Chapter 7
"He may not wake up." The words rang in Patrick's head, what? How could he not wake up, it was just a broken rib!
"Do let me explain, it is a 50/50 percent chance he'll wake up in the first week. After a week and he is still unconscious then the chance drops to 5% chance of him ever…" The doctor looked truly sorry to say the next words, "waking up."
Patrick was shaking; he had no idea how to react, who would?
"A 50% chance is actually quite good though lad, he really could open his eyes any day! We just had a patient that had a 20% chance and they walked out of here last week!" Patrick couldn't hear his words, he was thinking. 'What will I do if he dies? He's my best friend!' There were no tears left to cry or Patrick would be doing so by now. The doctor looked sadly at the boy for a minute before walking out of the room.
Patrick took a seat next to his bed and brushed a lock of hair out of Gilbert's face. He grabbed his hand and held onto it for dear life, never wanting to let go. A few minutes later he saw James arrive, the door to Gilbert's room was closed so Patrick watched his older brother stand outside the door and learn the news. James's face went from hopeful to grim in a matter of seconds. He opened the door and walked into the room, looking down at Gilbert.
"He'll wake up." James said calmly, running his hand delicately along Gilbert's arm. He looked over to his brother who was shaking slightly but holding his friends hand.
"Why isn't his family here?" James asked.
"H-His dad doesn't care and his brother has shit to do." Patrick said resentfully, James sighed and nodded.
"I'm gonna call them." Patrick said, taking out his phone and calling their home phone which Gilbert had given to him. Gilbert. He looked behind him down at his friend. 'Please wake up' The phone rang for a moment before Ludwig picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, I have something to tell you…" Patrick explained the entire situation and he could hear fear in Ludwig's voice.
"I'll be right there!"
"Bring your father."
"He won't want to come."
"Then give the phone to him so I can talk to him."
"Okay." Patrick heard the phone being handed to another person.
"What do you want?"
"Do you know your son may never wake up?"
"So?" This hit Patrick hard, So?
"Who the fuck says 'so' when his son may never wake up?!" Patrick demanded to know.
"I do, just tell Ludwig what I need to know so I don't have to hear your annoying voice."
*click*
Patrick stared at the phone in disbelief. He looked down the hall to see Ludwig running towards him, completely out of breath.
"Did you run the entire way here?" Patrick asked, the German nodded; still out of breath.
"H-How is h-he?" Ludwig asked, standing up strait. Patrick shook his head.
"It's a 50/50 chance that he'll wake up. He might be awake by the end of the day. Or not." Ludwig walked into his brother's room, his eyes widening at the sight of his pale brother lying unconscious in a hospital bed.
"He's my older brother," Patrick looked over to the very shaken Ludwig, "He is, he took care of me when mom left and when dad got angry. What will I do if," tears were falling down his cheeks, "If he never wakes up?" Patrick shook his head, looking back to his friend. Ludwig stayed for an hour; silently begging him to wake up. After most of the day had come and gone he slowly walked out after making Patrick promise to call him if anything happens.
James stood up at 10:30 and began to walk out of the room. "Come on little brother, lets go home." Patrick shook his head, not looking up from Gilbert.
"What if he wakes up? The first thing he sees will be some stupid doctor. And he'll be in pain and scared-"
"I can have a doctor call us the second he wakes up, we've got to go." James walked over and put a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. Patrick slowly stood up and walked out.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, all passed like a salted slug. Patrick went to school and sat down with his hand on his phone which never rang. Everyone left him alone, Alfred only looked at him sadly. Patrick looked sideways to see Gilbert's usual seat empty. He saw the doodle he drew and the carving of a G in the corner. He sighed, when would this all end?
Patrick was walking home from school on Friday when he heard someone calling him from behind. He turned to see Alfred. He stopped and waited for the boy, all of the fear had been leached out of him.
"What do you want?" Patrick asked quietly.
"Is Gilbert alright? Please say he is."
"Go see him yourself."
"He doesn't want me near him."
"He would never know you were there, he's unconscious." Alfred stared at him.
"Oh" Patrick continued to walk, ignoring the American standing there. Alfred slowly walked off, having nothing else to say.
Patrick arrived home ten minutes later and walked to his room; changing out of his school uniform and into more comfortable cloths. In one day a week will have passed, and then Gilbert's chance dropped to 5%.
The next morning, Gilbert's last day as a 50% chance, Patrick was heading to the hospital to stay the day. He walked calmly through the doors and to Gilbert's room. He opened the door, the room was unchanged. It was empty except for an unconscious Gilbert; Patrick took the seat next to him and held his hand.
"Today's the day Gil, wake up. Please wake up." He squeezed his hand lightly but got no response. Patrick waited by the bed calmly all day, never letting go of his hand. At 11:00pm James walked in and looked sadly at the two boys.
"Patrick-"
"I'm gonna stay here for the night." James looked at his brother.
"We need to go ho-"
"No." He said the one word so icily James got a shiver down his spine.
