Without You

12. I Need to Know

A/N - Massive apologies for that horrendous cliffhanger in the previous chapter, but I just couldn't resist! 🤭 Thank you ALL for your amazing comments on the past couple of chapters - your support is much appreciated! And can I just say that seeing Dec cry automatically makes me choke up? It just breaks my heart! 💔😭😭😭

"Declan Donnelly. Ant, Ant McPartlin. CHECK ON HIM!"

The urgent, panicked voice cut through the hazy cobwebs of sleepiness in her mind as Linda sat up in bed. The Declan Donnelly was calling her at 7 in the morning on a Sunday? "What's going on?" she asked, voice sharp and slightly annoyed. This was the one day during the week she could sleep in, her shift not starting until 10am. She was a hard worker – she didn't have any family or a significant other, so willingly spent all her days at the hospital, working 7 days a week. She was also one of only two key nurses who had a studio apartment at the hospital. This was her life. She lived here permanently, and she loved her job, even though it could be incredibly stressful at times.

"THERE'S NO TIME FOR QUESTIONS, JUST GO!" came a harshly shouted reply, the person on the other end of the line sounding like he was on the verge of a major panic attack. 

This had better be good to make her start her shift nearly 3 hours early.

"Please, you have to check on him!" Dec pleaded again, voice quieter now but quavering uncontrollably.

She realized he was utterly serious, that this wasn't some sort of prank, when she checked the caller ID she'd not seen earlier when she'd reached out an arm to blindly answer her incessantly ringing phone. It was definitely Dec. A deep pit of worry opened in her stomach. "Alright, alright, I'm going," she reassured him, hastening out of bed. "I'll call you back as soon as I've got a chance."

Before she could even take her phone away from her ear to end the call, a near hysterical plea reached her ears, "No, no, no, please stay on the line, I need to know now, I need to know, I need to know, please...."

Dec seemed to be close to having a nervous breakdown, frantically repeating himself over and over, a desperate, heartbroken tone in his shaking voice. It was becoming clearer by the second that Ant wasn't the only one struggling with mental health issues at the moment. Her nursing instincts kicking in, aware of the fact that hanging up on Dec right now might cause him serious harm, Linda hurriedly soothed, "Okay, listen, I'm going to put you on speaker phone, okay?" pulling on the first semblance of professional-looking clothing she could find and throwing on her shoes.

Grabbing her keys, as well as the master key to all of the inpatient rooms, Linda bolted from her apartment, rapid hyperventilation the soundtrack to her hurried steps as Dec's strangled breaths crackled through her phone speaker. "I'm on my way, Dec, please try to take some deep breaths, okay? Everything is fine," she reassured. Reaching the elevator to go down to the second floor, Linda quickly decided it might be better to take the stairs. The facility was in excellent shape, having been newly renovated a few years back, but she didn't want to risk somehow getting stuck in an elevator right now. She didn't know what on earth was going on, but it was obvious Dec was in no shape to answer any questions. And she couldn't help but remember Ant's odd behavior the night before, the way he'd seemed so depressed and was clinging to that photo of him and Dec.

But how would Dec know something was amiss? Were they really that connected mentally that he could sense Ant's distress? Or was he just having a panic attack and got it in his head that something must have happened to Ant? Oh, she'd be so mad if that was the case. As much as she loved the duo, she wouldn't at all appreciate being used as their personal go-between whenever Dec was in a bad place mentally. Although, to be fair, Dec had had her personal mobile number for almost two weeks now, and he'd never bothered her before. Maybe something really was wrong.