Layla's parents felt like they were in a nightmare as they rushed into the hospital, a nurse leading them to a private waiting room telling them the doctor would be with them soon. They didn't know what to expect after the call they had received an hour prior to inform them Layla was in the hospital after being involved in a traffic accident. No parent wanted a call informing them their child was in hospital, even more so after being involved in a traffic accident. Michelle was still telling herself it was all just a horrible dream, any minute now she would awake and still be on the plane. She was just sleeping on the plane. She always fell asleep on flights. That's all this will.
A few minutes later, a tall, bald man walked in and the look on his face told Michelle she wasn't sleeping. This was real; it was happening.
"Mr and Mrs Nemeth, my name is Dr Goodrem. I'm one of the doctors treating Layla," he introduced himself. This was one of the worst parts of his job, telling parents just how ill there child was. How touch and go it was. That there was a chance that, especially in accidents like this, that the child might not wake up. And if they did, at this point, it was impossible to say what sort of damage there would be.
"How is she? Is she awake?" Michelle asked, worry etched on her face. The only thing on her mind right now was her daughter and what condition she was in.
"Layla was involved in a serious traffic accident, she's very ill right now," he started to answer. "Layla suffered a lot of head trauma, causing an acute subdural haematoma. She also has a few broken ribs, which has caused one of her lungs to partially collapse." Doctor Goodrem informed the couple, Layla's injuries all common in serious traffic accidents.
"What's that, the subdural… the head injury?" her panicked parents asked.
"A subdural haematoma. It's a bleed on the brain, there is blood trapped between her skull and the surface of Layla's brain," Layla's parents gasped in shock. "We're monitoring it at the moment, seeing how she responds to intravenous medication. But if that doesn't work, we may have to perform a craniotomy to relieve the pressure on the brain. I have to warn you that the next 48 hours are crucial, Layla is in a critical condition. We're about to move her to ICU."
"Can we see her?" Paul asked, holding his wife close to him.
"Yes, a nurse will come get you once we've set her up in ICU. Beware, a machine is currently helping her to breathe and she is going to be hooked up to a lot of machines and monitors."
Walking into the ICU room, Michelle gasped, her legs going weak at the sight of her daughter hooked up to all the machines, a tube down her throat, breathing for her. Paul caught his wife before she fell to the floor, holding her to his chest, silent tears running down both their faces. Their daughter was so young, she shouldn't be lying unconscious in the hospital bed attached to numerous wires and machines; a machine currently breathing for their daughter.
Walking over to the bed, Michelle took one of her daughter's hands in her own. Apart from the small cut on her forehead, if she wasn't attached to all the wires and machines, she would just look like she was sleeping, not fighting for her life. Michelle couldn't stop the tears streaming down her cheeks. This was so wrong.
Paul and Michelle sat with their daughter, neither really saying anything, both silently praying that Layla would wake up. Neither knew how they would cope if she didn't make it. They had almost lost her once before, they couldn't now. She was young and had so much to look forward to in life. Michelle sat there remembering how excited Layla had been on the phone to her the night before. She had called them the afternoon before, telling them everything that had happened with Carter at the Prison. How positive and strong she was feeling, the plans she had for the future; the charity she wanted to set up, how she wanted to continue with the kick boxing she had been doing. Michelle had known then that giving Layla the space she had needed for those few weeks had been worth it, they had made such a difference to Layla. But Michelle kept thinking back to the call later that night, an excited Layla talking about seeing Jon again. Asking her mom what she should wear. Michelle couldn't wrap her head around how excited Layla had been, Michelle hadn't needed to see her daughter's face to know she had been smiling down the phone. To now, lying in the hospital bed; fighting for her life.
It wasn't long before they were joined by Nick and Ryan. Michelle had been too emotional to make that call; to tell her sons that their sister was in hospital fighting for her life. Instead Paul had somehow managed to make the call. Then he realised that Jon needed informing as well, Layla had meant to be meeting him. Getting hold of Jon was harder though, so Paul had left a message asking Jon to ring him back as soon as he could.
An hour later, stood in the corridor, neither of them could believe would they had just been told. All they had known up until that point was that Layla had been involved in a serious car accident. Now two officers were standing there informing them that it was no accident, Michaela Lafferty, Carter's sister had purposely caused the accident. She had also caused injuries to the man in the car behind Layla, but he was awake. His injuries had not be as serious; a concussion and broken shoulder. When questioned, he had told the police everything he knew, what he had seen. Michaela purposefully switching lanes and driving straight into Layla. In the process, however, she had died immediately.
