That's them. Dan and Red.
Red's POV
I woke up a little later.
"Oh, good. You're awake."
I look up and see Jonny in front of the bed. His arms are behind his back and his face shows a big smile.
"Yes, I am." I sit up. "What did you mean before, about needing my help?"
"Oh, I need to see my family. Well I need you to talk to them. I can't see them anymore. Once you do that, I'll be free."
"Free?" I question.
"I can be in peace. Be happy. Of course, you probably want to trade, right?"
"Trade?"
"I give you something and you give me something."
"There's no need for that. I do things all the time. I don't think I should get anything in return. Why not just help you?"
"That's true. But I want to give you something back. For agreeing to help."
"That's what you want?"
"Yes."
"Ok, then."
"So what would you like?"
"Me? I- uh-"
"Do you want a toy? Or some new clothes? It could be anything."
"Anything? I have to find Dan first."
I jumped out of the bed and ran out into the hall. I quickly walked down, peeking into doors until finally- finally- I saw Dan. I rushed into the room and heard Jonny behind me. He looked awful.
"No. Dan. Please be okay." I kneeled at the side of his bed and brushed the hair out his eyes.
His eyes opened slowly. "Rowen? Where are- Ow!" He grabbed his head in pain.
"What's wrong?!"
"It feels like somebody is hitting me in the head with a hammer."
"What's a- never mind." I look toward Jonny. "Please, make him healthy. Is that possible, could you help him?"
"Is that what you want? You don't want something for yourself?"
"No, please."
"I can try." He stood up straight, squeezed his eyes shut. After a bit, he took his finger and his thumb and rubbed them against each other, quickly pulling down.
"What was that?" I ask.
"I did my best."
"No the-" I held up my fingers.
"Oh, snapping. It's like a trick with your fingers."
I nod. Just then I hear Dan gasp. I look at him and see his bruises and red marks lighten up. But they don't go away completely. His eyes open wider than before and he sits up with more strength. His body and face become fuller and the bones disappear beneath his skin ever so slightly. He turns a slightly darker shade and his teeth lighten and straighten.
"Rowan, what just happened?"
"You're healthy! Sort of. But now you won't die, you're not as ill anymore." I jump up and wrap my arms around him.
He rubs my back and I pull away as he starts to speak. "What happened to you?" He asks more clearly now.
"What do you-" I cut myself off as I look down at my no longer bony fingers. I slowly move my arm around. My shoulder. It's healed.
"That one was for you." Jonny says behind me, "You could've had anything and you decided to make your brother better again. It was like a change in humanity. You are nothing like other people your age. All of them, or at least most, greedy and unaccepting of others. Afraid of something different. You were definitely the right person to choose for this. Now we have to go. Back to your room. Somebody will be there soon. You can't be missing."
"Dan," I turn to him before Jonny pulls me out the door. "Don't say anything about this."
He nods and I'm brought back to the bed. Jeff walks into the room.
"Red, we would like to talk to you about what happened earlier." he says, as 3 other people follow behind him.
I look at Jonny and he stands up, closing his eyes.
"Yes, we think you may have some other.. issues." The lady speaks up.
"We are going to run some tests for schizophrenia, depression, and we were even thinking we should try multiple personality disorder." The doctor starts, flipping through some papers. "He thinks your insane." She says, pointing her finger at the other man. "You know, mental, crazy. Should be put in an asylum."
"I don't understand. What is skit- skeetzo- fernia? And asylum? What is, I don't-" I looked back at Jonny, his hands in the air, fingers ready. And he snapped.
I looked at the nurses and doctors. They blinked- once, twice. Shook their heads quickly.
"I'm sorry. I don't know- why are we in here?" The nurse asked.
The doctors shrugged, "Come on. Let's go." the man led the females out through the door.
Jeff stands at the side of my bed. "I'm just.. going to get a glass of water.
I look at Jonny. "What did you do?" I ask smiling.
