Title: Worth Savin' Me
By: Thesda
Rating: PG
Summary: This story is post-Louie getting beaten. It is Danny Messer and Lindsay Monroe. It is a song fiction, Savin' Me by Nickelback. Please Read and Review. Tissue Box and major D/L.
Louie, that son of a gun. He punked me out of there that night gives me hell, told me I'm only embarrassing him, and ruined our relationship completely. Little do I know it was to protect me. Now years later, he's lying in a coma, because the Tanglewood boys beat the living crap out of him. All to protect me.
Prison
gates won't open up for me
On these hands and knees I'm
crawlin'
Oh, I reach for you
Well I'm terrified of these four
walls
These iron bars can't hold my soul in
All I need is
you
Come please I'm callin'
And oh I scream for you
Hurry
I'm fallin', I'm fallin'
I sit down in a chair beside his bed. How do you thank the man that has risked himself twice to protect you? I lean forward and place my elbows on the bed. I lean forward and placed my head in my hands. I need someone, anyone, I need Lindsay.
When she had me listen to that tape, she was concerned. She seemed afraid, afraid for me, afraid that I might retaliate or something. I don't know, but before she left she told me, "Danny, if you need anything at all, someone to sit with you, someone to talk to, anything at all call me. Please, don't hesitate." I look up from the stark white sheet and sigh.
"Louie, I'll be back. I…I, uh, I need some air. I love you. You rest," I say to his still form. I slowly stand. I walk out of the room. Slowly, shakily I reach for my phone. I flip it open and access my phonebook. Scrolling through the phone numbers, I stop at Lindsay's number. My finger sits on the send button. I hit it and put the phone to my ear.
One ring. Two rings. The third is cut short by her tired voice, "Hello."
"Montana," I start, and my voice cracks, "I…"
"Danny, don't worry. I'll be there twenty minutes. Hang in there," she says.
"Thank you," I say. It was almost like she knew I'd ask her to come. I hear the soft click of her phone disconnecting. I lower the phone from my ear and close it. I hang my head and take a slow deep breath to calm myself.
Show me
what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong
from right
And I'll show you what I can be
Say it for me
Say
it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's
worth saving me
I start back inside. I stop at the elevator and hit the button and wait for the metal doors to slide open. As they do I squeeze past them and hit the button for the eighth floor. I extend my arms on the hand rail and lean against the wall my face at the floor.
The doors open and I push myself up and out of the elevator. I walk back to Louie. I sit back down at my brother's side. The steady rhythm of the life support machine radiates in my head like a jackhammer. I close my eyes for what I think is a moment. A split second later, I hear her soft voice, "Danny," she says.
I open my eyes and look over at her, concern still painted on her face. She walks over towards me and I lean up and place my elbows on my knees, "Hey Montana," I say.
"I brought you a coffee," she says extending her hand to me. I reach up and take it from her. I nod, and gesture for her to sit.
"Thank you," is all I can say. I look at the cup and start to move it around in my hands.
She moves to a chair near me and sits. "Penny for your thoughts," she says softly.
"They beat him bad Lindsay," I say. I look at the floor then up at her then to my brother, "They beat him real bad. I don't like seeing him like this. I want to do something for him, but I can't," I say to her. I shake my head and sigh, "I'm scared, Lindsay."
She leans forward and places a hand on my arm, "Danny, I know you're scared. Louie, he did what he did for you. He loves you. Whether he says it or not, he loves you."
I can only nod.
She leaves her hand on my arm and we sit there, quietly. No talking. Just having her there is more than enough of a comfort for me. I sip the coffee slowly, at least attempting to make an attempt at drinking it.
The steady boop, boop, boop of the heart monitor began to change. I look up the little squiggly lines are going nuts, Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boooooooooooooooooooop. That long steady noise makes my own heart stop. I've been in with enough victims to know what that noise means.
I stand and so does Lindsay. I can't move. Doctors and nurses run in. They start CPR. They start manually breathing for him. Pumping his chest. Trying to get his heart to restart. Lindsay gently pulls me out of the way softly speaking, "Danny, let them work," she says. I go with her.
What seems like hours to have passed but was only minutes, standing at the window to Louie's room, staring inside, a Doctor emerges. He comes out and removes his gloves. He walks over to me. "Mr. Messer, I regret to inform you that your brother didn't make it. His heart stopped and we were unable to revive him. I am sorry for your loss," he says. Then he walks away, like nothing happened.
Heaven's
gates won't open up for me
With these broken wings I'm fallin'
And
all I see is you
These city walls ain't got no love for me
I'm
on the ledge of the eighteenth story
And oh I scream for you
Come
please I'm callin'
And all I need from you
Hurry I'm fallin',
I'm fallin'
I stand there. My breathing quickens. My eyes dart around. Is it just me or is the room getting smaller. I look at Lindsay a tear falls down my face. "Air," I say, "I need air." I turn and run towards the elevator, and hit the button. I keep hitting the button, why isn't the elevator coming. I turn and start sprinting up the stairs. I make it to the roof and try to slow my breathing down.
I run to the ledge of the hospital and look down. Louie's dead, it's not completely my fault, but in a way it was. If I hadn't been there that night or he hadn't ratted out Tanglewood to help me, he'd still be here. Tears are coming more quickly now. I don't know what to do, so I scream, "NOOOOOOOO, LOUIE." I remove my glasses and place my right hand at my eyes. My world is crashing.
Lindsay had come up behind me and slowly wrapped her arms around my waist. Her cheek resting against my back. "It's ok, Danny, I've got you. If you fall I'll catch you."
My left hand moved to her hands and I turn to look at her, a quizzical look on my face, as if to say, "Really?" She smiles a weak smile, "Seriously," she said.
I turn back around and look at the skyline then gently fall back. She catches me, she doesn't let me fall. I fall to my knees and wrap my arms around her waist and start to cry into her stomach. Her arms wrap around me and she gently plays with my hair. "It's ok, Danny, I'm here. I've got you. "
Show me
what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong
from right
And I'll show you what I can be
Say it for me
Say
it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's
worth saving me
We stay like that for an hour or so. Lindsay whispering to me, "Its ok," and, "Let it all out Danny." I left my arms around her waist as I cry. I'll never understand why she did this. Why she sat with me. Why she came up and caught me when I felt like my world was crumbling and I was falling.
I pull back and look up at her, my arms still around her waist. "Thank you," I say in barely a whisper.
She looks down at me and smiles again, "You're welcome," she says.
I stand up and I wrap my arms around her again in a hug. Her arms go around me. I turn my head and smell her hair. I pull back, "I guess I should go home," I say.
She nods, "Want some company," she asks.
Now it's my turn to nod yes to her. She takes my hand and we start back down the stairs. We slowly leave the hospital.
Hurry
I'm fallin' All I need is you Show me
what it's like
Come please I'm callin'
And
oh, I scream for you
Hurry I'm fallin', I'm fallin'
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong
from right
And I'll show you what I can be
Say it for me
Say
it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's
worth saving me
Hurry I'm fallin'
We stop outside the hospital. The cooling night air greets us. We stand there unsure of what to say, or what to do. She hugs me again. My arms wrap around her waist and we stand there. "Remember, Danny, You are worth it," she says. She pulls back and turns and walks away into the night. I walk up beside her and take her hand her words radiating in my head, "Remember, Danny, You are worth it." A smile crosses my face as I look down at our hands, I was worth it.
The End
Author's Note: The whole boop thing. The sound of a heart monitor is really a boop but some can cay it's a beep. It's a really deep beep.
