{By the way, no Jordan in this fan fic bc I don't like him with Hanna :) }
"Anyone for Hanna Marin?" The nurse called out into the almost empty waiting room.
"Me, I-I'm here for Hanna," Caleb said, standing up nervously.
There were about two other people in the room besides him, both of which were asleep, but he couldn't sleep. Not when he didn't even know if Hanna was still alive... Spencer and Toby had stayed with him for a little while earlier, but decided to go home, seeing as it had been almost twelve hours and they were both exhausted. Yet Caleb stayed. He had to. He would never forgive himself if something were to happen and he wasn't there.
"She's okay. We stabilized her for the time being, though her heart rate is tending to jump around at certain things, and we're just waiting for her to wake up. It may take a while, we had to put her into a medically induced coma. When she got here, her injuries were fatal, if you hadn't found her wen you did, she would have died. But, she was lucky, the surgeries went perfectly and we no longer need her in the coma, though her body still needs to flush the medicine out of her system. Given a reason to wake up, we think she should pull out soon," the nurse said, smiling pitifully at Caleb.
He breathed a sigh of relief, "That's great news"
"However," she started to speak again, "she has a broken left wrist, her legs are very cut up from the glass, her left leg has a broken shin, her throat suffered some trauma, so she might not be able to speak very well for a little while, and most importantly her back. A piece of glass stuck into one of her spinal chord nerves, severing it. Her lower body may have some difficulties, she will not be able to walk for at least two months. But, we've seen this happen before and most everyone tends to recover, so long as they try. Other than that, it's mostly just scrapes and bruises that should heal moderately quick."
"C-can I see h-her?" He questioned, his voice breaking and barely above a whisper. The thought of his princess being so hurt because he couldn't get to her on time killed him, she shouldn't be laying unconscious in the hospital bed. She was paralyzed, drugged, beaten, and bruised all because he didn't check the damn floorboards.
"Are you immediate family?" The woman asked.
"I-no... Not technically. But she is like family to me. Please," the brunette begged, "If it helps, we were engaged at one point, we were almost family."
The nurse sighed, looked at her file for a few moments, then looked back up at the heartbroken boy standing before her.
"I'm really not supposed to..." His heart sank, "but, I can see how much she means to you. If anyone asks, you're her immediate family. Okay?"
"Of course, thank you," Caleb said, smiling as best he could given the situation.
She led him down a series of narrow hallways that smelled of disinfectant, finally stopping at room 105. There was no door to the room, it was the only space on that corner, leaving it very private and isolated, and no one to share the bed next to Hanna.
"Here you are. Use this button to call me if anything happens, okay? And be careful," she said, looking at the boy to make sure he understood.
Caleb looked at her with fear in his eyes. What if he did something wrong? Could he hurt her by being here? Maybe he should leave, come back when she's awake and better.
"It'll be okay. She'll be okay if everything goes as it should. I can tell she's tough, and she's not going without a fight. Having you here will help her. She can hear everything you say, she just can't respond yet. So don't say anything that could upset her, and try to make her happy. It'll help her want to wake up." The nurse genuinely spoke to him, putting her hand on the upper part of his arm to give him reassurance.
He smiled weakly at the woman, mumbling a small "thank you," and letting her go back to her work.
Before he could even look inside the room, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"On the count of three, you're going to open your eyes, and you're going to look at your princess," he thought to himself.
One...Two... Three.
He opened his eyes to see the beautiful blonde hooked up to a heart monitor, wires and strings going every which way, with tubes clinging to her body. An IV stuck in her right arm, oxygen tubes were settled by her nose to assist her breathing, while red and blue wires were placed all over the blondes body doing god knows what to her. Baby pink casts were placed on her left wrist and left leg, accompanied by bandages scattered along her other leg and the rest of her body. Her throat was slightly swollen, but not enough to need a neck brace. Then his eyes wandered down to her stomach... The hard, white plastic that ran up and down her torso, covering her waist and her back over the hospital robe she was in. He slowly walked over to the right side of her pale body, sitting down right next to the bed, immediately holding her hand. He needed to give her a reason to wake up. She needed to wake up and be okay.
"I, um, I know we haven't really talked in a while but...I missed you... I know what happened to you was my fault, I should've been able to protect you from this... This never would have happened if I hadn't left New York in the first place," he sighed, growing frustrated with herself.
Hanna's heart rate picked up speed, doing from 61 bpm to 79 bpm.
"I'm so sorry Han. Leaving was the worst mistake I have ever made, I should've stayed, whether you came back or not," he paused, "I know you came back... I was streaming the security footage on the plane, hoping you would come back, and you did. I should've gone back, I should've apologized and held you like I burned to in that moment. But I was so stupid, I couldn't get over the fact that you left, you didn't choose me... You know, I um," he laughed slightly, "I was going to propose."
