Thanks for reading everyone! I can see how many people view this story now (Yay! Only just discovered that...) so I can see how popular it is and I'm not going to pressure you so much to review anymore. Also, I'm sorry for the awful and probably untue definition of hypothermea, I guessed from some research xxx And for my grammar slips... as pointed out by Phillion in thier review xxx
Have I done a disclaimer for this story? Hmm... Ah well! Here's a disclaimer anyway:
I DON'T OWN ANYTHING MENTIONED IN THIS STORY. I NEVER HAVE AND PROBABLY NEVER WILL.
Enjoy!
Phil wasn't sure what hypothermea was, but he guessed it was serious. He was too nervous of looking stupid to ask Emma what it was, so he just ended up standing there like an idiot, not knowing how to react to the news.
"What are you in relation to Mr. Howell?"
"Friend."
"I see. Do you have any contact details of any of his relatives."
Phil shook his head.
"Does he?"
"On his iphone. But that's back at the appartment."
"Hmm... do you have a friend you could ask to retrieve it?"
Phil shook his head. No one had a key.
"Well, relatives really need to be told... can you go and get Mr. Howell's phone?"
"But... I want to stay here."
"How about I take you to see him, then you go after... say, half an hour?"
Phil considered this for a five seconds then agreed.
The two walked out of the room and Phil pondered the meaning if 'hypothermea.' How serious could it be? Life-threatening? God, he hoped not. Could it leave Dan paralized or something like blind or deaf?
"You don't know what hypothermea is, do you?" Emma said from infront of him.
"Well, no."
"That would explain your reaction. Hypothermea is an illness caused by experiencing coldness at a level not meant for humans to endure. It can be life threatening, it can also (but not in your friend's case) cause limbs to fall off. It is a very serious illness and Mr. Howell could be in hospital for some time."
Phil listened, becoming more and more horrified as Emma kept talking. He had so many questions floating in his head, but there was one that seamed the most important, and it was.
"Is he going to live?" Phil choked it out. They had reached the ward by now. Emma stopped by the door and looked into Phil's eyes.
"We don't know. It seams he'll live by the way he still has all of his limbs, but he's so cold and so weak that we just don't know." Phil swallowed and nodded. Emma threw the doors open and Phil walked inside.
Phil had been in this ward for about 10 seconds before he'd been whisked away to the room where he'd slept for two hours, and when he'd been in here before, all he could see was the doctors, nurses and other patients in the ward. About 90% of the patients in this ward were asleep, the other 10% not even looking aware.
Dan was at the far end of the ward, in a bed that made him look small, and really made him look as white as the sheets that covered the bed. He had a white duvet, sheets and pillows but it looked as though the nurses had been rumaging through every cupboard in the place looking for blankets as there were about 5 thick, patterned quilts covered the duvet, 3 more folded neatly on the floor next to the bed.
Phil walked over to Dan and Emma respectfully went to look at another patient in the ward, giving Phil some space.
There was another one of those awful plastic red chairs by Dan's bed which Phil took and moved close to the bed. He placed the back of his hand on Dan's forehead and noticed that he was still cold. Not as cold but still cold. Colder than he should've been, Phil was sure.
For a few moments, Phil tried to decide whether Dan was comfortable or not. He decided that he probably wasn't (considering the amount of pillows) and moved on to think what he could do about it.
The pillows could do with a bit of fluffing up...
Maybe the bed covers should be pulled up a bit more...
Perhaps another blanket...
Phil made a mental note to grab some pillows and a few... 'homey' things from the appartment to make Dan more comfortable, but until then he'd have to make do with an extra blanket and the duvet being pulled up. Dan made a small noise that sounded like a sigh when Phil adjusted the blankets. He considered puffing up the pillows but decided against iit in the end.
So Phil just sat there, in the red plastic chair next to Dan's bed, thinking and hoping.
(^_^)
When the half hour was up, Emma came over to Phil and called him out of his day dream.
"Phil? Phil, I think you should go home now. Ring some family members of Mr. Howell and calm yourself down. We open for visitors at 9:00am. Get some rest."
Phil didn't want to leave (what if Dan woke up?) but in the end (after about 3 seconds) he decided that Dan's family needed to know, and he needed rest.
"Hm." He trudged out of the ward, giving one look back at his best friend when he reached the door, then he had to look away to hide his tears from the nurse.
Phew! I'm not too proud of this chapter but I get so many reviews and PMs telling me to continue so I am. (I was always planning on it, but now I have motivation to keep me going EVEN MORE!)
THANKS FOR REVIEWS AND LOVE XXX