Something in the Way You Move [O'J]

Part 32

This is part 32, right?

Glen's POV

It's been two months now since Callie's fallen into a coma. I can tell it's really starting to wear Danny down completely. He's almost always by her side, and when he's not, he's with Jessie. Mark and I have even started going to her room to write, even. I don't think he's sleeping anymore: he's got bags and massive shadows under his eyes. I walk into the hospital, hoping today will be something different, that she'll be awake, that he'll be happy, something, anything!

I open the door quietly in case, God willing, he's fallen asleep. I slip inside and close the door again. He's just sitting there, in the sole chair in the room, staring blankly at the other wall. What's weird, though, is that his breathing is deep and regular, like he's sleeping. I walk over to him and wave a hand in front of his face. He doesn't even blink. He's fallen asleep with his eyes open, if that's even possible. Creepy...!

I'm debating waking him up to tell him to go home and get some quality sleep or just letting him sit there and get poor sleep. He needs to go home and take care of himself, but he needs sleep to do anything, and right now he's sleeping for the first time in...God knows how long. Unsure of what to do, I step outside and call Mark.

"Hey Glen, what's up?"

"Hey Mark. So I'm at the hospital and Danny's finally sleeping with his eyes open---"

"With his eyes open? That's some creepy shit."

"Yeah. And I need a second opinion on something."

"Shoot, then."

"If I should wake him up and send him home or let him sleep where he is."

"Hmm. Tough call..." He pauses for a minute, as if he was talking to someone on his end of the phone. "Tell you what. Rina and I are coming over. We'll wake him up then and force him home; we'll outnumber him and he's not strong enough to defend himself against both of us if it comes to that."

"Okay, sounds like a plan. See you soon."

"Alright. We'll pick Jessie up so she can talk some sense into him, too. See you in a few." We hang up.

I sigh quietly, hoping they'll be here soon. Then I turn and head back inside, nearly having a heart attack as I enter. Danny's turned to face the door, but I'm not sure if he's awake or not. He blinks slowly at me, swaying on his chair. It takes him a few seconds to recognize me, since he can barely keep his eyes open for more than a second at a time. Finally, he mumbles, "Glen. Is this the studio today?"

"No, Danny."

"Then why are you here?" He doesn't sound hostile, just confused.

"I'm not allowed to visit Callie?" He knows we got along amazingly well despite only having met a few times.

"Oh. Right." He sighs heavily. "Callie."

We leave it at that, since he's no longer able to form coherent sentences. Ten minutes later, Mark, Rina, and Jessie all enter the room. "Oi, Glen, I thought we'd wake him up when we all got here?" Mark says, looking at Danny.

"He was up when I got off the phone," I tell him. He sighs and looks at me expectantly. "Look, Dan---"

"I'm not going home. Don't even try," he growls.

"You need to sleep!" Mark protests.

"I just did!"

"For what, twenty minutes?"

"Twenty five... Look, that's not the point! I can't leave her here alone!"

At this point, Jessie snaps, "Daniel John Mark Luke O'Donoghue, stop being ridiculous! No human being can run on twenty five minutes of sleep in what, eight days, has it been? You will go home, you will sleep, and you will take care of yourself! And Callie's not going to be alone; Mark, Glen, Rina and I are going to stay with her!"

I have never seen Danny look so scandalized. Mark and I exchange looks of shock. "But---" Danny begins to protest.

"No 'buts', Daniel!" Rina snaps. "You're going home to take care of yourself---eat, bathe, sleep, whatever." Upon seeing the appalled look on his face, she adds gently, "Besides, it's not as if she's going to be alone with strangers. Two of us are already parents, for Christ's sake! We'll call you if she wakes up, alright?" He hesitates still, frowning. "Danny, what if she wakes up and you're not able to take care of her because you can't walk more than two feet without passing out? Or because you're not strong enough since you haven't eaten? What would you do then? You need to go take care of yourself now so you can take care of her later, okay?"

After a long time, he sighs reluctantly and gets up unsteadily. He sways dangerously and Mark and I hurry over to help him. We each grab an arm and hold him steady. He mumbles goodbyes to everyone. Jessie whispers to me, "Go with him? Make sure he gets home okay, at least?"

"No problem," I whisper back. She kisses my cheek in thanks before heading over to Mark. A minute later, we are leading Danny out of the hospital. As soon as we step foot out of the hospital, Danny starts shivering---it's snowing heavily and the eejit doesn't have a coat. Mark and I glance at each other and take off our coats, draping them over his shoulders. He is the one with the fragile health at the moment, after all. We manage to catch a taxi and cram into the backseat. After a few minutes, we arrive at his flat and I pay the cabbie. We lead Danny into his flat. "Go change into some pajamas, Danny."

He stumbles into his room blearily without a single protest. A few minutes pass in silence. "Should we check to see if he's alive, at least?" Mark asks.

"Yeah, I guess we should." We get up from his couch and sneak over to his door. We push it open cautiously and peer inside. Danny's collapsed half-on and half-off his bed: his legs rest on the floor but his chest is on the bed. "Oh, Danny..."

"We should probably fix that or he's going to wake up with some nasty pains," Mark observes.

"It'd be cruel of us not to," I comment. We walk over to him and pull him all the way off the bed carefully. Then we pull back his blanket and duvet. Mark and I stand on either end of him. "You ready?" I ask him.

"When you are," he replies. I grab his ankles while Mark grabs his wrists. We lift him up slowly and set him on the bed before throwing the covers over him. We turn out the light and return back to the hospital, making sure to lock the door behind us.

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Oh Danny...your health is deteriorating. That's not good.