Dance As The Sun Slips Away (Synyster Gates)

Waking the Fallen

Brian's POV
Slowly I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital room. I looked up and there was Matt, Zack and Johnny. Matt said. "Brian, can you hear me?" I just looked at him and nodded. "You were in a car accident on your way home from the wedding."
"Wedding?" I whispered, my mouth was dry.
"Bianca's wedding, remember?" Zack said
"But that was a year ago." I whispered.
"You haven't been out that long. It was just over a week ago." Johnny said.
"A week?" I was obviously dreaming.
"Penny should be back any minute. She is going to be so ticked that she wasn't here when you woke up." Matt said.
"Penny?" I asked.
"You know, your wife. We forced her to go take a shower. You gave us quite a scare three days ago and she hasn't left your side since, not that she left much before that. I looked over and saw an arrangement of wilting purple roses. "She needed to get out of this room for awhile, we had to force her." Zack said.
"Penny's alive?" I asked.
Then I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. "Hey guys, I'm back, are you happy now?"
"Penny!" I said as loud as I could.
Brian!" She rushed to my side. "Thank God! You're awake!" She kissed my forehead. "I love you!" I breathed in the scent that I loved so much.
"Penny is it really you?" I reached up and touched her face, she nuzzled into my hand. I looked into the blue eyes that I never thought I would see again. You could tell she had been crying and she was tired, but they were filled with life, love and joy. I couldn't believe she was there. "I love you Penny, you don't know how glad I am to see you. I thought I had lost you forever."
"I have been right here; I was so afraid of losing you. They tried to admit me for 24 hours and I wasn't going to let them keep me from you."
"Really?" I asked...
"Yea, she pulled the IV out of her arm and ran around in just a hospital gown, bleeding all over the place." Matt said.
"She was the talk of the hospital." Johnny laughed.
"Okay guys!" Penny said.
Zack said. "The doctor should be here soon; we're going to leave you two alone."

Penny's POV
He was finally out of the coma and I wasn't there! "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up."
"As long as you're here, you're alive and you're healthy that's all that matters." He said.
"I wasn't hurt very bad in the accident. I have only been worried about you."
"You've lost weight; you haven't been eating have you?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not the one we need to worry about."
"Yes Penz, you are." He said sternly.

Before I could ask why, the doctor came in and examined him. He said that Brian could be moved to a regular room. Then Brian said the weirdest thing to the Doctor. "I want my wife to have a full physical, how can I make that happen today? I'll pay any amount that is necessary."
"Brian, what are you talking about?" I asked.
"I'm serious Penz, I want them to run every test possible on you."
"Why?" I asked.
"Just indulge me, please? I need you to do this." He was very serious. He looked at the Doctor. "Well?"
"I don't know if we can arrange that today. I'll see what I can do. But you need to stay calm."
"It needs to happen today." Brian was adamant.
The Doctor left and Brian was moved to a regular room.

Later that day, I saw a Doctor there at the hospital. I had blood work, scans of just about every part of my body and even a coronary stress test. I wasn't sure why Brian insisted on all of this, but I thought it best to appease him.

Brian's POV
When I first came out of the coma, I didn't know which was real and which was a dream or if they both were and I was still unconscious. Once I knew that Penny was alive and that horrible year never happened, I knew I had to make sure that if there was something wrong with her that it was discovered as soon as possible. I now understood Jimmy's riddles.

It took several days for all the tests to come back. We met with the Doctor on the day I was released. Penny was indeed diagnosed with a rare blood disorder and the Doctor said it was discovered in time that with treatment, the prognosis was very good. Penny's life was Jimmy's gift, he gave me a glimpse and left it up to me to save her by making sure it was discovered in time.
"Treatment? Where? How long?" Penny asked.
"Well at first you will need to be inpatient for a week or two. If all goes well, you should be able to undergo outpatient treatment after that. We will get you into a specialist that can give you more details. I suggest Dr. Janice Callahan at OSU Hospital."
"No, I am not leaving Brian right now. A month isn't going to hurt anything."
"Mrs. Haner, delaying treatment could mean your life."
I had to make her understand. "Penny, you have to do this. I am fine, it's just a broken leg. I need you to be well and be with me for years to come. I know what I am talking about. Please Honey, either you agree or I drag you there, broken leg or not."
"Okay. Let's get in to see the specialist." She reluctantly agreed, but I think she had finally realized how serious this was.
I researched and found the top rated specialist in treating this kind of blood disorder. He was actually from Southern California. Penny didn't want to go back to California yet and I knew she would need her family while she was in the hospital. I convinced Dr. Gabriel to fly to Ohio to see her so that she would have one Doctor from both states overseeing her care. One week later we met with him and Dr. Callahan at OSU. Penny was admitted to the hospital immediately for treatment. I stayed there with her most of the time, but also had a hotel room to sleep and get cleaned up. The treatment made her very sick so it was hard for her to keep food down. The nights she was extremely ill, I stayed with her.
We were both very impressed that Dr. Gabriel stayed in Ohio the first few days she was in the hospital. He also came back just before she was released. He gave strict instructions on Penny's care once she was out of the hospital. He asked that she keep flying to minimum and avoided anyone who was ill or anywhere that she could be exposed to contagious illnesses. He gave her a diet to follow that would not only help her gain weight back, but would boost her immune system. He was very nice to Penny, but I got the feeling he wasn't one of my biggest fans.
"Penny where do you plan to stay once you are released?" He asked.
"I was hoping to stay here and spend some time with my family while Brian's leg heals." Penny said.
"I would prefer that you stay in California as much as possible. How long is that supposed to be?"
"About a month." I said. "I don't understand, I thought Dr. Callahan could oversee her care when she is here?" I asked.
"Dr. Callahan is fine to monitor Penny when she has to be here, but she is not as knowledgeable to Penny's specific disorder as I am. I would like to personally oversee her care. You do want her to be well, don't you?"
"Of course I do, her health is my number one priority." I said. There was something in his tone, I didn't like.
"Brian will make sure I follow your guidelines, trust me. As soon as his cast is off and he has completed Physical Therapy we will be in California." Penny said. "Brian needs to get back to the band anyway."
"That's fine. I do have two more requests and I am sure they go without saying" with that he looked at me. "No more tattoos for awhile and no rock concerts, nightclubs or wild parties ." He finally looked at Penny. "Okay Penny?"
"Of course." She said.