She woke up, completely protected by his arms. Her cell phone rang, and he groaned, moving his arms to stretch. She hopped out of bed, and picked up the phone.
"Hello? Yes, this is Ally Dawson," she said, facing opposite of Austin. He shot his head up, wondering who she was talking to. He yawned, and crawled out of bed.
"I can? Okay, I will. Thank you. Bye." she hit the end button on her phone, clutching it close to her heart. She didn't know what to say.
"Als? You alright?"
"It was one of the doctors. I can go see my dad now."
"That's a good thing, right?"
"They said he was in critical condition."
"Oh..you wanna go now?"
"I'm not dressed."
"It's a hospital, not a bat mitzvah."
This time, she grabbed his hand. He intertwined their fingers, and throwing a shirt on, they headed towards the hospital.
On the way there, they kept their hands together.
"Ally," Austin said, softly, "don't do this."
"Do what?" she asked, a confused glint in her eye.
"You're doing what you always do. You're acting like you're fine, trying to be strong, when you're really not," he said, tightening his grip on her hand.
"I am fine. I am strong," she said.
"You're not fine," he muttered.
She looked away from him. "I'm fine," she said. She repeated it in her head, because in all honesty, she didn't believe herself, either.
They had reached the ICU. Where her father was. She was hesitant to open the door. He squeezed her hand again. "It's okay. Take your time."
She sighed, and puffed up her chest. She went through the doors.
Her dad was hooked up to about a dozen machines, not knowing herself what one of them was for. She gulped, and took a step towards him.
"Dad?" she said, softly. His eyes shifted in her direction, and he smiled. He didn't say anything, though. She grabbed his hand. He looked so helpless. Not like the carefree, fun person he usually was. She could feel a knot in her stomach. Tears had already started to form in her eyes. No, she told herself. You have to be strong. For him. She wiped her eyes. "I love you, Dad."
"I love you, too."
Her eyes blinked open, and she smiled. Not a sincere smile, but still a smile. She wiped her eyes again, and squeezed his hand.
"Miss Dawson, we need to do some tests," the doctor in the room said. She nodded, and kissed him on the cheek. Austin, who had been propped up against the wall, waved at the doctor, and gripped Ally's hand. They walked out the doors, hand in hand, both uneasy, but for different reasons.
"You okay?" he said, softly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." she said, ignoring the knot in her stomach.
"Would you quit saying that? You're not fine, Ally!" he said, a little bit louder than intended. Tears welled up in her eyes, from the combination of her dad, and the fact he just yelled at her. He groaned and face palmed. "Wait, Ally, I didn't mean to yell. I'm sorry. I just care about you, okay?"
She nodded, and let go of his hand.
"Austin?" she said, slowly.
"Yeah?"
She hugged him, and murmured into his jacket. "Thank you."
Every day, they visited him. For about fifteen minutes a day. He seemed to get worse and worse every time. At the start, he could talk and laugh - but more recently, he could barely say two words, or keep his eyes open. And Ally was a total train wreck. She kept trying to push further than she could. She wouldn't talk to anyone but Austin and his parents. Not Trish, not Dez. Of course, they were worried, but Austin told them to give her time. Austin, however, started to doubt that would work. She wouldn't admit to herself, much less to him, that she was crumbling.
She was eating a lot less, and she wouldn't sleep. He was scared. Scared for her safety.
"Ally, come on. You have to eat," Austin said, looking at the sandwich and pickle in front of her. "You love pickles!"
She faked a smile. "I'm just not hungry, Austin."
"You're never hungry, Ally. I'm starting to get concerned. Please. For me, eat the sandwich. Eat the pickle. Go back to being my happy little Ally," he whispered.
"Okay. For you," she said, and she took a bite out of the sandwich. She finished it, pickle and all. He clapped, and kissed her forehead.
"Good. Now, you wanna go meet Trish & Dez at Mini's?" he asked, hopeful.
"I….okay," she said, giving up in defeat.
He grinned, and linked their arms. "Come on, m'lady."
"I'm not a princess, and you're far from a prince." she said, laughing.
"Hurtful!" he whined in mock-pain.
She smiled a genuine smile, something she hasn't done for days.
They were all laughing. Dez, Trish, Austin, even Ally. About something stupid Dez did on his trip to the film festival or something. That was before her cell phone rang, and she excused herself.
She came back with tears in her eyes, phone clutched in her hands.
"Austin. He's dead."