So I know basically nobody reads this anymore but I'm really enjoying writing it. Had a complete brainwave in the middle of the night and… here we are.

Danny was losing the will to live sat in the same room all day. He jumped up from his bed, determined to do something more today. His aunt and uncle were going to see her Gran this morning, they'd decided it was best not to crowd her all at once, it was getting too much. Grabbing his coat from the side he went down to where his parents were sat in the lounge doing some accounts work for the café. "Do you mind if I go for a walk? Could do with some fresh air."

Gina looked up, "I don't know love, it's not like when we're at the cottage you don't know this area that well."

"I have maps on my phone Mum, I won't be long," Danny replied. "You know there's nobody around here it'll be fine."

His Mum sighed and nodded, "alright. But don't stray too far and be back in an hour for lunch."

"Deal. Thanks!" Danny skipped out of the house and went off on his walk, slipping his headphones in and heading for the nearby fields.

#-#-#-#

"Well how long ago was that?!" Clara was on the phone to Gina.

"5 hours, nobody has heard from him since. As soon as he wasn't back for lunch Phil went out looking but there's no sign…" she sounded scared. Clara was trying so hard to keep calm but struggling. Paula could tell and went over to put a hand on her shoulder. "I was hoping you'd have heard from him."

"I haven't had anything since before school, I just assumed you were busy I-" she had to take a deep breath, "I'm sorry I can't."

Clara practically threw the phone back at Paula who just managed to stop her from leaving while speaking to Gina on her desk phone. "I'll make sure we watch Clara's phone. Please keep us updated." Gina thanked Paula before hanging up which left the teacher to comfort a very upset student. Clara could do nothing but sob into her shoulder. "He'll be alright," Paula whispered.

At this Clara pulled back and shook her head, "how can you possibly know that?!"

"I'm just saying-"

"Well don't. I need to-" she stood up, pacing the floor, "I need to not be here. I need to go home, please can I go home." Clara couldn't stop the tears falling but she could feel herself losing control with each passing second. Paula was spotting the signs she hadn't seen for so long. "I need my Dad."

"I'll ring him now. Just come and sit back down and sip at your water, you need to try and calm down a little we don't want you getting ill," Paula managed to guide her back to the chair before picking up the phone and calling Dave.

#-#-#-#

The moment he was off the phone to Paula Dave raced to the school. He phoned Clara's Gran too, knowing she would be useful in this situation and she agreed to meet them at home. When he arrived he ran up to Paula's office, ignoring the receptionist altogether but they seemed to know who he was. He was stopped from going straight in as his daughter's support teacher came out and shut the door behind her. "How is she?"

"Not great. Just about got her to settle down but there's still no news on Danny. I think home might be the best place for her right now," Paula explained. "As if she hasn't already been through enough…"

Dave nodded, "thank you. If they ring-"

"I'll call you straight away," she promised and opened the door.

Clara ran at her father, hugging him tight. He kissed her head softly and between them they made their way to the car. Dave noticed Clara was clutching her phone tight but didn't say anything. The ride home was silent as she simply stared out of the window and her Dad drove. Her Gran was there when they arrived and opened her car door, hugging her tightly. At that moment she let her guard down, tears falling once more. Dave went over, nodding to his Mum who stood back to let him in. He picked up Clara, the energy having visibly drained from her, and carried her into the house for the first time in a long time.

While Grace shut and locked the car he continued to head into the house and upstairs to Clara's room to lay her down on the bed. When he went to stand up Clara clung onto his arm, "please stay," she spoke quietly, weakly. Dave nodded, his little girl needed him. He lay down on the bed beside her and Clara moved into his grasp, still holding her phone close to her chest. "I'm scared. Where is he Daddy?"

Dave felt his heart pound. His poor little girl's heart was breaking, she hadn't called him Daddy in years, this was all a reminder of when she was so small and yet here she was, a teenager in desperate need of his support and yet there as nothing he could do. "I don't know darling, I wish I did. Whatever is going on you know he would want you to look after yourself so get some sleep yeah? I'll wake you if there's any news, Paula promised to phone me." Clara nodded and finally gave into the tiredness, shutting her eyes.

The house was deadly silent while she slept. Grace joined them for a while, but eventually Dave got her to go and sleep in the spare room. He didn't dare sleep though, just incase the phone went. The lack of news wasn't a good thing, but at least there wasn't any bad news yet. The night kept passing and the sun started to rise and suddenly he felt the vibration of Clara's phone on the bed. He managed to stand up without waking his daughter, taking her phone and leaving the room.

