This idea just wouldn't go away so I had to write it. I hope you enjoy it but let me know if you actually want it to continue.
It had been two long weeks since he had buried his wife and by now he was sick of being at home by himself with nothing to do so he wanted, no needed, to go back to work. Due to his extended period of time off work he had to get permission to go back to work so now he had to call his egotistical, self important asshole of a boss.
Scrolling through his contacts he eventually found him and had to smile at the name he had saved Dan under, calling 'Douchebag' he sat back and waited.
"Paul, it's so good to hear from you. How are you doing?"
He was used to some false greetings lately but that was the worst so he ignored it, "I am planning to be back at work on Monday."
"But you still have another two weeks of leave before you are due back."
His ability to state the obvious still worked well, "And? I believe that I am ready to return to work on Monday so that is what I plan to do."
"Well I think that you should take the further two weeks off. I think it is in both your interest and that of the company if you made sure that you are absolutely ready to return to work before you do. As much as you may disagree with this decision it is for the best and I won't change my mind."
Why it was in his best interest to stay at home when he was bored out of his mind was a mystery, "But I am telling you that I am ready to return to work so can't I just do that?"
"I'm sorry Paul but no."
"Great, thanks for nothing Dan. At last there will be no big surprises when I return to work, you're still a Grade A asshole." Without saying so much as goodbye he ended the call and tossed his phone on to the couch.
If he couldn't go back to work yet then there was one thing that he could do, one thing that he had been putting off for three weeks. Reluctantly he got up from the couch to get his shoes on and to head out.
Forty five minutes later and Paul was slowly making his way into the hospital when he received a notification of a text message, half expecting the message to be that he was fired he reluctantly removed his phone from his pocket to read it:
Dan is PISSED, he keeps muttering about how you disrespected him by trying to return early & calling him an asshole LOL The gang supports you & you know we agree with what you said as it's the truth. Zayn heard his groupies talking about him not looking forward to your return as he'll have competition for the top spot. Most people are excited for your return so we'll all have to go and have a drink when you come back if you're up for it.
Reading the text he couldn't help but smile, it was nice not to be treated like somebody who would crack and fall apart any second and to be included in the gossip and not for it to be censored to 'protect' him. He had to turn his phone off before he went into the hospital so as he shut it down he promised himself that he would reply to the text later.
It was weird being back here and not exactly the most welcoming of experiences as it brought back a lot of memories but this was something he needed to do. When he reached the ICU he raised his hand to request to be buzzed in but as he did the door opened already, "Paul, what are you doing here?"
Paul happily embraced the younger woman, "Well hello to you too Cassie. I got a call a few weeks ago to say that you still had something of Lola's here and to come and pick it up when I was ready so here I am."
Quickly typing in the code into the keypad she pulled the door open and motioned him inside, "Go in, I will go and have a look for it as it's probably been put somewhere really safe now."
As they walked further into ICU Cassie slipped behind the Nurse's desk and began to look beneath it unsure of what she was looking for. She was just standing up to go and look out the back when the door slammed open and a trolley was hurried in, "Where to Cass?"
"In the room just here please."As she made her way around the desk she felt bad that she had to leave him alone, "Why don't you take a seat behind the Nurse's desk, just don't touch anything, whilst you wait? I just need to get this patient settled and get everything hooked up and I'll be back with you."
It was clear that she was busy and he felt bad for coming at an inconvenient time, "It's okay, I'll go and call next time before I come by."
Cassie placed a gentle hand on his arm and shook her head, "You're fine, really you are. I won't be too long so just take a load off and wait, unless you have somewhere else to be."
He only wished that he had somewhere else to be, "Okay, if you're sure." It was strange to be walking around the other side of the desk, taking a seat at the desk he marvelled at how much more comfortable this chair was than the one he was used to sitting in here.
Stephanie glared at her brother as he eventually climbed onto the plane with his wife, "About fucking time."
Shane just stuck his tongue out at his sister as he put the hand luggage he was carrying away before he took a seat, "So where are Mom and Dad?"
"Just talking to the pilot, they'll be back in a minute."
True to her word Linda and Vince returned a few minutes later and both hugged Shane and Marissa before they sat down, "Glad you two could make it. Everyone should put their seatbelts on as we should be taking off any minute now."
The flight had just taken off and they had just removed their seatbelts when Shane reached across to kiss his wife, "I love you."
Stephanie pretended to gag, "Gross, remind me why I decided to play gooseberry on this trip."
"Well if you hadn't dumped Chad then you wouldn't be alone."
If she didn't want to get in trouble she would actually go over and shake her brother for saying that, "Would you have continued to date him?"
Snorting her older brother shook his head, "Hell no."