"Fine, sit here all night." James said, stalking out of the room. He knew he should be nicer, but… There was no reason to his anger; he just didn't want his brother to be in that much pain.
Patrick took no notice to his brother's frustration. He slowly let go of Gilbert's hand for a moment to brush hair out of his face.
11:30.
Another half hour and it would have been a week. Patrick stared at his friend, begging him quietly to wake up. 'Please please please' He thought, his hands shaking slightly.
11:45
"Please wake up, please" He refused to dry but found himself biting his lower lip so hard it was bleeding.
11:50
"Gilbert, wake up right now!"
11:55
Patrick had resorted to laying his head right next to Gilbert's, looking thoughtfully at his friend.
11:59
Patrick watched the clock opposite the bed as time slowly tricked away. '1 2…2…2…2' The clock reached midnight but Patrick couldn't bring himself to admit it. He looked back at his friend, his unconscious friend.
Patrick looked down at his hands, '1'; he closed his eyes and lay his head on the bed so he was looking at the wall and not Gilbert. He slowly drifted off to sleep, the last thing he felt was a hand running through his hair. Wait…What? He jerked his head up to see a pair of crimson red eyes looking at him, his hand where Patrick's head used to be.
"Hey." Gilbert said weakly, like no time had passed at all, Patrick stared at him like he was seeing a ghost.
"Hey." Patrick answered back, a grin on his face. "Do you know how long you were asleep?" Patrick asked.
"Umm, a couple of hours?"
"A week." Gilbert gaped at his friend.
"Seriously?!" Patrick nodded at his pale friend.
"Wow." Both boys were silent, staring at each other like the other was a ghost. The doctors finally noticed that Gilbert was awake and came in to examine him. The doctor smiled after a minute and told Patrick he would be fine. Patrick had never smiled so broadly in his life. He thanked the doctor and they left, both boys chatting up a storm. Gilbert was still incredibly weak, so he let Patrick do most of the talking.
At about four in the morning they decided it was best to go to sleep, Patrick was about to hop in the chair when Gilbert grabbed his arm.
"This bed it wayyyy to big for one person." He said, slowly scooting over and offering Patrick a place next to him.
"Oh, I uh.. You don't have to do that!" He stuttered, Gilbert laughed lightly and pulled his friend into the bed next to him.
"Too bad." Gilbert said, his eyes already drooping; his head fell onto Patrick's shoulder. He blushed slightly and looked at Gilbert, his eyelids were slowly drooping down; his hair falling in his face.
"Night." Patrick whispered. Gilbert moved closer to Patrick and wrapped his arms around him; laying his head on Patrick's chest.
"Night." He mumbled before falling asleep. Patrick lay there for a minute, a bit of blush on his face. His body slowly lost its tension and he too fell asleep in Gilbert's arms.
James slowly walked into the hospital to retrieve his broken brother, his brother that would continue to be broken until Gilbert woke up. He walked down the empty halls, his footsteps echoing off the white walls. He went over to a doctor and began to speak:
"Could you tell me Gilbert's current status?" He asked, the man nodded.
"He woke up around midnight last night." A smile appeared on James's face.
"Really?!" He bolted off to Gilbert's room. He slowly opened the door; the scene in front of him was absolutely adorable. Both boys were still asleep, Gilbert's arms wrapped around James's younger brother. He smiled softly and closed the door; plopping down outside to wait for them to wake up.
He waited about thirty minutes before standing up and walked to the nearest desk.
"Excuse me but when will Gilbert be cleared to go home?" He asked, wanting to surprise his brother with good news.
"Today, are you his guardian?" James thought.
"I will be the one taking him home, his father is too busy." The nurse nodded and handed him papers.
"Dis-charge sheets." She said simply before going back to chatting with the boy next to her. James nodded and sat down, filling out the sheets as best as he could.
Meanwhile in Gilbert's room Patrick eyes slowly opened to see Gilbert still sleeping on him; breathing peacefully. He smiled and brushed some of the boys white hair out of his face, Gilbert's eyes slowly opened and he looked up at Patrick.
"G'd Morning." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Patrick smiled, happy to see his friend.
James walked into the room and the boys quickly separated themselves from each other. James laughed at the two of them.
"Sleep well?" He asked, both boys nodded quickly. Patrick stood up and stretched his arms, yawning loudly. Gilbert was stretching and yawning as well.
"By the way, Gilbert I already signed your discharge papers and you can come with us whenever you're ready." James said happily.
"You sure you don't mind?" Gilbert asked, not wanting to impose.
"Positive, I'm gonna go see if the food here is edible." James said, walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. Patrick nodded and looked back to his friend.
"So does your chest still hurt?" Patrick asked, Gilbert was about to shake his head but then winced in pain.
"Just a little." He said, "But no big deal." Patrick nodded, deciding not to press the matter.
"So I was really out for a week?" Gilbert asked, still in awe. Patrick nodded and looked out of the big window, his eyes searching for anything red; just for the fun of it. A minute later James walked back in with a wheel chair.
"Ready to go?" He asked, Patrick smiled; finally things were beginning to go his way.
