(Walker's POV)
I glanced up, paying no mind to the tears on my cheeks.
"Joey?" I whispered, not quite daring to believe what I had just felt.
Immediately, I felt a few fingers twitch beneath my hand. Excitement began building inside me, swelling my stomach like a balloon. His eyelids began to flutter as his eyebrows knitted together in a miniscule frown.
"Come on buddy" I encouraged, giving his hand another squeeze "just open your eyes."
He was still for a few moments, and for a minute I suspected that I had imagined it all, until I felt his fingers twitch again, stronger this time.
Then, slowly but surely, his eyelids fluttered open and they stayed open. Tired, slightly confused brown eyes locked with my own. My heart was threatening to beat right out of my chest, the feeling of elation enough to set me on fire.
"Hey" I grinned "nice of you to rejoin the land of the living at last."
A small, embarrassed smile of his own started to light up his face, before locking eyes with me once more.
"Hello to you too." His voice was no more than a raspy whisper, but his eyes were beginning to regain their usual bright shine.
I couldn't bring myself to wipe the ecstatic smile off my face as I stood and walked to the water container on the far side of the room. Filling a cup, I brought it back and passed it over. He took it gratefully and drank slowly. Passing the empty cup back to me, he sighed and rested back against the pillows. I tossed the cup in the bin and sat back down once more.
"How long was I out?" he asked, voice sounding much more normal, though it was still quiet.
"Just over two weeks" I replied, pressing the red button to alert Dr. Potter. "We've all been really worried about you, even the fans were!"
"I know."
Our eyes locked for a few moments before approaching footsteps alerted us to the arrival of Dr Potter.
"Ah, good to see you awake at last!" he called jovially.
After a few minutes of silent but thorough observation, Dr Potter straightened and smiled at us.
"Everything looks fine, just try not to overexert yourself too much and get plenty of rest, and you should be able to go home in a few days if you behave yourself."
At this, I had to snort: this was Joey we were talking about. Nothing would stop him from being as hyperactive as possible for as long as possible. I glanced down at him and our eyes met; he was pouting already. Shaking my head and laughing harder than I had in two weeks, I gently ruffled his hair.
"Sorry pal, but just think, would rather stick around here or come back to the manor where there's noise and utter chaos?" I asked, and laughed when he raised his head, expression one of good-natured annoyance.
"And that's just from Lauren" he joked, eyes dancing.
I shrugged in agreement. Neither of us had realised that Dr Potter had slipped out of the room, smiling to himself.
The two of us sat talking happily about everything and anything for about twenty minutes, until Joey finally started to run low on hype and slowly fell asleep. I stayed in the room for another few minutes, watching him sleep and taking comfort in his presence. As quietly as I could, I stood and tiptoed out of the room: I had some phone calls to make.