"Then why should I have continued to date him?"
He could only shrug his shoulders at this, "I don't know, you're the one complaining about being a gooseberry. I'm sure I can find somebody to set you up on a date with if you want."
That idea was actually more frightening than still being with Chad, "And on that note I am going to use the ladies. Please don't come up with any more crazy ideas whilst I am gone."
She left her parents talking to Shane and his wife at the front of the plane and slowly made her way through to the back where the bathroom was.
After using the bathroom she was just on her way back towards the front of the plane when suddenly it jerked down ripping a scream from her lips as she fell sprawling across the floor. Slowly sitting up she rubbed her head where she caught it on a table as she fell and felt blood but she didn't panic as she could just get her Mom to help her clean it up. She was just about to stand up when suddenly the plane jerked again and the seatbelt sign started to flash, not wanting to risk getting hurt further right now she scrambled into the nearest seat and put a seatbelt on as the plane jerked downwards again.
Being so far back in the plane she had no idea what was going on and as the seconds ticked by and the noise in the plane got louder she could only grip onto the arm rests tightly. She didn't know how long she had been sat there, it felt like hours but in reality it was probably only a minute but quickly things took a turn for the worse and the plane started steadily nosediving. The last thing she remembered was screaming for her family before it all went black.
Twenty minutes later and finally she reappeared talking with the Doctor and the EMT's who had transferred the patient to the ICU but Paul didn't listen in to the conversation, he just waited for her to have a moment for him.
With file in hand Cassie walked back behind the desk to input all of the details they had into the computer as soon as she had found what Paul was after, "So where was I?"
"On your knees just about where I am if I remember correctly."
Immediately her cheeks flushed red when he said that, it sounded so wrong and she shouldn't have let her mind go there but it had. Keeping her gaze firmly on the floor she motioned to the private room that was just behind the Nurse's desk, "I'm just going to look in there, I will be back."
Confused by her behaviour he stood up and made his way to the other side of the desk and waited for her return.
A couple of minutes later and she returned with an envelope in hand, "Found it. Sorry it took me so long, it had been put in a really safe place with other things that needed to be kept safe."
"That's okay, I didn't mind waiting."
He was just about to say something when another Nurse appeared, "Do we have any other details on Jane Doe?"
Placing the envelope on the desk she flipped through the file she had, "Jane Doe, thought to be approximately mid to late twenties, plane crash, broken leg, broken ribs, unspecified damage to her back, concussion and swelling on the brain. This is all of the information we have."
The other Nurse frowned, "So we're no closer to being able to contact any family or friends to visit and sit with her?"
"No. From what the one EMT said when they were waiting to transfer her there was a rumour going around the ER that the other passengers in the plane crash that died were her family. To be honest I think it's all rumours now and we'll know more when the Police have done their investigating and until then we'll just have to monitor her closely."
He had been stood unable to stop himself from listening in as he was really curious about 'Jane Doe' and hearing about her injuries and the rumour that she had lost her family, combine that with the fact that he had nothing else to do he had an idea, "Could I sit with her? I know I don't know her, I'm definitely not her family but until you find her actual family it would give me something useful to do. With serious brain injuries it might be good for her to hear a voice, even if it isn't familiar and it might help her heal."
It would be wonderful but she wasn't sure if she should, "I don't know Paul, you've only just lost Lola and I don't know the real status of this woman or her chances of survival and I don't want to hurt you."
"Trust me Cassie, I can handle this. I can come in every day and spend a few hours or so talking to her, reading her the paper or even some trashy magazines and I can keep an eye on her vitals so if anything happens you will know before the alarms sound. If it is too much for me I will say and I will leave."
The other Nurse knew Paul also and knew his history, "What harm can it do Cass? It would really help until we can find her family so if he says that he can do it why not let him?"
There was no worse feeling than when it was two against one so reluctantly she agreed, "Okay fine, you can sit with her but if it is too much you must tell me. I also expect you to take regular breaks and you must eat three meals a day."
"Sheesh woman, you drive a hard bargain. I agree to your terms."
Cassie sniggered at him, "I do it for your benefit. You know where she is though, she is in Lola's old room so if you're still okay with it then you know where you're going."
He paused briefly before he picked up the envelope and turned around to enter his wife's old room. As he entered the room it was filled with the almost comforting sounds of the ventilator and heart monitor, pulling a chair across the room and placing it beside the bed he noticed how of what he could see of her face it was covered by cuts and bruises with a bandage wrapped around her head, an oxygen mask covering her mouth and a collar around her neck. Taking a seat beside the bed he took hold of her hand, "You don't know me but my name is Paul, I will be keeping you company until they find your family."