"You were about to get in some serious trouble. They literally would not believe their eyes. They thought there was something wrong with you."
"Oh."
"Now pretend you were resting, somebody's coming."
I lay back in the bed, jumping when I hear the door shut loudly. I roll over to see Ant and Dec. They pull a bag out from behind Ant's back. I look around the room for Jonny, but I can't find him. I shrug and put full attention on Ant and Dec.
"Hey. We got you and Dan clothes for court today. You can't keep wearing those."
"For me?" I never get anything. Now I'm getting so much. I don't know how to handle it all.
"Yep." Ant says pulling out odd looking clothes.
They begin to explain what everything is. I point at two pieces of smaller looking clothes. "What are those?"
Dec's eyes widen a bit, "Those are umm, undergarments, for your-"
Jonny suddenly appeared and whispered in my ear. I nodded quickly, "I got it." I said to Dec. "thanks. And what are these?"
"Shoes. The hospital only gave you socks since you were barefoot."
I nodded again and picked up the clothes very carefully. I walked to the toilets and changed into the clothes. The skirt fell and gathered around my ankles. I lifted it up again and held it up around my waist. I walked back to Ant and Dec and found them with their faces on each other.
"Eww!" I heard Jonny and he started laughing.
He mimicked what they were doing causing me to quietly laugh. Ant and Dec heard me and turned to look at me.
"I thought this would happen." I heard Dec say and he pulled out a belt.
I immediately shut up. I backed away as he stepped closer. What had I done wrong?!
"Oh Red, it's to wear. To hold your skirt up, I would never hurt you." Dec told me.
"Ok." I said unsure, "Can you just put it on the floor." I didn't want to risk it.
Dec turned to look at Ant and I prepared to run, but Jonny stopped me. Dec looked back at me.
"Just come here. You can't be afraid your whole life."
Jonny gave me a push on my back and slowly, I walked forward. "Don't worry, it's just a belt." He whispered.
Eventually, I was standing in front of Dec. "Trust him." Jonny whispered, with a hand on my shoulder.
"Here." Dec lifted up the belt and handed it to me.
It took everything I had to not jump away. I stood as still as possible and slowly took the belt.
"Wrap it around your waist." Jonny told me. He explained how to loop the belt and I smiled when the skirt stayed up as I finished tightening the belt.
I ran over to Dec and hugged him tightly. I heard Ant get up from the bed and hug us together, wrapping his arms around us both. Ant and Dec laughed. I smiled and got a weird feeling in my stomach. I pushed it away and pulled from them.
"I think someone is missing." I dropped my arms down to my sides.
"Red, your shoulder!" Ant yelled, "How does it feel?"
"Good as new." I looked at Jonny then back at them, "it's a miracle. Now can we go see Dan? I think he's feeling a lot better." I placed my hands behind my back and walked to the door.
I heard them follow behind me. Jonny appeared by my side. "You're still going to help me right?"
"Yes. What is it that I have to do, exactly?"
"I need you to talk to my family. Something was left unfinished and until it's fixed, I'm trapped here."
I nodded and looked over at him, "What happened?"
"Well at first, I got cancer. That's a disease, when you get really sick. Then my family had to pay for medical stuff. A lot of medical stuff that ended up not helping at all. My little sister is going to grow up without her older brother. Her older brother who put her family into debt. They owe so much and they got nothing back for it. They just wanted me back. And that really hurts me. I never got to say goodbye. And I saw them. They can't stop being upset about it, and that's making them angry. They won't even pay attention to Cassidy anymore. She's only five. She needs the attention more than I do. Especially now. I need you to tell them to let go. To not live in the past. So that I can move on. Will you do that?"
"Of course," I placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. "You helped me so much. Now I want to help you."
We approached Dan's door and I walked inside.
"Dan. Dan, wake up." I said quietly, giving him a slight shake.
He groaned, his face down in the pillow. I let out a tiny laugh. "Please, Dan. Ant and Dec are here too." I told him, knowing he might want to meet someone new.
