"Ellie," Frankie cried into his sister's shoulder as he continued to hug her tightly.
Ignoring the pain that came with the action, Dani squeezed him back just as tight and placed multiple kisses to the side of his head.
"I know, I know...you're okay, bud...I'm okay...We're okay. He's gone...It's going to be alright," she reassured him.
"Ellie," Frankie mumbled with a sniff as he pulled back to face her.
Dani frowned as he rubbed his eyes. "What is it, baby? What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry," Frankie said and let out a sob. "I used the potty."
Dani's features saddened as she rubbed her brother's back while saying, "Oh sweetie, it's okay. No one's mad at you for that, it's alright. Are you okay? Did he touch you?!"
Frankie shook his head. "No, he just chased me...I didn't mean to do it, Ellie. I was scared. I heard you screaming."
Before she could speak, the sound of rushing footsteps filled Dani's ears before they both turned around to see their mother run into the room.
"Oh, thank God!!" Michelle cried out in relief, and Frankie instantly pulled away from his sister at the sound of her voice to run over to her.
"Mommy!!" he cried out as she bent down to squeeze him in her arms.
"You're okay, baby. Shh, you're okay. Momma's here, Momma's here," Michelle cooed to her son and pressed kisses to his face.
Dani stood up to her feet just in time for David to enter the room, and as soon as they made eye contact, she could feel herself breaking as tears formed in her eyes.
"Come here, baby girl," he said as he opened up his arms.
With a sob, Dani ran over to him and hugged him tightly.
"Oh, Dani...you're okay. It's alright. I'm here...We're here," David whispered to his daughter as she sobbed into his shoulder.
"Momma...Daddy," Frankie mumbled with a sniff, which caused them to look at him.
"Yes, sweetie? Are you okay?! What's wrong?!" Michelle asked.
Frankie began to cry as he said, "I...I'm not a big boy anymore...I didn't...make it to the potty."
Dani frowned as Michelle and David shook their heads, and he said, "Oh, bub. It's okay. You're still a very big boy. We're not mad at you for that, okay?"
Michelle nodded and kissed Frankie's head as she said, "Exactly. We're just so glad you're not hurt, baby. We love you so much."
Before anyone could say anything else, a sudden cry left Dani's mouth as a flash of pain shot through her leg before it focused on her ankle, and David immediately caught her in his arms as she began to fall to the floor.
"Dani?!"
"Ellie?!"
"My ankle," Dani gasped out while holding a firm grip on David's coat. "It's my ankle, it hurts!"
"Shh, shh, We're going to go get you some help, okay?" David reassured her as he turned around to walk out of the room. "You're going to be okay. It's going to be alright, I promise."
And though his words were meant to be reassuring...they had felt anything but.
Thirty minutes later, Dani sat outside on a gurney with a blanket wrapped around her as a paramedic checked her over. Apparently, someone who was out for a late-night run had heard their screams from inside and called the police a few minutes before Michelle and David got home.
"Okay, Daniella, I need you to follow the light for me," the paramedic said as she shined a flashlight in the girl's face, who squinted a little as she did what was told.
As soon as they stepped outside, David had immediately rushed his daughter over to an ambulance to get checked out. Fortunately, Frankie had gotten away before Henry could get to him, which deemed him officially uninjured.
Despite getting hurt herself, Dani really hadn't cared as all she had wanted was for her brother to be okay. He was all that had mattered to her, and she would have never forgiven herself if something had happened to him.
"Alright, Miss Richards. We're going to take you down to the hospital for further examination, okay? We think you may have suffered a concussion and need to do some extra testing to make sure you don't have any broken bones," the paramedic informed her.
Dani nodded but immediately groaned out in pain as she did so.
"Yeah, you may not want to do that," the paramedic then said.
Dani gave her a sarcastic smile as she laid down. "Yeah. I figured."
An hour later, Dani found herself lying in a hospital bed as she forced herself to stay awake after having surgery on her ankle. As it turned out, Henry had done much more damage to her than they'd initially thought, so she was forced to stay in the hospital for a little while.
"Ellie!!" her brother's voice called out, which caused Dani to turn her head to see him walk in on their mother's hip as David followed behind them.
