A/N: If you were wondering, it's around 4 AM here right now. Anyways, Syntax Error's not dead, don't worry. I just decided to take a short break from it, hope you don't mind. This fic's not really DxC, well It sort of is, but, it's not. I actually think this might piss some people off. I had this (kind of) cliché plot stuck in my head, and I wanted it out so I made this. I wrote this 'cause of the whole CxDxG love triangle in TDWT.
Total Drama Island happened, TDA & TDWT didn't.
I sat at the bedside of a man who lay there, vulnerably, with tubes and bandages attached to his body. A man who I was deeply, madly in love with now looked as if he was some sort of alien being experimented on. After inhaling, he'd stay still for a moment before letting the breath escape again. I assumed he was making sure not to take any part of what was left of his life for granted, therefore savoring each breath he took. I moved my eyes from his chest to his face, and realized I was wrong. His forehead, wrinkled, his eyes, clamped shut, his lips, pursed. Breathing, to him, was an effort. He was conscious, but because he refused to open his eyes since entering the hospital, he didn't know that I was with him. I didn't want him to feel as if nobody cared enough to be with him, so I took hold of his hand and squeezed. It was cold, but I paid no attention to that.
...
Apparently, he had been texting while driving, distracting him from the road, and ran a red light. Once I heard the bad news, I mentally prepared a lengthy lecture so I would be ready to teach him a lesson… All of a sudden, my mind went blank and I became temporarily paralyzed. I realized how stupid I was being as the words given to me replayed in my head. My heart felt as if someone had grabbed it and dug their nails into it. A whirlwind of feelings smashed against the insides of my pounding head, forcing me to take a seat and stare, wide-eyed at nothing in particular. I had no idea what to think, what to say, what to do… And I hated it. I bit my lip and shook my head slowly, not knowing whether to believe the person on the phone or not. What I wanted to believe was this was a nightmare, but nothing ever goes as I want them to. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the chair. Cold sweat emerged from the palms of my shaking hands, and I clenched a fist around the phone I held to my face. I didn't want to hear any more of this, but I forced myself to be polite and let the doctor finish. A piece of glass had managed to impale a vital area of his heart, and a risky surgery was required to remove it. After allowing her to finish, I hung up and practically sprinted towards my car.
I avoided the urge to slam my foot against the gas pedal to avoid any more accidents. I thought Duncan would have enough brains to control his stupid, stupid actions. The tears I choked back at home managed to make their way up and blur my vision. I refused to let them fall, so I blinked a few times, thinking that would help. It didn't. Duncan was an idiot. The person he was texting was an idiot. Who the hell was he texting anyway? I slowed, and after a complete stop, tears fell. I silently swore at the streetlight that flashed the color of blood. If it had stayed green while he was on the road, Duncan wouldn't be in this mess. I reminded myself that streetlights didn't have brains, then went back to blaming the unknown pinhead my boyfriend was texting. From that, I began to blame myself. I'd already told him not to do anything but drive while driving, but Duncan needed to be told these types of things more than once. If I'd told him again, he might've actually listened... Who was I kidding, Duncan never listens. Duncan's a moronic, rebellious, punk. The loser in front of me refused to budge after the light turned green, and I slammed my palm onto the middle of my steering wheel. I wanted to scream, but I was afraid I would cry instead. I was worrying like crazy, I couldn't take it.
...
He grunted, stealing me from my thoughts, and I realized that I was squeezing his hand a little too hard. I removed my hand and looked at him apologetically. His eyes were still closed, so I spoke.
"I'm sorry, honey." I said, as softly as I could, trying not to cause him any more pain.
He blinked lazily and looked up to find me sitting at his bedside, forcing a smile on my face. His breathing was rugged, his eyes were tired. I continued to let a smile play on my face as I placed my hand on his cheek. His face expression softened. I could tell he was still a little dazed from the crash. I used my thumb to brush slightly along the side of his face, silently telling him that everything was alright. He lifted his hand to touch mine, though I could tell, it was a struggle. I bit my lip and swallowed the lump in my throat, accidentally letting him see that this was troubling me.
"It's okay." He whispered. "Life isn't life without a little pain."
