hear a screaming voice you recognize as Josh's and through barely open eyes you see dark figures all around you that look like doctors and nurses. You try and open your eyes further to see what's happening, but you can't seem to keep your eyes open, and then you're pulled into a deep uninterrupted sleep.
55.6
[Josh's POV] "Babe just please go to sleep, I'll wake you up if anything happens that you need to see." I beg Savannah again. She looks so tired, so weak. She looks so pale and sick, frail and small. But she looks so perfect. "I just want to spend every single second I can with you" she says to me quietly, beginning to shiver. "And we'll have plenty, but you need your rest. Please, just go to bed." I say as I cover her with a third blanket. Her blinking slows along with her breathing and she says "okay, but wake me up if you need me. I love you Josh, so much." "I love you too Baby. I love you so much, sleep good so we can do something fun together okay?" "Okay" she agrees almost inaudibly as I see her fall asleep in my arms. Once I'm sure she's in a deep enough sleep, I slip out of bed getting my script for the movie "Franklin" It's a movie about a mildly autistic boy named Franklin who is trying to fit in and live a normal life. For the Audition that's approaching, I have to go through a scene with the actresses that are auditioning for the roll of Amii, a girl that Franklin likes and asks on a date. I'm really excited for this role, because it's something so different from everything I've done and it's raising awareness for something that's very important. I start reading through the lines of the scene were performing for the casting crew. I go through many different ways of how I can approach it. I take my phone out and google autism to get to know more of the roll I'm hoping to be playing. Soon I have in my mind the guy that is Franklin and step into the role, making everything now much easier, as all I have to do is memorize lines. When memorizing lines is your jobs it's not too difficult. I feel hopeful about this, as my agent told me I have a good possibility of getting the role. They wanted him to be about my height with brown hair and fair skin, and as long as I embody who they want him to be, the part is mine. I finish with the script and lay back down next to Savannah on my phone just messing around. I decide to set some of the rumors I saw about both Tiffany and Savannah straight by taking a picture of her sleeping in my arms, without getting the rest of me in the picture, and tweeting it with the caption "I love falling asleep to this face every night️" I know she probably won't like the picture, because she'll think it's unflattering, but I know how truly beautiful she looks and that's all that matters. Because if I tell her enough, she'll start to believe that she really is beautiful. "You're so beautiful Savannah," I whisper despite knowing she's fast asleep, "I love you so much, bello" As soon as I said it, I realized what I had done and my stomach flipped over inside my body. I always called Claudia Bello(pronounced bey-o for non-Spanish speakers), which means beautiful in Spanish. The more time in Spain with her around other couples, the more I called her it no matter where we were. But then I realize something. I realize that it doesn't matter that I called Sav bello, in fact I realize that it's good. It means I'm completely over Claudia, and all the pain she left on my heart, because there's no room left for pain with all the love I have for Savannah. A little bit later, all of a sudden she twitches and then starts shaking. At first I think she's just cold again but then I look closer and see her eyes are starting to roll and I hear the machines behind her bed start to beep and buzz. "SAVANNAH" I scream, putting my arms on her shoulders as if I can shake her out of it. I jump into action, running out into the hall screaming for help and then back to her side. I hear them announce something over the intercom but I can't understand their codes. A few minutes later, which felt like years, doctors and nurses start rushing into the room. They ask me to move and after I don't, a bigger guy comes up and takes my arm. I grab her hand and kiss it, and let him take me back a few feet so they can work, but refuse to move farther than to the other bed that used to be mine. They're all looking at her but not doing much, so after a moment I scream "DO SOMETHING. PLEASE DO SOMETHING" I continue, "PLEASE HELP HER." By this time there's tears streaming down my face, blurring over my eyes and making my mouth taste like salt. After another few minutes, she quits shaking and goes still, the monitor behind her slowing almost to a stop. I start screaming out again, while continuing to cry, "SAVANNAH DONT LEAVE ME. BABY YOU CANT LEAVE ME" I quite my voice then, "please don't leave me. Baby hear my voice. Listen to me. Stay right here with me and never leave." Finally her monitor begins moving a little faster and the one of the doctors says, "keep talking" "Savannah stay right here baby," I say, "stay right here and don't leave me. Never leave me baby." One of the nurses says "the conditions are right doc" and all of a sudden they burst into actions shouting orders that cover my soft voice. They're connecting a machine to her temples, neck, and over where her heart it. Then I see the big machine they're attached to and when one doctor yells "CLEAR" another presses the machine on and I see jolts of liquid run to her body and she gives a final shake and then goes still. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER" I scream, and the one who gave the orders said "saving her life, young man." And then he walked out of the room, followed by a few more people looking relieved, and finally only one nurse remains cleaning off the machines they used and putting them away. She covers a sleeping Savannah up with a blanket and gives me a sad grin as she walks out. "You're lucky you were here, Josh" she says, "we got to her just in time." I breath a sigh of relief and wipe a few of the slow tears still falling from my eyes. I wonder why nobody explained to me what happened, but I shake the thought from my mind, going over to her bedside, pulling up a chair. I take her hand in mine and know it's gonna be a long night.
