I Never Planned on This (A newsies fanfiction)

Chapter twenty

Henri woke up in a hospital. She saw many Newsies surrounding her bed, all asleep. She didn't know what had happened, the last thing she remembered, she had been in The Wall. Among the Newsies surrounding her bed, she realised that Albert had bandages around his head and a sling around his neck and arm, Davey had crutches as well as a massive cast on his right foot, and Les had bandages around his left arm and right elbow.

Among the Newsies, she also saw Jack and Katherine. They had come back to New York. Henri wondered if they really had been as worried about her and Davey as they had been in her dream. The clock on the other side of the room told her that it was 4:00 am. It was earlier than the Newsies were usually awake, surely the gate would be locked by now. Had they really all stayed at the hospital overnight for her?

"Jack?" She asked in a small and sleepy voice. Jack woke up, and looked around. He then looked at Henri and his eyes grew wide when he saw that she was awake. He put his hand over his mouth before saying,

"Fellas!!!! She's awake!!!" Almost instantly, the rest of the Newsies woke up, some drowsily, some looked as if they had been waiting for Jack to wake them up. Katherine was the first to speak up as Race ran off to get the doctor.

"Thank goodness!!!" She sighed, relieved. "You were in a coma for three days. We were beginning to think...oh, but you're not!!!" She said.

"Three days?" Henri asked. The last time she remembered being awake, it had been a Tuesday. "So...it's Friday?" Henri asked. The Newsies nodded. "Aw, so that means I missed breakfast at Jacobi's?" She joked.

Romeo nodded. "We all did." He admitted. "We've been here since last night."

Henri began to sit up, and her head began to swim. She put her hand to her head and moaned. "What did I miss?" She asked. "Last I remember, I was in The Wall, and it was on fire." She shuddered. "Just like..." She shook her head. "It's nothing." She quickly said.

Jack nodded. "Like the fire that put you in the orphanage." He finished for her silently. Henri nodded. It was silent for a while. Henri looked around.

"Well? What happened?"

"Oh." Davey said, coming to his senses. "Well, Albert and Les ran into The Wall to save us. They met up with me while inside, because I rammed into my door so many times, I was able to bust the lock in those temperatures. Albert worked on getting into your cell while me and Les looked for a way out. Once he did get inside, we couldn't find any escape except for a possible window. So we were able to bust a bar out of your cell window, and made it out to the fire escape. But given how poorly built it was, it wasn't gonna hold us well. We all jumped across the fire escape to the Bowery roof, and were taken to the hospital. You've been in a coma ever since Albert found you." He looked serious for a moment. "Do you remember anything before you went unconscious?"

Henri nodded. "I remember hearing yelling noises outside, and waking up to the smell of smoke." She looked down at the blankets on the hospital bed. "I was drenched in sweat from how hot it was inside of the room, and I instantly ran to the door, banging on it to let Kennedy know that there was a fire. He started to come down the hallway angrily, probably thinking that I was just trying to make him let me out. Joke's on him, I stopped trying that forever ago." She laughed softly. "When he saw the fire, he honestly looked scared." She recalled. "He ran the other way, leaving me locked inside of the room. There was oil all over the floor, and I yanked off my vest and covered my nose and mouth with it, to protect my lungs from the smoke. I got as far away as I possibly could from the fire, but it was no use. I leaned against the wall and blacked out. There was just too much smoke in the room." She looked at the Newsies. "I haven't been awake since, until now. That's all I remember." She said.

Race came back with the doctor, who told the Newsies that visiting hours were over. He escorted Davey, Les, and Albert back to their own hospital beds, and the Newsies said their goodbyes as they left the room. Henri allowed herself to relax and drift back into sleep.

"I don't get it." Race said to Jack as they all continued out the door. "How did ya know about Henri's parents? She's never told none of us how they died."

Jack looked at the floor and simply replied with, "I was there."