His voice was unusually raspy, making me feel as I did back at the house, broken. I looked deep into his eyes and frowned. I disliked the idea of him being in so much pain. He reached up and pulled me graciously to lie on his chest. His heartbeat was slow and soothing, but his chest raised and fell a little faster than it should. I closed my eyes and slid my hand from his face to his chest, near the front of my face.
Our breaths were synchronized and at this moment, we were one. He kissed the top of my head and stroked my hair, relaxing me, relieving my stress. I tilted my head upwards and gazed into his drowsy, but still hypnotizing, teal eyes. They glimmered in the light, shining on us from the ceiling, making them even more captivating. The way he looked at me sent chills down my spine. He made me feel like I was the most beautiful woman in the world.
"I love you."
My heart skipped a beat. I knew he loved me, but actually hearing him say it directly to me multiplied the number of butterflies in my stomach. The expression of affection on my face was more than obvious, making him smirk. I pushed lightly against his chest to bring my face a little bit closer to his. My hot breath crawled on his neck, and his body became loose. In retrospect, I shouldn't have been teasing him, but I wanted him to know that I didn't think of him any less than I did before the accident, so I treated him as if nothing has changed.
His hand moved from my waist to my arm, and his grip tightened. I pushed against his chest once again and let my face hover over his for a moment. His eyes were pleading, begging. I lowered myself and pressed my lips onto his. They fit perfectly together. It was a simple, but passionate kiss. His lips were tender and warm. Fireworks went off in my head, making me take hold of his face to deepen the kiss. I felt him smiling, until I raised myself from him to take a breath. He looked pleased and I smiled down at him. He pulled me into another kiss. This one was quick, but sparks still flew. I laid my head next to his ear, my hand still the cheek opposite of where my face currently was. His firm hand was placed lovingly on my wrist, making sure I didn't let go.
"I love you, too, Duncan."
The corners of his mouth curled up and I watched him in silence. By this point, I had forgotten about the problem we were in.
"Trent's not going to like that." He chuckled softly.
I was struck dumbfounded by his sentence. Was he okay?
"Why not?" My heartbeat sped up and my concern for him heightened to a peak.
He was silent for a few seconds. "He's your boyfriend."
I sat up too quickly, creating an earthquake in my head, and looked down at him, shocked. What was he saying? Trent is not, and has never been, my boyfriend...
"No, Duncan, he's not. You are." I held myself from exploding.
"Gwen," He said, gripping my hand. "We agreed not to call each other boyfriend and girlfriend until Courtney and Trent broke up with us."
I snatched my hand away from him; my eyes welled up with tears, not believing what I was hearing. What was going on?
"I'm not Gwen, It's me, Courtney!" I screamed, trying to knock some sense into him. A volcano in my head had just erupted, and the blazing lava traveled through my whole body.
Just then, a doctor, who looked strangely familiar, stepped into the room awkwardly.
"Excuse me, what is going on here? You're not supposed to be in here." She told me, looking at me like I was a maniac.
I stood, made my way from the bed towards her and balanced myself on my near-numb legs.
"H-He thinks I'm someone else! Something is seriously wrong here!" I cried, pointing in his direction.
She picked up a binder and flipped through the pages, then continued to tell me that he had a blow to the head, resulting in temporary hallucinations. I stared at her, my mouth wide open. Did he think I was Gwen this whole time?
The breaths I heard behind me went from long and smooth to short and difficult. I whipped around and the machine beside him began to make noise. The doctor who was currently in the room broke into action and pressed a button on the wall. She murmured inaudibly to herself and sped to another side of the room. In a matter of seconds, three more doctors made their way inside.
"His heart is beating out of control; I can't seem to get it to slow down." She said calmly.
"What's happening?" I unintentionally shouted at her.
"Get her out of here, right now." She motioned at one of the nurses and they gripped my upper arm.
I allowed them to pull me out of the room and push me towards one of the chairs far from the room Duncan was in. I didn't bother to sit, and I stood there staring back to where he was. Questions flew around in my head, and I became frustrated with myself for not being able to answer any of them. Duncan's cries of pain were heard from all the way where I was and my heart suddenly tore apart. The tears refused to shy, thus, pouring out as if it was the last time they would ever fall. I plopped myself down into a seat and bawled into my hands, not caring about who saw me.