For some reason Dave didn't look at the caller ID and just answered it, maybe the panic took over. "Hello?" There were a few voices at the other end but he couldn't quite make anything out. Pulling the phone away from his ear and looking at the screen he realised who was on the other end. "Danny? Can you hear me mate?"

"Pardon, sorry, I wasn't sure what language. My name is Marcel I was out walking with my family and my son found this boy. We have called the emergency services but there is no identification on him, I phoned the first number in his phone," the man on the end of the phone spoke with a French accent. Dave's mind was spinning, what was going on?

"Is he okay? What's happening?" He asked.

Marcel was quick to reassure him. "He's alive but unconscious, and very cold. The ambulance will be here soon. Are you his father?"

"No, no I'm his girlfriend's father. I will contact his parents now, where are you?" Dave asked.

"We are in the woods just outside the village. I would recommend that his parents go straight to the hospital though, the paramedics have just arrived," Marcel explained.

Dave rubbed his forehead, "thank you. I will call them now. Thank you for finding him." He hung up and immediately found Gina's number in Clara's phone.

The phone call was short, they wanted to get to the hospital - understandably. When he hung up Dave found himself staring at the phone in disbelief at what was going on. Danny was alive, but how long had he been out there? He was unconscious. He needed to tell Clara, how was he meant to explain it. Danny was so far away… "What's going on?" Clara was stood at the bedroom door.

As she woke up and her vision became clearer she realised her Dad knew something. "Dad what's going on?" Clara ran the few steps to him.

Dave tested his hands on her shoulders and made eye contact. "Danny's been found love. He's alive, but he was unconscious in the woods. They're taking him to the hospital now, I don't know anymore than that right now," he explained. Clara didn't know how to react, she looked down, breaking the eye contact with her father and trying to take deep breaths. "Gina will phone as soon as there is news. He's in the right place now," Dave hugged her tightly. "Come on, let's go down and I'll make us a brew."

"Because tea will make everything better," she mumbled.

"You know that's not what I'm trying to do," Dave rubbed her back gently. "Is there anything I can do?"

Clara shook her head, "tea is fine Dad. I'm sorry, I don't know what to do," she wiped at her eyes and went downstairs with him.

When Grace came down a while later Clara was still sat at the breakfast bar, holding her mug but staring out of the kitchen window. Grace walked over to Dave who was doing the washing up. "How's she doing?" He'd already filled her in upstairs on what they knew so far.

Dave shook his head, "she's barely moved from that position. Not really touched her tea either, and she won't eat."

Grace nodded and walked over to Clara, putting an arm around her, "talk to me?" Her Gran asked of her.

"And say what?" Clara shrugged. "There's nothing I can do, not one thing. It's like I've been crushed and I can't get up," she told her and sighed. "It's been over an hour…"

"They'll be looking after him. No news is good news darlin'. Drink that tea, maybe try and eat something. We'll stick the TV on and sit together okay?"

That seemed as good an offer as any and Clara went through to the lounge with her, curling up on the sofa. She made an effort with the cereal her Dad had given her but barely managed a couple of spoonfuls, eventually just putting it down and lying against her Gran while vaguely watching the TV.

When her phone rang she jumped, feeling her breathing rate rise as she put the phone to her ear. "H-Hello?" she managed to get out, terrified of what would happen next.

"Hey sweetheart, how you doing?" Gina asked firstly. She knew Clara well.

"I don't know, how's Danny?" she needed to know.

There was a small pause before she replied. "He's very cold, they're warming him up with fluids and blankets. They're keeping him sedated while they assess him, nobody is really sure what happened yet."

Clara fought to keep the tears back, "he's going to be okay though right?"

"They can't promise anything yet," Gina got out, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I don't want to say anything wrong."

"No, I understand, thank you," she pulled her knees up to her chest. Gina told her she'd call again soon and hung up. "He's still unconscious, they don't know what happened," Clara felt herself begin to cry again. "Nobody even knows if he's going to be okay."

Both Grace and Dave put arms around her, but she shrugged them off. Her Gran stood up and gestured for Dave to follow her into the kitchen, shutting the door behind him. "I want to get her out there. Not just for her, for Danny too. He'll want her there."

