(Alright, alright, you guys guessed. I actually do own We Bought A Zoo. I've been tricking you all along. My name is Geoff, too. How did you know?)
He managed to stay awake for another 5 hours. After that, he did fall asleep, but only because they put some sedative in his IV. Now, every thing was slightly fuzzy around the edges, but Dylan didn't mind. In fact, it was quite nice. Things were less sharp and they hurt less. And the fuzziness wasn't complete. He lay in his bed with his eyes half closed, pretending to be asleep. People kept coming in and out and poking him, talking to him and pressing buttons on machines.
Dad had gone to get Rosie. Hopefully to also get a coffee. He looked more tired than Dylan felt. The hugging was nice though. Unusual, but much nicer than normal. It gave Dylan a different kind of fuzziness. One inside. Which sounded cheesy, and he would never admit it, but it was true.
He must have drifted off, because someone was shaking him and when he opened his eyes, the room was darker than before.
It was Dad. Rosie was behind him, and he blinked several times to wake up.
"Hey Rose"
She smiled.
"Oh, hi! I was scared that you wouldn't say hi to me, 'coz Daddy said that you mightn't, but y'did"
He laughed.
"Yeah, I did"
She jumped up on the bed, next to his legs, and looked at him seriously.
"Dylan, are you hurt really bad?"
He shook his head.
"No. I'm fine, Rose"
"You're not going to die like Mommy?"
He wrapped his arms around the top of her shoulders and squeezed.
"Of course I'm not"
'Good. I'm glad"
"Well, I'm glad too!"
She laughed and snuggled into his chest. His arm throbbed, but he ignored it and pressed his check against her head. Dad sat down in the chair next to the bed, and Rosie smiled at the both, and then closed her eyes.
Then she fell asleep.
And he was in a really awkward position.
Which kind of hurt.
Oh well.
Dad laughed at his expression, and he shifted slightly under her weight. That was better. Dad leaned forward.
'So? How are you feeling?"
"Fine"
"Really?"
He looked sceptically, but Dylan nodded.
"Yeah. Really. I fell just like normal."
He nodded.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"What's the date?"
"It's the seventh"
"The seventh? Seven seven?"
"Yeah"
"Why the hell are you here?!"
"Because you're in hospital"
"What about opening day?"
"Kelly said she would take care of it"
Dylan opened his mouth to protest, but the door opened, and Doctor Lucas smiled in at them. Dad nodded at her, and she stepped inside.
"Hello, Dylan"
"Hey."
"Now, I've been receiving reports from your nurses, and they are all really happy with your performance!"
"Okaay…"
"And we were all wondering, would you like to walk?"
He sat up. Rosie half fell of the bed, and woke up abruptly. He noticed, but all of his focus was on Dr Lucas.
"Are you kidding? Of course I would!"
She smiled, and he turned to Dad before anyone could say anything.
"And that is really good timing, because I can stay here and do walking and stuff, and Dad can go open the zoo"
"Dyl…"
"Dad, I am not open to negotiation on this one"
"Are you sure?"
"Sure. Go open the zoo, Dad"
"Okay."
He left with Rosie on his shoulders, waving behind him. Dylan yelled after them.
"Say hi to Kelly for me!"
Dad gave him a thumbs up in acknowledgement, and then there were nurses in is room, and oh God, he was going to walk.
He wriggled to edge of the bed. Ignoring the hand the nurse offered him, he stood up slowly. His legs shook, but he was standing. The nurse smiled.
"Good, Dylan. Just take it easy. We'll just do a few steps, okay?"
Dylan nodded. She slipped his arm over her shoulder.
"Just in case. Now, left foot first"
One step. Wow, that felt good. You never knew how great walking was, until you spent too much time without doing it.
Then his right foot. Two steps. He didn't wait for her to say anything, just took a third. And a forth. Without knowing it, his face slipped into a grin. Damn!
Double double double damn!
What was that? 6 damns?
The nurse laughed at his expression.
"Feels good, huh?"
He nodded hard, and she laughed again.
"Awesome. I'm going to let go, and you can go by yourself! Just walk around the room okay?"
"Okay!"
She let go, and he walked around his bed. It felt like forever, but he got there eventually. She clapped.
"Nice! I'll go see if your Dad is back."
He stopped her at the door.
"Um, can I… Can I, well…"
"What?"
"Can I go piss?"
There was a bathroom that led of this room. He had seen in when Dad had gone in, with big white lettering on the door.
She laughed again.
"Sure. If you need, there's a rail in there that you can hold on to"
She left, and he opened the door cautiously. Inside, he peed, and that was another thing so good to finally do. There was no mirror, and secretly Dylan was glad. He could feel where his face was bruised and swollen, and he figured it probably looked worse than it felt. By the sink, he cleared his throat as he turned the tap on. Water sloshed out, and he froze. Something in his mind flinched away from the sound, and he turned the tap off again.
His hands were shaking.
Why were they shaking?
Stop it, Dylan, stop it.
His legs felt shaky again, as well, and he grabbed the rail behind him, as he slid down the wall.
He couldn't breathe.
He couldn't, he couldn't.
Why was it so hard to breathe?
Breathe, Dylan, breathe.
His chest hurt, and it was hot in here.
But it wasn't hot, because just before he had been cold.
Hadn't he?
No.
No, it must be hot.
It was hot, and he was tired and he hadn't walked for ages, that was all.
Eventually, he breathed in, long and shaky.
In, out.
In, out.
Easy.
In and out. Breathing. He could do that. He could. It was simple.
Someone pounded on the door.
"Dylan? Dyl?"
It was Dad.
"Dyl!"
He got up.
"Sorry, sorry, I'm coming"
He heard the relief clear in Dad's voice.
"Oh, okay"
He unlocked the door, and smiled at his Dad, like there was nothing wrong at all.
And there wasn't
Nope.
He smiled, and Dad smiled, and doctors smiled and said he could probably go home tomorrow. He said he was looking forward to it, and Dad smiled again.
He didn't wash his hands.
(Seriously though guys, I don't own it. Don't sue me)
*A/N That's right! Ha, you all thought he was going to be fine now! And looked what happened! I'm brilliant! There is so much foreshadowing in his chapter, I almost cried! (Okay, not really)
And, stop it. I swear none of you are reviewing. I know this because I looked at the traffic stats. Yeah, that's right, it's official, there are statistics. Bam. There is one viewer from Sweden, one from Hong Kong, one from Indonesian, one from Belgium, one from Italy, one from the UAE, and heaps from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, and the USA. And how many reviews do I get? For eight chapters? 33.
Now I'm depressed. So review!
And in that review that you are totally going to write now, tell me whose POV the next chapter should be in, kay?
(Even though this story is kind of in 2nd person, but you know what I mean)