The way he looked at me, the way he held me, the way he kissed me… It was all fake.
…
"His heartbeat has stabilized, but we're still not sure if his hallucinations have passed…" The same doctor who kicked me out of the room stood before me with her hands in her pockets.
"You can go see him if you want."
I stared at her, and the question 'Do I know her?' popped into my head. Once an unanswered question gets into my head, I do what I can to try and answer them.
"Thank you, doctor…" I paused, and hoped for her to finish my sentence.
"Stevens." She offered her hand to help me stand, and I took it, in return of her, sort of, answering the question.
We walked together towards his room, and my heart rate picked up again. I tried to distract myself from it by asking her for her first name.
"It's Isobel." She replied, not minding the somewhat personal question at all.
I repeated her name in my head and thought, 'Do I know an Isobel?' I slanted my mouth, and I found that I didn't.
"But everyone calls me Izzy." She looked at me with a smile.
My eyes widened in realization. "Izzy? As in, Total Drama Izzy?"
She nodded, with her eyes closed. After celebrating in my head because of the fact that I was right about knowing her, the party balloons suddenly popped. I remembered her, but she didn't remember me? I opened my mouth to speak, but she did before me.
"Yeah, Courtney, Total Drama Courtney."
I was surprised at how much she's matured since then. The insane, psychopath Izzy I once knew, is now a doctor at one of the professionally best hospitals in Canada. I still, was not used to the idea of Izzy being a doctor, but I was happy for her. After exchanging phone numbers, she smiled, once again, at me and nodded her head towards the room. She then left me to walk on my own into it.
"Courtney?" He sounded like a child asking for their mother.
I didn't reply. Instead, I stood beside his bed and looked down at him. The good mood I was in washed away and was replaced with a feeling I despised. Yet again, I was in love with someone who didn't love me back. Fate was definitely mocking me.
"What's wrong, princess?" He grabbed my hand.
I wanted to pull away, but I remembered that he didn't know that he had hurt me. He didn't know that I knew about his feelings for Gwen. I thought about what I was supposed to do. I was torn between letting him go so he could be with the one he loved or staying with him and make him see that I'm the one for him.
I decided to let him decide.
"Duncan…" I paused, and studied his face. He looked concerned, but I wasn't sure if it was genuine. "Do you love me?"
"Pfft, you already know the answer to that." He replied, almost instantly. I shook my head.
"You know, I'm not quite sure I do, actually." I said. He let my hand go and stared at me, blank faced.
"What?" He questioned.
"I need to hear you say it, Duncan." I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Why?"
"Why are you making this so difficult? It's simple; just tell me you love me." I contained myself and tried to appear serene, but serious.
"You're being ridiculous." He pushed himself to sit up and lean against the pillow behind him.
"Oh, really? Since when did girlfriends asking boyfriends who previously told them they loved them to say it again become ridiculous?" I placed a hand on my chin and waited for his reply.
"Uh, since always!" I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. He rolled his eyes. "Look, I really do not want to fight with you again, so can you just calm down?"
"How am I supposed to calm down when the man I am in love with loves someone else?" I turned around to face something, anything other than him. I couldn't bear to look at him. He was impossible.
"How did you know that?" He said instantaneously.
"So, it's true…" I gazed down at the floor. Sometimes, I absolutely hated it when I was right... This was one of those times.
"I guess there's no use denying it now." He sounded as if he wasn't being affected by any of this at all. Like he was having an ordinary conversation… And it burned me intensely. We stayed silent for a countless amount of minutes, and I managed to collect my thoughts.
"Well, Duncan, I hope you'll be happy with Gwen, because you're finally, officially free from the horrible, control freak who rushed over here just to make sure that you weren't alone." I walked towards the exit of the room.
"Courtney wait-"
I spun around and gripped the door frame, transferring some of my anger into the cold metal.
"I deserve better than you." I said, looking straight into his eyes. He ripped his gaze from my stare and looked to the side.
"…You're right." He closed his eyes.
And without another word, I left without looking back.
Not once did I think about turning around.
A/N: Yeah, that's right, a Grey's Anatomy reference... Izzy, Izzie, same thing, right?
