Soon You'll Get Better

Five

Danny stood outside the room, staring in through the window. It was two in the morning, and he was so tired. Tired of waiting, of being afraid, of trying to imagine a world without her. He knew the boys wanted to stay with him, but he sent them home with Aunt Erin and Nicky. Jamie and Eddie had left a few minutes ago, leaving Frank and Henry to wait with him.

He shoved his hands in his pockets, frowning, biting his tongue. His eyes roamed all the machines and wires and IV drips. Under the florescent lights, his love looked awful. He could see the bruises all the way from where he was standing. He saw the various casts on her body, wanting more than anything to just hold her and tell her it was okay and sing to her.

Danny didn't like singing, even though he had a good voice. It just wasn't his thing, and he mostly avoided it when he could. But once, when Linda was a teen and was having a really crappy week, he hugged her and started singing. He couldn't remember what the song was, but the song and his fingers lightly scraping her scalp calmed her down. He wished more than anything he could do that again.

********

Danny thanked God over and over again when Linda made it through the night, and the next one, and the next. The doctors became hopeful, even though she was in a coma. Her injuries were slowly healing, and things were looking up.... until week four hit.

"She's in a vegetative state." The doctor told Danny at the midpoint of week four.

"That's bad."

"Not necessarily. She could still heal."

"Could." Danny repeated, trying not to yell again. He needed to be adult about this... but how could he when his sun, moon, and stars was lying in a hospital bed unconscious?

Two more weeks went by, and everyone was starting to lose hope. Danny had only went home to shower and change, but otherwise stayed by Linda's side at all times. He had convinced the doctors to let him be in the same room as she was, and with some influence from 1PP, he was allowed to stay the night.

No one would tell him how ghastly he looked, or how unhealthy it was to not be eating or drinking. No one told him how he needed to get back to work, or how Linda wouldn't want him to act this way.

Eddie had made the accident in asking the question Danny didn't want to think about. She thought she had said it quietly enough, but he had heard, and had gone nuts. He started yelling and kicking and punching the wall, knocking the chairs over, throwing the magazines. That episode ended with Eddie crying in Jamie's arms and Danny getting another sedative with threats of being kicked out.

Danny's mind was kind of a haze. He didn't know what was going to happen if Linda didn't make it. Despite all the bruising and cuts and casts, she still looked like Linda. He was glad the burns were second degree, and not third degree burns. He was glad they wouldn't scar, but he wondered what the skin would look like.

He always slept in a chair, half of his body on Linda's bed, the other half on the chair. Which is why he fell off of it and onto the floor when he heard a muffled voice.

Quickly, he stood, ignoring the dizziness that came with the sudden movement. "Linda?" He hovered over her, watching her eyes open. "Linda?"

She looked scared, confused, and in so much pain. She started moving her head, only to find that it hurt too much.

Danny watched her for a while, speaking incoherent sentences. He was just so happy she was alive! He smashed the call button, holding her right wrist, the one that wasn't in a cast.