55.7
[Josh's POV] I don't know how long it is before Nicole comes in, it could have been just minutes or it could have been hours. She comes up and puts her hand on my shoulder, scaring me out of a trance of staring at Savannah and thinking about how much I love her. Thinking about how glad I am she's okay. Thinking about how there's no words to describe what I feel for her, or how I would've felt if something would have gone wrong last night. "Josh I'm so sorry" she says after I glance at her, bringing my eyes back to Savannah after just seconds. I can't not have my eyes on her. "It's not your fault" I say, wishing I knew who's fault it was so I could have someone to blame for all of this. "I should've been here. I had my shift off last night" she says, almost starting to cry. "Hey don't cry, it's okay. Everything turned out." "I just feel so bad." She says, "I have grown to love you and Savannah so much these last few months. You're my favorite patients and it's just reminded me that I work in a hospital and things can change in a matter of seconds." "Can you do something for me?" I ask. "Anything at all." She responds. "Could you just explain to me what happened and what that machine they used was.. As soon as they were here they were gone and I just kind of want to know what happened and how they fixed it." "Wait.. The doctor that was here didn't explain to you what happened?" She asks. "No he basically just walked out the second he was done." "I'll be right back" she says angrily, and walks off quickly. She comes back a moment later with the doctor who was clearly in charge of what was happening earlier. "Excuse me Josh I need to apologize for how I behaved last night it was unprofessional." He says, and holds out a hand, which I shake. "What happened is tha-" Nicole cuts him off right there, "with all do respect sir, I will be the one explaining to Josh what happened to his girlfriend." He looks shocked that Nicole spoke up, but he just nods and walks out of the room without another word. Nicole goes on to tell me exactly what happened. Basically Savannah's body had a reaction to all of the medicine she's been on lately, and because her body was so weak she couldn't do what most people who use medicines do to prevent what happened. She tells me some long medical term for it, but it goes in one ear and out the other. She tells me the reason it seemed like they were doing nothing for awhile was because the body has to relax to a certain point before they can use the treatment they pumped into her and shock her body back to normal speed. She tells me that it was a lot to do with me, because they said when I started talking to her, her body calmed down and returned to a level in which they could do what they needed to do. I thank Nicole for everything she's done as she leaves the room to an check up on her other patients. I return my full attention to the still sedated Savannah. The nurse last night told while she was cleaning up that they'll probably keep her sedated until tonight, because what happened and had to be done to fix it takes a huge toll on the body and people are often better off afterwards, but only if they can get enough rest right after. I decide to call Henry to tell him what happened because I didn't wanna wake him up last night when there was nothing he could do. I tell him what happened and that she's sedated, and he tells me that he's going to stop by after he's done at work so I can have a break and go home to get some rest. I don't bother telling him that I'm not going to take a break, but I don't tell him not to come. Not only will it be nice to have someone else with me, I know Savannah will like it if he's here when she wakes up. Hours pass, Nicole brining me both lunch and dinner, knowing that I won't move from her bedside for long enough to get it. Henry texts me and tells me his meeting is running late, so he won't be to the hospital until about 10:30, so I continue on my own with Savannah. Spending a little time on my phone or watching tv, but mostly just watching her. Finally the medicine in her iv tube stops dripping and I know she'll be waking up soon. Henry texts me back so I look to my phone, and when I look back up I see bright blue eyes looking back at me.
