Falling In Love

Chapter 17 • 2004

Aleasha

I slept for hours but it wasn't really sleeping. Just restless day dreaming. When I opened my eyes next the sun was shining and I felt marginally warmer but not really, then the next time it was dark and colder than ever. It felt like days before they came for me when in reality it was only about twelve hours. This was still long enough though because I could no longer feel my hands or feet and there was a weight on my heart as I longed for Danny to be beside me. Then I opened my eyes and he was there. He was walking towards me in his skinny jeans and no top and as he sat down beside me the warmth of his body against mind felt like a fire racing through me, lighting every part of me and sending a surge of warmth through me so I closed my eyes and savoured it. I began to cry at his comfort but when I opened my eyes again I saw that it was not Danny walking towards me, but instead a policeman running towards me. I cried even more as I longed for Danny to be here with me and then I turned to the other side of me and saw a policewoman by my side and realised the warmth I felt was due to a special thermal blanket she'd wrapped around me. My throat felt dry and raspy and I managed to croak out Danny's name and the policewoman replied in a gentle voice "Danny's in hospital with your friend Diana. They're fine and you'll be fine. I just need you to stay awake until the ambulance comes. Can you do that for me Aleasha?" I nodded and the tears kept rolling down my face as I longed once again for Danny, the ache growing by the second. I just wanted to see his face and know that he was okay and for him to tell me that I was going to be okay. Because I couldn't believe what these people were saying. What did they know? They were just a couple of people who were sent out to find me and would go home the minute their shift was over and spend time with their family, sitting round the dinner table with them and not having a care in the world. I, meanwhile, was fighting for my own life whilst worrying about the ones I loved.

In the distance I heard a siren and before I knew it I was being loaded into the back of an ambulance and raced to hospital. It was a very short journey in reality but felt like it lasted for hours. When I arrived I was hooked onto all sorts of machines and wrapped in dozens of blankets, anything in an attempt to raise my body temperature. They were telling me I needed to calm down and slow my heart rate but I couldn't relax until I saw Danny and could see with my own eyes that he was alive and breathing. For hours the doctors and nurses bustled around to try and stabilise me and once they had they gave me some peace and quiet. It wasn't long before night time arrived and they switched all the lights off in my room. In a croaky voice I asked the nurse where Danny was and she told me he was just next door before she walked out, closing the door behind her. I couldn't sleep because all I could think of was if Danny and Diana were okay. I heard a voice outside asking for Diana and I recognised it as Tom's, then heard a door not far away being opened before I heard the happy reunion of Tom and Diana. For a while after that it was silent until I heard someone yell my name. My heart skipped when I realised it was Danny - he was alive! He was okay and he wanted me. I cried with happiness until I heard some doctors yelling and some machines beeping. As I listened to the bustle going on outside I grew more and more restless until eventually I couldn't stand it. I swung my legs out of bed and one by one detached the tubes from me and pushed myself up. My legs felt weak but using every muscle I had in me I walked out the door and into the corridor. I saw Tom standing outside Danny's room, trying to see in and when he saw me his eyes widened and he tried to get me back into bed but I didn't let him. I just hugged him, thankful of someone to comfort me - I hadn't been allowed any visitors - before I pushed my way into Danny's room. I saw some nurses and doctors around his bed but none of them noticed me and I didn't pay much attention. It wasn't until I got to Danny's bedside that they noticed me and tried to shoo me out. I took Danny's hand in mine and he looked up at me and a tear dropped from my cheek to his.

"Don't leave me Danny. Please." I whispered.

"I won't. I promise." He held my hand for a short while until the nurses dragged me out and Danny and I shared one last glance before he closed his eyes and they shut the door behind me and I cried into Tom's shoulders.