"Hey, guys," she greeted them with a tired smile and watched as they walked over to her.
Frankie pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal a bouquet of white roses, which immediately made Dani's smile widen at the sight of them.
"These are for you, sissy!!" he told her with a smile of his own.
Dani laughed softly as she took them from his hands. "Oh, wow! They're beautiful!! Thanks, bud!!" she told him as she examined and smelled them.
Ever since she was a little girl, white roses had always been Dani's favorite type of flower over any other kind. They were only available at certain times around town, but they never failed to brighten her mood anytime she received them.
"How you doing, Kiddo?" David asked as they all took a seat.
Dani gave the man a half-hearted shrug as she slowly felt her pain go away with the pain reliever Dr.S gave her finally starting to kick in.
"Pretty good for a girl who's just fought a wolf," she told him with a lazy grin and laughed at her horrible joke, and the equal looks of confusion that had spread across her family's faces caused her to laugh even harder.
Frankie then frowned as he asked, "Momma? What's wrong with sissy?"
"I think sissy's had a little too much medicine, bub," Michelle answered with a shake of her head.
"Uh...Dani?" David questioned, and Dani hummed in answer. "You sure you're feeling okay?"
"Uh-huh," she said with a laugh and nodded. "I feel like a kite!!"
"A kite?" Frankie asked with a tilt of his head.
Michelle sighed as she shook her head and said, "Daniella don't you dare-"
"Yep! 'Cause I'm high in the sky!!" Dani exclaimed and laughed at her own joke again.
Frankie frowned as he shook his head and said, "But you can't be in the sky, Ellie. You don't have wings!!"
Dani snorted. "Not that you can see," she told him with a laugh.
"Oh boy," David muttered as Frankie grew even more confused.
Before the boy could ask any more questions, however, the sound of a knock on the door erupted in the room.
"Come in!" Dani dragged out with a smile.
Michelle shook her head again with a sigh and said, "Daniella Janine!"
Dani quickly went quiet but gave her mother a grin as she zipped her lips shut, making Frankie giggle.
The door soon opened to reveal her friend, Officer Jack Nichols, as he walked in. Jack gave her family a nod in greeting before he averted his eyes to Dani, and she gave him a little wave with a smirk, which caused his eyebrows to furrow as he looked back at her family.
"Just ignore her...The doctor needs to tone down on her medicine," David informed him with a sigh and shake of his head.
Jack nodded in understanding before he looked back over to Dani and said, "Hey there, Nell...How ya feeling?"
She gave him two thumbs up.
"..Okay...Well, I've come in here just to ask you a few questions," Jack said, looking back to Dani's parents and brother.
Understanding the look they were receiving, David cleared his throat and got up to walk to the door. Michelle gave her daughter one last look of concern before she too got up with Frankie and followed her husband outside the room.
Jack sighed and looked back at his friend, who gave him another little wave in greeting.
"Okay, Nelli...I'm going to need you to listen to me carefully, alright?" he told her slowly while sitting down in a chair.
Dani nodded as she forced herself to be serious.
"Okay...The person who attacked you tonight...Are you sure it was Henry Wolff?" he questioned softly.
Immediately, Dani felt her heart drop as she sat up and asked, "What do you mean am I sure it was him?! Why wouldn't I know who was in my house, Jack?"
Jack sighed as he looked down at the floor before looking back up to give the girl an apologetic look.
Dani's eyes narrowed. "What? What is it?" she questioned, the anger in her rising with each silent second that passed by.
Jack sighed again before saying, "We got a call from Henry's parole officer, and...Henry has an alibi, Nell...There's no way he could've been at your house tonight."
Dani furrowed her brows in shock before she glared at him while saying, "What?! What do you mean he has an alibi?! He was at my house! He tried to attack my brother!!"
"And while I'm not saying that that couldn't be a possibility...The evidence surrounding Henry's alibi points it further towards him not being a suspect," Jack said in a soft tone, but it did nothing to calm Dani's anger as she just looked at him in disbelief.
"Not a su-...Are you hearing yourself?!" she questioned and shook her head. "Who else would want to attack me, Jack?!"