55.8
[regular POV] You feel yourself become aware. You become aware of a sharp pain, but also a new sort energy that you haven't felt since you've been in the hospital. You struggle to blink your eyes, and finally your vision becomes clear, focusing on Josh, who's on his Phone on a chair next to your bed. He looks up just a moment later and your eyes meet his. He instantly gets tears in his eyes and a moment later he's hugging you so tightly it's hard to breathe and you feel his tears falling onto your neck where his head is burried as he whispers "I love you so much Savannah" over and over as you hug him back as tightly as you can and say "I love you too Josh" every time he says that he loves you. He let's go of you a little bit, sitting back and wiping the tears streaming down his face. "Savannah I love you so much. I love you more than you'll ever know. I love you more than I thought was even possible. And.. And when I..." His voice breaks and he pauses for a few seconds trying to stop crying. Finally he continues, "and when I thought I was loosing you, I realized that I cannot spend another minute of my life apart from you. Because you are my one true love, and when I thought I lost you, I can't even begin to describe to you the pain I felt. I love you Savannah, I love you so much." You smile at him, take his hand in yours, and say "I love you so much Josh." Nicole comes in and explains everything that happened, and tells you that resting is the vital next part of your stay here. After she leaves, Josh crawls into bed right next to you, and holds you in his arms without an inch between you. He cries some more, but you don't feel the need for tears anymore, you just don't want him to be sad. Later on, Henry shows up after work. He cries too when you tell him everything Nicole said, but not nearly as much as Josh. Henry looks at the positive aspect of it, that the medicine they had to use to basically reset you, could help you tremendously in the future. You're all just sitting there, in silence, for a little while when Josh says "do you remember anything?" You think back to the last thing remember and answer "I remember being really tired last night and thinking it was just the side affects of my medicine, and I remember drifting off to sleep. And then the next thing I remember is seeing mom and dad. And I remember thinking it was a dream.. But I guess maybe it was uh, well maybe I was seeing them because.. There was a lot of bright white light behind them and Dad called out to me. So I guess maybe uh, they were welcoming me. But then I heard a loud booming voice yell clear, and I felt something weird go through me. And then I heard you Josh, you were screaming for them to do something, and then I heard you talk softly to me, and I tried so hard to talk back.. But I couldn't, and I just closed my eyes and that the last thing I remember." You finish, Josh has tears in his eyes again and Henry has tears running down his cheeks. "You.. You saw mom and dad?" He says quietly. You motion for him to come over to you, so he joins you on your bed and you embrace him saying "yeah. I did, they looked just like I remember them. They looked perfect and Daddy called me darling just like he used to when I was scared of something at the hospital." You know that it's just a memory, but memories of your parents are all you and Henry can hang on to, and no matter how much you love Josh and how much Josh loves you, Henry is the only person who will ever understand even a little bit what you went through was like. After a few more hours, Henry leaves promising to come back as soon as he can to visit with Rosie. You and Josh both sleep a lot of the next day away. You tired from the trauma your body went through, Josh tired for the emotional battle he went through with everything he saw. The next week you don't leave your bed. You still have a catheter, and Josh washes you off with a cloth and hot soapy water so you don't have to shower; rubbing it over your arms, legs, stomach, back, and your head and neck. Day by day you start to feel better. You start to gain strength, you start to stay awake longer, you start to eat more healthy. You finally get rid of your catheter, and following that your feeding tube. You're starting to feel so much better, your treatment is coming back with positive results, and most importantly, you and Josh are happy as ever together.
