twenty-seven days
Twenty seven days, six hundred and forty eight hours she lay in a coma. Twenty seven days, six hundred and forty eight hours he sat by her side and waited for her to wake up. Twenty seven days, six hundred and forty eight hours he remembered every memory he shared with Alison.
/
Day one he just sits there, staring into space, not really sure of what to do. The nurse tells him to talk to her because she can still hear but he feels stupid, talking to someone who's unresponsive. Instead he brings her flowers — yellow lilies — and grapes.
Day two he finds himself studying her, watching her sleep. She's — she's beautiful, her chest raising and falling gently, looking like a fallen angel from heaven. He remembers the first time he met her and how cynical he was of her.
Day three he eats all the red grapes, leaving the green and the black because he didn't know what colour she liked most.
Day four he eats all the green ones, followed by the black ones on day five.
Day six he realises, as he's watching her, just how pale she really is and how she vulnerable she is too — (though he's known that fact for a while) — when he looks around the room, his eyes fall upon his — her yellow lilies slowly dying in the corner.
He writes a note on the palm of his hand to bring her some more tomorrow when he comes to visit.
Day seven is the day he brings her more yellow lilies, replacing the wilting ones which petals have all fallen off and covered the bedside table. He was going to bring more grapes but finds it pointless (he's going to eat them all again) Day seven is also the first time he touches her since she fell into a coma. He traces his fingers along the scar on her left arm, remembering today's been exactly a week since the séance — the reason why she was here, in this coma.
Day eight, nine and ten are quiet boring though he's getting used to the taste of hospital coffee. It no longer resembles fairy liquid in a plastic cup nor is he burning his fingers due to the temperature of the liquid.
Day eleven Alison shows a little bit of movement. Her finger twitches but the Doctor reminds Robert not to get excited because it's most likely a reflex. It doesn't men that she's suddenly going to wake up and come out of her coma.
The Doctor's right. On day twelve, thirteen and fourteen, she's as still as she's ever been.
Day fifteen he buys more flowers. Again they're yellow lilies (he thinks the room's got enough white and she doesn't seem a red coloured sort of girl either) He comes to his own conclusion why the flowers are dying, he keeps forgetting the key component for growth — water.
Day sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen and twenty are, in his eyes, boring.
Day twenty one he brings grapes (black because they're his favourite), sits beside her and reads his book. He knows there's nothing else to do until she wakes up and who knows how long that's going to be? The Doctor's say she'll either wake or she won't and he doesn't want her to die, (she's his best friend!)
Day twenty two, three and four are once again boring. There is once again, only so many times you can perform the same routine before the entire thing becomes boring. He eats grapes, drinks coffee from the machine, brings flowers when the others have died — all whilst trying to convince himself Alison will wake up.
Though the Doctors pointed out that the longer she was in a coma, the less chance there was of her coming out of it.
Day twenty five he brings more flowers, more lilies. He's tired of seeing yellow so brings a mixture of different colours. There's one white, one yellow, seven are red and the rest of the bunch are purple. It's the biggest bunch he could find and it set him back a bit but he doesn't care because she's special.
Day twenty six, he notices she's paler than normal and colder. He takes her hand in his, realising how much of a perfect fit is it and takes the nurse's advice from day one. He decides he's going to talk to her — (though he feels silly too)
"Alison," he whispers stroking his fingers along hers, "please don't leave me, I need you." Day twenty six is the first time he admits out loud just how much Alison means to him and how he needs her. Without her he's nothing, just an empty shell of the man he used to be when she was around.
/
The following morning — (day twenty seven) — twenty five minutes to eight, her heart stops for a moment.
He'd gone home to shower, change his clothes, to eat. He's in a somewhat peaceful slumber when he's awoken by the news from the hospital that she's gone into cardiac arrest. He breaks every single speed limit to get to the hospital, hoping he'd perhaps be able to say goodbye before she passed away.
The scene in front of him when he reaches the hospital makes his own heart to stop for a moment.
In front of him was Alison, alive.
Alison was alive and not dead as he was expecting.
"Hi," it's a whisper but they make eye contact. He feels his heart beat again, his mind wondering how the hell did she wake up when it seemed unlikely? He shakes the thought free from his mind, relieved that she was alive and everything was going to be okay.
He sits down beside her, in the same seat he'd sat in for the last twenty seven days and asks; "how are you?"
"I'm," she pauses, "I'm okay, how are you?"
"I'm okay," he smiles and takes her hand again like he did when she was in a coma. He squeezes her fingers and neither of them speak, just content with the silence that surrounds them, "thank god you're alive Alison!"
"The Nurse says you never left," she nods towards the colourful flowers and replies, "and she says you brought them too."
"Yeah."
"Why?"
He goes to move his hand but she keeps a firm hold of it. She knows why he stayed but she wants to hear the words come from his mouth. She wants him to tell the truth, to face it with her. He looks at her, a small smile on his face;
"I care about you Alison, I care about you a lot."
Again there's a silence and again neither of them speak. Truth be told, neither know what to say. There's something unresolved between the two of them but they're both afraid of resolving whatever it is that keeps them connected to one another; for the fear something will go wrong.
Unlacing his fingers from hers, he touched her cheek; "I love you Alison."
And with a smile as he pressed his lips to her forehead, she whispered back; "I love you too."
jottings — recently found afterlife, fell in love with Alison and Robert, plot bunnies went wild.
set between the end of series one and the beginning of series two. please leave a review if you like it :3