He rolled onto his back and sat up. "Alright, alright."
He looked up at me and smiled. He reached out, wrapping his arm around my waist, and pulled me down to sit next to him. A loud breath puffed out from my mouth.
"Hey." he breathed in my face and smiled.
Now, don't get me wrong, my breath has smelled bad. But this was different. This was horrific. I felt my face lift upwards at the smell, "Eww. When's the last time Sir and Ma'am let you use the toilets?"
"Two weeks ago." he said calmly and shrugged. No wonder. "I missed a week, because they got 'arrested' I was told." I looked down, that was my fault. "But this is so much better." He said, bending himself to look at me.
"What is?" Ant asked behind me.
He readjusted his eyes towards Ant. "Just being away from them. I would never shower again if it meant I could stay with Rowan and not have to live like that again." It was odd to hear that name. Dan looked back at me. "They took me away from you. You probably don't remember, but it was horrible. I mean, at first they were just fighting and stuff, but that's it. I just-"
I cut him off, not wanting to be reminded. "I remember. I know. But it's okay now." I reassured him. "Everything is starting to go ok."
"Never thought I'd see the day." Dan leaned back and smiled.
"Ya... The day of what?" I asked.
Dan chuckled quietly. "When I would see you again. When we would get out of that place. Away from them."
"Oh." I nodded.
Suddenly Dec jumped up with the bag shouting, "Ok!"
Dan flinched aggressively and covered his face. I jumped slightly at the sudden loudness, but I was growing more accustomed to Ant and Dec.
Ant began to talk, "Ok, so Dan, I don't think anyone has told you, but we have court today."
"Which is.." Dan asked.
Ant explained court, as Dec pulled out some clothes. "So, we got you a suit to wear there. And some fancy shoes. And some undergarments, because we don't know what they gave you."
"Oh, wow. That's so kind of you. Thank you very much." he leaned over and whispered, "Umm, Rowan. What are-" I quickly leaned over and whispered in his ear. His mouth opened slightly and he nodded. "Ok, ok. I get it. And uh, why do they sound like that?" He said quietly.
I didn't understand at first but then I blinked with realization. How had I not noticed this before? "Why do you-" I pointed at my mouth and was at a loss for words.
Ant and Dec looked at each other and laughed. "It's our accent. You have them too."
Dan shook his head, "No. We talk normal. Right?"
"Actually, nobody talks normally. In fact, once we move back to London, you two might start talking like this too." Ant said.
"What do you mean 'London'?" Dan asks Ant, tilting his head slightly to the side.
"There is so much you two need to learn." Dec mutters to the ground. "Let's just start with you trying on the suit." He hands the clothes to Dan.
Dan looks at me and I nod. He grabs the clothes from Dec and walks away to change.
Ant looks at me, "Red, who were you talking to before?"
"Oh, that was my friend Jonny." He told me about making up a friend from when I was little. That had to be the story to go with. I looked at him and he nodded. "He's my friend. Ever since I was 8 years old."
Dec leaned over towards Ant and whispered in his ear. I watched as he rested his head on Ant's shoulder.
"I think I've worn one of these before." I hear Dan say as he walks back into the room. He slips an arm through the jacket. "I had to walk down a long row to where they were standing, I think. And I was holding on of these." He held up a pillow as he sat down on the bed. "There were little circular objects, but I don't remember what they're called." he said. He poked at the bow on his shirt.
"You mean rings. It sounds like you were at your parents wedding. And you were the ring bearer."
We look at each other confused and are about to question when Dec stops us. "Later, we'll try to explain and answer everything." He stands and fixes the bow. "But right now, we have to get to court. I'm surprised these clothes fit so well, to be honest. That's a good thing though."
