Daddy Unknown

Chapter 39

On their way to the hospital, Lizzy told her Harraël had flown back to NYC after the meeting with management and his -now- ex-bandmates. But instead of going straight home, he'd gone to his mother's house to ask for advice and try to figure out the mess he'd gotten himself in -once again.

After nearly two days, he'd decided it was about time to go back home. Sitting in her window, Cassie was still watching him drive away when it happened. He'd ran a red light, presumably in his eagerness to get back to his family. And another car had crashed into his from the side.

Together, they rushed down the hospital halls, with Lizzy leading them.

After Cassie had called 911 and they'd tended to her son, she'd followed the ambulance to the hospital and called her daughter to tell her about what happened. She would've preferred to be the one to break the news to Moira, but fate had other plans.

Once the two of them entered Harry's room, Moira's eyes zoomed in on the bed and everything around her faded into nothingness. It felt like someone had wrapped their hands around her throat, desperately trying to choke her.

The world was spinning out of control and there wasn't a thing she could do to stop it, or even steady herself. It felt like a punch to her lungs, managing to squeeze all the air from her body, leaving her breathless.

She couldn't breathe.

She couldn't fucking breathe.

With his eyes closed, his skin looking sickly pale and his body stiff as a wooden plank, Harry laid in there. Several tubes disappeared into his nose and they'd hooked him up to a breathing machine. He was battered in cuts and bruises. Some cuts bigger or seemingly deeper than the other, judging by the bandage wrapped around parts of him. The majority of his body was hidden away by the white covers, though his hands were folded together atop of them.

Her eyes widened as she backed away, breathing heavily. Short, ragged breaths fell from her lips, her heart rapidly pounding against her chest as she came to the realisation that this was her Harry, lying lifeless in a hospital bed. Sucking in a deep breath, she forced herself to calm and mentally count to ten. Placing a hand over her heart, she felt the thumping as she tried to level her breathing.

Slowly walking over to his side, she took a seat in one of the chairs. Barely noticing the presence beside her. She let her hand softly rest on top of his and flinched at the feel of his usually warm skin -now ice and ice cold. As if the life had already left him.

A slight catch of air hitches in her throat at the thought.

"Is he... is he going to die?"

"He is not." An unfamiliar voice answered.

She looked up at the source of the voice. It was a male doctor. He extended a hand which Moira shook. "I'm Dr Aaron Janssen, and you must be Mr Stones' girlfriend?"

"I am, yes. Moira King."

Clearing his throat, the doctor continued. "The blow to his head, caused Mr Stones' brain to move forward and back, such that it collided with the bony skull around it. This jarring movement bruised his brain tissue, damaged part of the nerve cells, and tore blood vessels. After a closed head injury like Mr Stones', damage can occur in specific brain areas or throughout the brain. To reduce the swelling, we're keeping him in a barbiturate induced coma." he explained. "So it all depends on his progress, on how fast we can wake him up."

There was a momentary silence.

"How long are you planning to keep him like.." Moira gestured towards her unconscious boyfriend. "...like this?"