Jon had never felt as helpless as he did when he walked into the hospital room and saw Layla hooked up to all the machines, a machine breathing for her stuck out the most to him. She looked so small. The plan had been to meet to Layla at her favourite coffee shop, when she didn't show he thought she had changed her mind. That something had changed in the last twenty four hours and she didn't want to be with her. He had sat in the coffee shop for a good while anyway, trying to tell himself she was just running late. But there was only so long you could sit waiting for someone; clearly she wasn't showing. So he had moved on to a bar, the type that you could sit in all day and no one was judging, at least not outwardly. But by that point, he was too hurt to even get drunk. He had done that too many times before and it didn't change anything. That wasn't going to help him get Layla back. So he sat there for three hours, only making his way through two beers. He was more interested in the peace, no one there was going to bother him. When he finally checked his phone hoping for a message from her. For something from her, he hadn't been expecting a voicemail from her dad call telling him to call him back ASAP. When he did, something telling him it was important, the last thing he expected to hear was that Layla had been in an accident, that she was in hospital and it was bad. He was sure his heart stopped briefly at that moment.
Taking the seat closest to her, Jon took her small hand in his large hands, pressing a kiss to it. Jon was a strong man, physically and mentally, but right now seeing the woman he loved fighting for her life and knowing there was nothing he could do, he wasn't feeling that strong. He wasn't one to cry but right now tears were forming in his eyes, silently falling down his cheeks as he spoke. He would do anything for Layla to wake up and be okay. All the matches he went through during his independent days, all the times his body got split open, all the blood he shed was nothing compared to the pain he felt right now seeing the woman he loved fighting for her life. Layla had to be okay, he wouldn't be able to cope if she didn't make it. She was his life.
"Princess, I don't know If you can hear me right now, you probably can't, but if you can. If you can I need you to do something for me. I need you to wake up. Open those beautiful eyes baby. Even if all you do is tell me to stop eating Nature Valley bars, tell me anything as long as you just wake up." His voice was beginning to crack now. "I need you princess, I can't lose you. You're a fighter, a survivor baby, so come on, fight with everything you have and wake up." He pleaded with Layla. "You promised me you were coming back to me, you promised." Jon's head gently dropped against Layla's hand he was holding, "You promised, princess."
Jon wiped the stray tears away as he sat there quietly with her, still clasping her hand in his. Not long later, her parents and brothers walked back in. No one said anything, nothing needed to be said. All they could do was wait and hope for the best. The doctor had already told them that the next 48 hours were crucial, if Layla could survive them her chance of survival improved.
Half an hour later, Summer showed up to support Nick and, of course, for Layla who she had become close friends with. Nick briefly stepped out of the room with her, Summer wrapped her arms around his neck holding him close to her. Her heart broke as she felt Nick's tears fall against her neck and he held onto her tighter, needing to feel close to her; needing her support. And Summer would give it to him. Her own heart was breaking at the sight of Layla.
Next to show up was Joe and Colby, who stood outside Layla's room, only a certain number of people were allowed in at a time. Like Summer, when they had first got there, standing by the open door to Layla's room, they were shocked to see all the machines Layla was hooked up to. They were there to support Jon though, Joe telling Jon that Galina was thinking of him and sent her love. Jon briefly stepped out of the room, not wanting to be away from Layla for long, to fill the guys in on everything, but also to tell them he wouldn't be at any shows for now. Steph had already been in contact, Jon didn't care if he got fired there was no way he was doing any shows right now. His place was with Layla, he wasn't about to leave the hospital.
As Jon stood there talking to Joe and Colby, his blood ran cold as he suddenly heard loud bleeping coming from the machines Layla was hooked up to and a team of doctors and nurses rush into the room; everyone told to wait outside. Time stopped around him; around all of them.
"No! Layla, no. She can't…baby. I need to be in there. She can't," Jon shouted as he tried to go back into the room, Joe holding him back.
Everyone stood there as they heard the doctors working on Layla, the machines bleeping loudly still. Layla's parent's hysterical and clinging to each other, Summer crying as she held Nick close to her, Ryan stood by the window staring intently, before a nurse had pulled the blinds he watched them intently working on his sister, Colby placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Jon had dropped to his knees on the floor, tears rolling down his face as he continued to whisper, "She can't die." The sight before him broke Joe's heart, on his knees too he pulled a distraught Jon into his arms; letting his best friend know he was there for him.