Ant and Dec step back and watch us. We stand from the bed as they examine us. It's normal. For me at least. I'm not sure what they did to Dan. I remember them. I remember when they would walk in and beat me. Then they stood there. Waiting for me to cry or scream or yell. I'm not sure. But I wouldn't. I sat there, I wouldn't let them win. And now, it was normal.
Jeff walked in hurriedly.
"Oh, Red, there you are. At least you didn't walk here by yourself. I assume Ant and Dec wanted you to see your brother. He's coming along well. Both of them are actually. Much healthier, surprisingly. We can check them both out of the hospital today. As long as you have a place for them?"
"Yes, we have a hotel room. And if all goes well, we can be getting on a plane back to London by tonight. After your place, of course."
Jeff smiled, "Good. I hope the court hearing goes well today. Let's get you guys out of here."
Dan leaned over to me, "Rowan, who's Red?"
"Oh, umm, I'll explain later."
"Ok."
Ant and Dec, followed Jeff out, Ant's arm around Dec's shoulders. Dan looked down at me and copied Ant. I tensed at the feeling, but soon relaxed.
Dan leaned down and whispered to me, "They care about each other, right? Like how Sir and Ma'am did. Only nicer."
I nodded and he smiled sadly, "You think things will get better?"
I thought for a minute, "I hope."
He looked at Ant and Dec, who were standing with a lady and Jeff near a counter. "Me too."
I could hear Ant and Dec talking to Jeff and the lady as we got closer. Jonny ran up to my side.
"They're here. They're leaving, look!" He pointed, hurriedly.
"Ok, I got it." I said running from Dan.
"Rowan!" He called and followed behind me.
"Excuse me." I said as I caught up to them. "I know this isn't a good time," I said to the teary eyed lady. "But there's something I need to tell you."
"I'm sorry kid, but we don't know you and if you have any questions, you can ask someone up there." He pointed over to a lady talking on a phone at a desk.
"Your son, Jonny."
The pair froze and the little girl jumped up. "How do you know Jonny?" She said madly, but sniffled.
"I uh, I talked to him before. He needs you to let go, so he can be at peace. He said you have to stop worrying over him, because there's nothing you can do now. He said he loves you and he wants you to give Cassidy a good life. He said that she needs the attention more than he does. It's the only way for him to be at peace."
"How do you know all this?" The lady yelled and pulled the little girl closer. "How do you know her name? How do you know our son?"
"He told me. He told me everything. He chose me to be able to make contact with him."
The lady began crying heavily and the man hugged her. I placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I really am." She nodded.
"I believe you. How else would you have known all that?" She looked at the man. "We will do our best to let go." She grabbed the girls hand. "Thank you." She smiled weakly and they walked out.
"Thank you." I heard next to me. I looked over and saw Jonny fading away. He smiled and waved, "Bye."
"Goodbye." I waved slightly.
"Woah. That was really weird." I heard Dan say behind me.
I laughed, "Its been weirder."
"Right. Well let's go." We walked back to Ant and Dec.
"Good luck today. I'll see you tonight at 5." He handed them a sheet of paper with writing on it.
"Ok, thank you." Ant said, taking the paper.
We walked outside and got in the car.
"Ok Red, Dan, we are going to court. Whatever they ask you, just tell the truth. Ok?"
"Ok." We said.
"So," Dan said to nobody in particular. "Rowan is Red and Red is Rowan. Why are they calling you Red, Rowan?" He turned to me.
"I forgot my name was Rowan, after a while." I said quietly. "It was still there, I knew that was the name I used to be called by. But I forgot who I was. They didn't exactly call me a certain name. So, when they hit me, blood came out. It was red. And it was me."
A/N
This is basically just a filler chapter. Sorry it took so long. It was hard to write. There was a lot to go through.
How are you guys liking the book though? I love getting your feedback.
And if you guys have any ideas for this story, I would love to hear them. I need a conflict for the characters. Any ideas?
And who knew it was Dan Howell for her brother? I think it kind of obvious. XD
I should probably stop talking now.
Keep it real ~Logan