I don’t wanna do this. I can’t, I can’t. I won’t.

I have to, dammit. Alan runs a hand through his already frumpled hair, breathing deeply.

He places his hand on the door and twists slowly, not wanting to see whatever might lay in that unbearably impersonal hospital room. There’s no doctor in the room, just his poor girlfriend, and he can’t help but choke back tears at the sight of her laying there.

Several tubes are hooked up to various points in her body. The one that scares Alan the most is the one that’s delicately crammed into her mouth which clearly is providing her with oxygen. That must mean that she isn’t healthy enough to breathe on her own. His feet shuffle forward slowly until he stands beside his delicate girlfriend.

If she dies and the last thing we ever did was fight, I’ll never forgive myself. He’s so occupied with his thoughts of self hate that it isn’t until Doctor Mitchell taps him on the shoulder that he realizes he isn’t alone.

“Are you Mr.Ashby?” Alan nods, still absorbed in watching Dakota’s chest rise and fall. It verified that she is still here, still breathing.

“You were listed as an emergency contact. May I ask how are you relate to the patient?” Dr.Mitchell is painfully polite which sets alarms ringing in Alan’s head.

“I’m her boyfriend. I was in the car with her.” Dr.Mitchell nods, moving to lean against the wall. “I’m going to be honest with you, son. She’s very lucky to be alive.” Alan breathes deeply, nodding.

“I know. We both are.” Dr.Mitchell grabs the charts off of the end of her bed and examines them.

“Several of her ribs are broken from the fall after being ejected from the car. One of them scraped her lungs, so we took her into surgery just to add some spare tissue just in case. It looks like she may have a concussion as well. That means when she wakes up she might be irritable or more tired than usual. Depending on how severe it is, she may even have memory loss.”

Alan just nods again, trying to take it all in stride.

“She should be waking up in a few hours.” Dr.Mitchell adds as he exits the room, closing the door behind him.

“How is she?” Cole whispers, holding the hand of his girlfriend, Ashley, who had just recently arrived in Torrance.

“The doctor says she’ll be okay, for the most part. Almost losing her just made me realize how much I need her, you know?” Cole nods, grinning slightly as he kisses Ashley on the cheek.

“She should be waking up soon,” he adds and Cole smiles, a real smile this time.

“Good. I need to tell her how much of a dumbass she is.” Alan rolls his eyes, smiling at Cole’s ever lasting sense of optimism.

Cole glances down at his buzzing phone and frowns deeply at whatever text he had just received.

“Alan, man, I am so sorry but something crucial at the shop just came up and I have to-”

“It’s okay. Go, Cole.” He nods appreciatively, quietly leading Ashley out of the room.

Alan plays on his phone for the next few hours, alternating between texting the guys with updates on Dakota’s condition and scrolling the Twitter.

The sounds of blankets rustling draw his attention away from his phone and to the bed where she slowly wakes up.

He rockets to her side, grinning widely.

She’s really okay!

The thought makes him beam, all smiles for when she awakens.

She slowly opens her eyes, their stunning blue color never ceasing to amaze him.

“Hey, baby.” His gentle smile is met with a blank stare. The question she asks next makes his heart drop to his feet.

“Who are you?”

Notes

Oh. Shit.