In The Dark

48 - August 26th (Continued)

The moment they walked through the door, Geri, Howie, and Brian signalled for the two of them to be quiet. Melanie was cradled in AJ's lap, still on the floor where they'd last seen her, and she had fallen asleep. Emma's expression immediately darkened and she glared up at Geri.

"She was sedated then?" she hissed angrily. Geri quickly shook her head and pulled Emma and Victoria over to the door.

"No, she fell asleep on her own," Geri whispered. "We had a bit of a chat and got everything sorted out for her. Once she realized we weren't going to hurt her and we promised we wouldn't put her up on the bed, she cuddled in with AJ for a sleep. We're going to wait until she's more fully asleep before we move her up to Intensive Care. She was actually able to shed some tears after a while, so she's not dehydrated anymore and her fever's broken now. She just needs some rest and a bit more of the fluids and then she'll be fine."

"She's not mad at us anymore?" Emma queried softly. Geri smiled and wrapped one arm around Emma's waist, resting her head on Emma's shoulder.

"Not once she got everything sorted," Geri replied. "She even asked after you." Emma pulled away and looked at Geri curiously. "She was really upset that she'd made you cry." Emma looked back at Melanie and smiled tearfully, visibly relieved that they hadn't completely ruined everything they'd built with Melanie over the past few months.

There was a light tapping on the door and the girls quickly stepped away to let Sandra come through. She smiled at them and quietly inquired about how Melanie was doing before letting the group know they had a room set up for her in the ICU.

Brian knelt in front of AJ and carefully lifted her into his arms, trying his best not to wake her up. She inhaled deeply and stiffened for a moment before relaxing into his arms. He stood up and followed Sandra out of the room with AJ following close behind and pushing the IV along with them. Sandra guided them through the corridor, avoiding the front area where the paparazzi were still waiting and she took them through the more quiet area of the hospital. The lot of them crowded into one of the lifts and ascended to the third floor where a few nurses had set up a room with a mattress on the floor along the wall for Melanie to sleep on. The bed had been pushed aside to allow for more room and the shades had been drawn to cut out some of the light from the window.

Brian carefully set Melanie on the mattress and tucked her in, brushing the hair out of her face before stepping back to let Sandra check Melanie's temperature and vitals. Outside the window, fans could be heard screaming for the two bands, having heard that Melanie had been rushed to hospital following her trial. Brian pulled the shade open slightly and looked down at the crowd that had formed near the front entrance of the hospital.

"Do you think that will wake her?" he asked, looking down at Sandra and Melanie. Sandra shook her head and looked at the temperature reading on her thermometer.

"If she hasn't slept in days, I think she'll be out cold for a while," she whispered. "I can see about getting the crowd cleared away though."

"Should we go and do a quick scrum and ask them to leave?" Emma asked.

Simon smirked and shook his head. "I'll have a decoy sent out and we'll convince them you lot have gone. No sense in adding to the chaos down there."

Having spent majority of his time awake with Melanie over the previous few days, Brian gingerly crawled onto the mattress with Melanie, hugging her close and spooning her from behind. Emma crawled up onto the bed where AJ was sitting and rested with her head on his lap. AJ leaned back against the wall and let his eyes close as well, exhausted from the day's events. Simon and Sam left the room to get the crowd sorted while the remaining band members dispersed from the room, some going to get something to eat from the cafeteria and some going outside to get some air.