"I don't know, Nell," Jack said, shaking his head as he placed a hand over hers. "But I'm going to find out, okay?"
Dani scoffed and yanked her hand out of his hold. "We already know who!! You just refuse to accept it!!" she spat with a glare.
Jack sighed and said, "Nell-"
"You know...I remember a time where I could go to you when things got bad," Dani cut him off as she started to frown. "I put my trust in you...and you know that isn't something I do easily...You were one of my closest friends...You were my older brother, Jack."
Jack looked at her sadly as he said, "And I still am, Nell. You can still trust me-"
"No, I can't," Dani cut him off again as tears formed in her eyes. "You lost that the minute you chose to believe him over me."
"Don't do this, Nell," Jack begged while shaking his head. "We can figure this out, alright? We can go over other possible suspects-"
"There are no other suspects, Jack!!" Dani shouted. "What about that do you not understand?! I know who was at my house tonight!! And if you ask my brother, which you won't, he'd tell you the exact same thing because it was Henry!!"
Jack sighed, and Dani could see the confliction swimming in his eyes as he said, "And we're not ruling him out as a suspect Nell, I promise...but Dr.S did tell me that with the injuries you've sustained to your head, there is a possibility that your brain may have changed up the memories of your attack and-"
A scoff cut off his words as Dani sat up with narrowed eyes while asking, "So now you think I'm crazy?!"
Jack's eyes widened as he shook his head and said, "What?! No, of course not! I just-"
"Get out," Dani cut him off again as she no longer had the energy to fight against him anymore.
It was clear that no matter what she said, Henry was still going to get away with what he had done.
Jack sighed again. "Nelli-"
"Get out, Jack," she said while glaring at the end of her bed. "I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep, so leave."
Jack shook his head as he grabbed onto Dani's hand and said, "Don't do this, Nelli. Please don't do this. We can fix this, I swear-"
"I said, Get OUT!!" Dani yelled while yanking her hand away from his and looking up to him with tearful eyes. "Get out! Just get out!!"
The door suddenly opened to reveal David as he walked in and looked directly at Jack as he said, "I think it's time for you to go now, Officer Nichols."
Dani averted her gaze back to her hospital bed and clenched her jaw as she could feel Jack's saddened stare burning into the side of her face.
Jack sighed as he finally got up to leave. "I'm sorry, Nell...I'm going to make this right," he declared and left the room.
As soon as the door closed, Dani sighed in frustration and held her hands up to her face, and it wasn't long before she could hear the sound of footsteps as they walked across the floor.
"Dani?" David softly called out as he stepped closer to her.
Dani looked up at him with tears in her eyes as she shook her head and said, "I'm not crazy, David. I know who attacked us! I know it was Henry!"
David nodded and said, "I know. Hey, come here. I know," as he sat on the bed and pulled his daughter into his arms.
As soon as his arms wrapped around her, Dani let out a sob and buried her head into his shoulder while hugging him tightly.
She just couldn't understand it.
Why didn't Jack believe her? Why didn't he take her word for it? She thought that they were closer than that...That their friendship was worth more than what he had shown her...but it was obvious she had been wrong. And it would have been a lie for her to say that it didn't hurt her because it most definitely had, but Jack wasn't the first person to take her trust for granted.
But he would be the last.
The next morning, Dani sat alone in her hospital room, waiting for the arrival of a certain someone while her parents were out getting breakfast. Since it had been so late when her surgery got done, Dani had told her mother not to tell her boyfriend's mother about what happened until the morning so that the Darling boy wouldn't drive all the way over to the hospital so late at night like she knew he would.
"I leave you alone for one day, and this is what you get into?" a familiar male voice said as he walked into the room.
A bright smile was on Dani's face as she turned her head to see her boyfriend with an equally large grin on his features and a bouquet of familiar white flowers in his hands.
"Mikey!! Hi!!"
"Hey gorgeous," Mikey greeted as he sat down on the bed beside his girlfriend once she made room for him. "These are for you, though I should've known Frankie would've beaten me to them first."
Dani laughed as she took the bouquet from his hands. "Well, now I have two equally special bouquets from two of my most favorite people," she told him with a shrug while placing the flowers on the side table.