"Mum you know you can't just jump on a plane-" Dave started but was interrupted.

"I know I can't, but you can. You already told me work are understanding, take her. Find flights, I'll pay, just go." Grace was stern, he knew she was right too. "Go - your computer is upstairs."

Dave nodded and did as told while Grace went back in to comfort her granddaughter. She held her, letting her cry out as she needed to and not at all surprised when Clara started to drift back off to sleep. They stayed in that position until Dave returned and nodded. "Flight is booked, we'll need to leave in an hour. I've packed my case and mostly done Clara's. We should wake her…"

"You're doing the right thing," Grace reassured him and carefully squeezed Clara's shoulder to wake her. "Hey love, your Dad needs to talk to you."

"Has something happened?" Clara sat up quickly but Dave shook his head, kneeling down in front of where she was sat on the sofa.

"Your Gran and I know how hard it is for you to be so far away, so we're going to go to France. I've booked flights, we need to leave soon. I know it's a rush and you don't really know the place we're going-"

She jumped at Dave, hugging him tight, "thank you Dad. I don't care where we're going, I can look it up, I just want to be there. I hate not being able to help."

"I've started packing, go and see if there's anything I've missed. Do you want me to call Gina?" he asked.

Standing up, Clara found her phone. "I'll do it. Thank you Dad," she ran off upstairs.

#-#-#-#

Clara slept on the flight, leaning against her Dad. She'd been getting increasingly nervous and stressed while they waited to board and it had taken it out of her. Only when they landed did he wake her. "Hey, we're here," he kissed her head and she sat up a little. Clara looked a little shocked and Dave took her hand quickly, "it's alright. Don't worry. We'll be there as soon as we can, you can put your phone on now - see if there's any news?"

Still half asleep, she switched her phone on and watched as the notifications popped up. There were a couple of messages from Faye and Jess and that reminded her she hadn't really filled them in, but was quickly distracted when Gina's name popped up.

Hope your flight was okay. He's warming up well, still sedated for now. See you soon x

Dave noticed the tear escaping down her cheek and pulled her into a hug. "Come on, deep breaths. Time to leave the plane."

Before they knew it, Clara and Dave were in a taxi on the way to the hospital. "I love you Dad, thank you for doing this."

"You're the most precious thing in my life Clara, never forget that. How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm terrified. Scared to look out of the windows because it's all so different. I just want to get to his room." She was playing with her hands as she spoke, trying to distract herself in any way possible.

Dave pulled her into his side again. "We are nearly there now. Before you know it we will be right there. Do you need anything?"

Shaking her head she continued to look down and waited patiently for the taxi to come to a stop.

And then it did.

They climbed out, getting their case from the back. Clara phoned Gina and she immediately came to meet them. They shared in a huge hug and Clara couldn't stop herself from crying again. Gina felt her shaking and gently rubbed her back, whispering to her that it would be okay, although neither of them could be completely sure. "Let's get up there," she took Clara's hand, nodded a greeting to Dave and guided the through the corridors of the hospital. Before she opened the door to his room Gina stopped her and crouched down to her height. "He is connected to a lot of different machines and it will look really scary, but they're all there to help him I promise. You ready?" When Clara nodded she stood up and opened the doors for her to go in.

There was a nurse checking him over, "hello,' she greeted them in a strong French accent. "You must be Clara." Clara nodded but clung onto Gina's hand. "It's okay, he would like you to be close to him."

She walked over slowly and Gina let her go. There was a chair by his bed so she sat down and carefully took his hand. Vaguely she heard the nurse say she would leave them but now all Clara could see was his face, so peaceful. The blanket over him was warm and puffy. "They call it a bear hugger, very quaint." Gina placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's warming him up."

"I'm kinda jealous," Clara tried to reply lightly. She just wanted him to wake up and smile at her, she missed that smile. "Could I-"

"Say no more. Your Dad and I can go grab a coffee, we'll be back in ten," Gina reassured her.

As soon as they left the room she let the tears fall once more. She wanted to talk to him, but she didn't even know if he could hear her. What do you say to someone like this anyway? His hand felt loose around hers but she continued to grip it anyway. Everything else was hidden beneath the blanket up to his head. It almost just looked like he was asleep, but the beeping of the heart monitor reminded her that wasn't simply the case. Eventually she built up the courage to stand up, leaning over and kissing his cheek gently. "You better come back to me. We have a science project to finish."