Her heart rate spiked again, this time reaching the 100's. Now he knew for sure that she could hear him.
"I had the ring picked out and everything, I was just waiting for that perfect story book moment that you always dreamed about. There were so many times where I was about to ask, but I never did. It was never perfect enough for you..." His grip on her hand tightened, tears welling in his tired and bloodshot eyes.
He took a moment to breath, calming himself before continuing, "We could've been married by now. We could've had a family... A little mini Hanna running around, both of us wrapped around her finger. Or a mini me, who would still have us in the palm of his hand. Or both. But we don't, we should've... I shouldn't have been so stubborn," he mumbled his last sentence, trailing off.
Hanna's heart slowed, like it does when you think happy thoughts. The picture of the family they could have had flashed in Caleb's mind, making him happy-sad.
"I just need you to come back. I don't care when, I just need you. I need my princess again. You were always there for me, and now I'm going to be here for you. I'm not leaving your side until you wake up. You promised you wouldn't leave and I'm keeping you too that. You can't leave me, not again, not like this."
Nothing happened. He stayed looking at the blonde for what felt like hours, gripping her hand, hoping that if he held her long enough, she would wake up. But she never did. Then, the nurse came in.
"Visiting hours are over sweet pea. You can come back tomorrow," she said.
"What? No, I can't leave her. What if she wakes up and I'm not here? I have to be here." He argued.
The nurse sighed, she saw the emotion in his eyes. The mix of heartbreak and despair.
"Don't you have other places to be?"
"No... She's all I have. This is the only place I need to be, with her."
She looked between the boy and girl, then back to Caleb.
"Fine. But, if someone sees you and tells you to leave, you leave. And I was never here, okay?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good.," she looked back at Hanna one last time, "she seems like a sweet girl, you must really love her to stay here with her."
"I do. I really do... She's kind of my everything." He smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry you have to go through this," her pager buzzed, "I have to go, but good luck to you both, keep trying."
The boy sighed sadly, looking at Hanna's desolate body. Why wasn't she awake yet? He went back to holding her hand, letting the silence pierce the room. Eventually, somewhere lost in his thoughts, Caleb hadn't even noticed he had begun to cry. Tears slipped out of his eyes, landing on his shirt, except for one which landed on Hanna's hand. He closed his eyes in attempt to calm himself, but only made it worse. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw part of the life they should have had, the life they could have if she would wake up and if she still loved him. He saw anniversaries, birthdays, parties, everything he could ever have dreamed of, the good and the bad. He saw Hanna laughing, he saw her crying in his arms, he saw her laying in a hospital bed holding their daughter, holding their son. But, one dream always made him smile. The boy imagined Hanna outside, at a park, running around chasing their little boy as he sat with their daughter, bouncing her on his lap, both of them laughing and watching Hanna run around with the little boy. He hadn't realized it, but this had only made him cry harder. His shirt now almost soaked, and a puddle lay on Hanna's hand.
"Mhm," mumbled the blonde.
Caleb had been so caught up in his own thoughts, he almost didn't hear the girl.
"Hanna?" He said softly, moving closer to her.
She slowly opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. Because of her swollen throat, she couldn't talk very loudly, and every word she said was raspy.
"C-Caleb... You saved me," she mumbled again, her voice never reaching above a whisper.
"Yeah, and I'm not leaving your side again, maybe ever," he smiled painfully.
Hanna reached up, using her right arm, which did not have a cast, and used the pad of her thumb to wipe his tears the best she could. He stopped her after a couple seconds, placing his hand over hers and placing it back on the bed.
"So, how much did you hear..." He asked, looking down at their hands instead of facing her.
"Everything."
"Oh."
"Did you really meant what you said?"
He nodded. He meant every word, nothing he said was meaningless. She smiled at him.
"Do you know what I would have said back?" She questioned.
"Probably that you hate me for not coming back, for leaving in the first place."
"Caleb, I could never hate you, no matter how hard I tried. I always loved you, I still do. I never stopped loving you."
"Wait what?" He looked at her, surprise riddled on his face.
She laughed slightly, "Just come here and kiss me, dork."
Caleb smiled widely, finally reclaiming his princess as he had longed to do two and a half years ago when he realized he should have gone back. Now, maybe he would get his dream after all.
x-x-x
That's it :( The one-shot turned two-shot comes to an end... Two things inspired me to write this, 1) Everyone's amazing reviews, thank you to everyone who commented. 2) silenceeverything's one-shot collection "Growth". It absolutely melted my heart and you all should go read it because it's freaking adorable. Anyways, PLL is almost back on, I'm almost done with school, and the next chapter of Accidentally In Love is almost done! I hope you all had a great day, and please review, I love reading the comments :) -K