As soon as she turned her head back around, Dani's lips collided with Mikey's as he tilted her chin up with his finger.
"I didn't get my kiss," he said after pulling away with a pout.
"You didn't even give me time," Dani said with a snort.
"It's been so long, I don't think I have the patience to wait anymore," Mikey said with the same pout.
Dani rolled her eyes and leaned back in to press multiple kisses against his lips, which caused him to laugh.
"How was your day with Wilbur?" she asked after pulling away from him with a laugh of her own.
Mikey smiled as his eyes immediately lit up at her question and he said, "It was great, actually! We're going bowling next weekend."
"Really? That's great, babe! I'm so happy for you!!" Dani told him as her own features lit up with a smile.
"Eh, I really have you to thank for that," Mikey said in a bashful tone with a shrug.
He then narrowed his eyes and said, "Now. Care to explain to me why you're lying in a hospital bed right now?"
Dani's body tensed at his question before she quickly covered it up. She knew the question was inevitable, but that didn't mean that she wasn't still nervous of his reaction when he'd learn the truth.
"Uh," she mumbled and looked down at their entangled hands. "Would you believe me if I told you I fell down the stairs?"
Mikey snorted and said, "Yeah, if we were in the 6th grade."
Dani scoffed, but he spoke again before she could say anything.
"Now tell me what really happened, babe."
Dani sighed and rubbed her head. "If I tell you, you have to promise me you won't freak out and go do something incredibly stupid," she said while looking up at him.
Mikey narrowed his eyes again. "What happened?"
Dani shook her head and said, "Promise me."
"Dani."
"Mikey," she bit back with an eyebrow raised.
The Darling boy sighed as he nodded and said, "Alright. I promise. Now tell me."
Dani huffed and prepared herself for his reaction. "Henry came into our house last night and attacked Frankie and me," she rushed out and watched as her boyfriend's body stilled at her words.
"He what?!"
"Henry came in-"
"No, I heard you," Mikey cut her off with a shake of his head. "I just don't get-... How the hell?!"
"Mikey," Dani warned as she could see the anger showing in his eyes. "Baby, you promised me."
"Yeah, that was before I found out some psychotic wolf asshole went after my girlfriend and her brother!!" Mikey snapped, and Dani grimaced at the anger in his tone.
"Mikey, look at me...Look at me," she said and turned his head to face her. "I'm okay, okay? I'm fine. Frankie is fine, and Henry's going to get what's coming for him."
Mikey nodded. "Yeah, right when I-"
"No. No. No," Dani immediately cut him off while continuing to hold his face in her hands. "You're not doing anything, alright? You're not doing anything but staying in here with me and keeping me company until I can leave."
"You can't expect me to just stay in here while he's still out there, Dani," Mikey said. "He hurt you! He tried to hurt Frankie! I can't just let him get away-"
"Mikey, please!" Dani said and laid her forehead against his chest. "Please, baby, please, I can't...If something were to happen to you-... You can't-"
"Shh," Mikey murmured while holding her close.
Dani closed her eyes as she felt a tear fall down her cheek.
"I'm not going anywhere, okay? I promise," he said. "I won't leave."
"I can't lose you, Mikey...I can't. I just can't," Dani mumbled while gripping onto the back of his shirt.
"And you won't, I promise," he told her softly and pressed a kiss to her head. "Just like I won't lose you...We're a forever thing, remember?"
Dani laughed and nodded her head with a sniff. "A forever thing," she said and looked up at him. "I love you, Mikey."
Mikey paused at her words, a smile growing on his lips as he said, "Say that again."
"I love you," Dani said and laughed as his smile widened. "I love you, I love you, I love you."
"I love you too," Mikey said. "I love you so much. I never stopped...and I don't think I ever will, honestly."
Dani smiled at his words as he leaned in to kiss her, and her arm automatically wrapped around his neck as her eyes closed in bliss and he pulled her close.
It was as if her love for him had grown even stronger over the three years they had been apart, and now that they were finally back together again...Dani just couldn't imagine being with anyone else but him.
And that thought alone only added on to the never-ending fear she had felt in her body.