55.9
"I need to get out of this room." You said a few weeks after the incident, unable to just sit in the same bed in the same room in the same hospital for another minute. "What do you need?" Josh asks, "I can go get it for you." You shake your head and try to make your response sound as nice as you possibly can "I love how much you want to take care of me and do for me Josh, but I just need a change of scenery. I need to get out of this room and get some fresh air, see some different faces.." "I'll try every thing I can but they were pretty adamant on you staying at the hospital after uh, after what happened." He says, still unable to truly talk about what did happen without getting upset. "You're the best" you say as he gets up and walks out of the room to find whoever it is he has to talk to. You think about Raymond and realize he'd never do something like that, for the fear of upsetting someone or getting in trouble. Josh comes back a moment later and sadly says "we can't leave the hospital..." Then he smiles and says "BUT there's a small courtyard that just opened for the summer where we can go for some fresh air and scenery. "You little shit." You say, "you bummed me out when it was actually good news." He grins at you and says "I can't believe you just called me a little shit" "well, you are a little shit..." You tell him, "but you're my little shit." Josh smiles and goes over to the corner of the room, getting out a wheelchair and opening it. You get out of bed and walk into the bathroom. You decide to put on a little makeup for the first time in over a month, and you put your light blue carheartt beanie. Your hairs starting to grow out a little more again, now almost covering your ears completely, but you still like wearing your beanie because your hair is thin and fine, and your beanie makes it look a lot better. You put on a pair of black nike sweatpants and then go back out into your room in only a sports bra, grabbing your favorite tshirt of Josh's, a light grey shirt that says Ryle Soccer across it in fluorescent orange. "I think you wear that shirt more than I do." Josh jokes with you as you pull it over your head. "I know I do. But I love it, and it smells like you." You answer. Josh walks to you and places his arms around you, drawing you into him. "Keep it," he says quietly with your lips now just inches from each other, "it looks better on you anyway." You reach up on your tippie toes to kiss him and then he picks you up just like that, and carries you to the wheel chair, and setting you down in it. "I can walk ya know." You say, and he responds, "I know you can, but I want to take care of my baby and I don't want you to overdo it." He starts pushing it towards the door and down the elevator and then around a few curves on the first floor and outside to the enclosed courtyard by the walls of the hospital. You sit out in the courtyard together for a few hours, just talking the day away. Talking about nothing in particular but talking about everything. You decide to go back up to your room, because although you weren't doing much, you're getting tired and Josh wants you to rest. As you go into the hallway you see a woman dressed in a business type pencil skit, with a white shirt and a blazer walking down the hallway holding a screaming boy. He looks to be about 3 or 4, with light skin and dark brown hair the same shade as Josh's, crying and screaming the word "MOMMY" over and over as his arms reach out, breaking your heart. "Woah, what's going on here." Josh says stepping in front of the woman and blocking her path, "why are you taking this big away from his mom?" "Um, well not that it's any of your business, but he's going into a foster care program. His Mom was in an accident and is in a coma, and we can't get contact to any other relatives. So we have to take him" she says professionally. "Clearly he wants to stay here, isn't there any way he can stay?" Josh asks. "No, not really. We have to find him foster parents until we know what's going to happen to his mom." She answers. "Josh we can't just let him go crying like that." You say, thinking about you and Henry after your parents died, and thinking about how you wouldn't want Rosie being treated like this if it was her. "Excuse me but I have to get him out of here" she says over the child's screams, trying to step past Josh. "Wait is there any possible way I can just try and calm him down, I just don't want him to be scared." She reluctantly hands the kid over to Josh and he starts rocking the young boy back and fourth, in his arms. "Hey it's okay buddy" Josh says soothingly, taking a pack of gummy worms he had bought earlier in a vending machine out of his pocket and handing the boy one. He almost automatically stops crying, and starts eating. "What's your name, bud?" Josh asks. The young boy is quite for a minute and then says "Darrel" quietly. "I'm Josh" he responds, still bouncing up and down slightly. You know it's not the time, but you can't seem to get over how attractive Josh looks holding Darrel. Then who you assume to be the social work butts in and says "thank you for calming him but we really have to go, I need to find him foster parents before our office closes" Josh doesn't even bat an eye, and he says "we'll be his foster parents."
55.0
"I'm sorry sir but it just doesn't work like that, there's a lot of paper work, background checks, and things like that we would have to go through before just letting you have this child." Josh says "I've been on tv and in movies since I was 10 years old, I think that's background check enough. If I had done something that would've stopped me from getting a child, you'd know about in 12 seconds by googling a 5 word phrase." She looks skeptically at him, like she doesn't believe he's an actor. "There's no way my boss will allow it." She says finally after trying to find a reason. "Do you by chance work for HL and K?" Josh asks, which you assume is just a child foster care and adoption agency. "Yes how do you know that?" She says looking alarmed. "It was just a hopeful guess" Josh says smiling, handing you Darrel, who snuggles right up to you, as Josh takes out his phone. He puts it to his ear and waits for a second. "Hi, this is Josh Hutcherson, can you please transfer me to Mr. Graw's office." He says nicely. There's a short break and then he says. "Hello Mr. Graw, this is Josh." "Yeah, Josh Hutcherson" "I'm doing well sir, how are you doing?" "Oh that's great to hear" you hear Josh say, but not the response to his questions. "Excuse me what's your name" Josh whispers at the woman who is becoming more impatient by the second. "Samantha Holm" she answers. "Well Mr. Graw, I'm here with one of your workers, a Ms. Samantha Graw, and she had this young boy named Darrel with her who was crying. Anyway long story short I saw him and I just immediately knew I had to do something to help him. I know it doesn't go with your normal policy, but I was wondering if my girlfriend and I could be his foster parents for awhile until you guys either find his father or other family, his mom gets better, or you find a permanent home for him." "Oh no, I'm fine from my accident. I've made an almost complete recover and I still am working towards getting some of my strength back" "well my girlfriend stays here, she has cancer. But I'm here most the time with her and so we can keep Darrel close to his mom" "awesome! Thank you so much I'll come right down" "yes it was good to talk with you too Mr. Graw." Josh hung up the phone and says "see a couple years ago I helped with a huge fundraiser for your boss, and I doubled the amount of money that was made and donated it all to HL and K. Your boss loves me. And also, Darrel and I will be coming back to your office with you, to fill out some paper work. And then me and my new buddy will be out of your way" Josh then turns to you and kisses your cheek before grabbing Darrel from your arms and holding him against his hip, "congrats babe, looks like were foster parents" he says winking at you. Josh leaves with Darrel and Samantha and you wheel yourself back up to your room, unable to stop smiling. Just a little over two hours later, Josh comes back with a smiling Darrel in his arms. He sits down on the edge of your bed, "Darrel this is Savannah, she's gonna help me take care of you, okay?" He smiles and says "owkay" in the same little voice that Rosie uses. "Can you watch him for a minute Sav, I wanna go get all of his new stuff from target!" "Of course I can!" You say, and Josh hands Darrel to you. He jumps right into your arms with a big smile on his face. "He likes you already" Josh says with a grin as he walks out of the room. You talk and play with Darrel for a few minutes, and then Josh comes back with a big box and about 8 bags of stuff from target. He shows you everything while Darrel sits and plays with one of his new toys. Then Josh puts the crib together and rearranges the room a little bit. He takes his old bed and puts it next to yours, and attaches them so now it's more like a king size bed instead of two twins, so you get a new sheet that fits around both beds, and put it on. Then he moves Darrel's crib to the wall the head of his bed used to be against. He puts the toys in a basket near the window and puts the new clothes in the half of his closet he wasn't using. You and Josh spend the rest of the afternoon playing with Darrel and then take him to the viewing window near his moms room so he can see her. No matter how much you grow close to him, she will always be his momma. You take him back to your room, and lay him down for a nap and when he wakes up, Henry brings Rosie to the hospital. Rosie and Darrel play together, having tons of fun while you, Josh, and Henry, watch and talk amongst yourselves. Finally you can tell both of the kids are getting tired so you lay Darrel down in his new crib where he falls asleep immediately, and Henry brings Rosie home for bed. Josh and you snuggle up in bed, still right next to each other despite the extra room. As you're laying in bed, before you fall asleep, you smile and think about how happy you are and how much the love of one little boy can change your life in less than a day.