A little chuckle from behind her made Clara jump but the nurse from earlier quickly apologised. "I'm sorry, Gina told me a bit about you. I wasn't trying to scare you."

Clara shook her head. "Ça va. Est-ce qu'il va aller bien?"

"Tu parle français," the nurse smiled. "It's ok we can use English, my father was British so I speak it well. As for Danny, we are looking after him as best we can. He is responding well."

"That's nurse speak for 'we have no idea'." Clara sighed. "That wasn't meant to sound rude I just have a lot of experience in hospitals."

"Claire," she spoke. Clara looked up, confused. "My name's Claire. I want to look after you as much as I do Danny. Gina told me you would have problems trusting us, that's okay. I can only promise you I will do everything in my power to help him."

Clara looked at where her hand held Danny's and took a deep breath, knowing what he would tell her to do. "I know you will." She paused for a few moments before continuing. "Danny has seen me through some of the worst times of my life in the last 18 months. I lost my Mum and my life completely turned upside down, I became a totally different person. Danny saw through all that, even when I almost destroyed myself. Maybe it sounds selfish but I can't lose him, I just can't."

"I can see you have quite the connection. I'm pretty sure Danny knows you're here - his pulse is calmer now than it has been the whole time we've been looking after him," Claire smiled. "I'll give you a minute."

"Danny I swear if you can hear me we are going to see you through this and I will look after you," she kissed his hand gently, a tear rolling down her cheek. "We are in this together. I'm not going to let you down."

A few minutes later Gina and Dave returned to find Clara resting her head on the edge of the bed. "You okay love?" he asked quietly.

"I think so," Clara replied, sitting up. Dave handed her a tea he'd got from the canteen. "Thanks," she smiled a little and removed her hand from Danny's for the first time, wrapping it around the takeaway cup. "Where's Phil? Is everything okay with his Mum?"

Gina nodded, "he's had to go up there for a bit. I'm keeping him updated, he's okay. Copes better with this stuff than me."

A silence fell over the room then, they all stood around the bed for a while just watching as if something was miraculously going to happen. Dave was more focused on Clara, watching as she begun to go to sleep on the chair. Gina handed him a blanket from the side when she noticed and he wrapped it around her. "This is stretching her new found ability to keep calm. Tiring her out emotionally that's for sure."

"She's a good kid Dave. You should be really proud."

"Oh I am, but that's not down to me," he replied.

"Don't be silly Dad," Clara mumbled - not quite asleep yet. "You're the best." Then she drifted off.

#-#-#-#

Dave left to sort out where they were staying but only once Phil had returned to support Gina. Clara was still asleep, curled up under the blanket her Dad had placed over her. Dave had been gone about an hour when she started to stir, but something didn't look right. "Is she okay?" Phil nudged Gina and gestured to where Clara was sat.

Gina walked round the bed to her, "no… could you give Dave a ring?" She crouched down to her and watched her closely, not touching her just yet in fear of making it worse.

As Phil left, Claire returned and looked at the scene in front of her. "Can I do anything?"

"No," Gina sighed, "we're calling her Dad. I'm a little afraid he won't get back in time though. There are very few people she trusts when things get bad and I'm not one of them. Not yet anyway."

"I'm guessing Danny is?" Claire asked, grabbing his obs chart to fill in.

"From day 1 they clicked, he has such a way with her it's completely changed him for the better. It's times like this you appreciate how much they do for each other…" Gina tailed off as Clara's movements became more prominent. "I'm going to have to wake her. Can you just stand by the door?" Claire nodded and did so as Gina gently placed a hand on her shoulder and uttered her name softly but sharply.

She woke up in a panic, jumping from the chair and automatically running for the door. Gina called after her. "Clara look at me, there's nobody here to hurt you."

She kept running. Claire stopped her at the door, Clara fought against her grasp but she resisted. "Clara, écoute moi," she spoke quietly. "You're safe with us. You're at the hospital, remember? My name's Claire and Danny is just over there. He's still alive, just under sedation for now." Slowly Clara started to relax. "Deep breaths. In through your nose and out through your mouth." Her legs started to give way so Claire moved to the ground with her. "It's alright. Bad dreams huh?" Clara nodded. "Does your condition make things more realistic?" Another nod. "I get it. But just look, nothing has changed since you went to sleep. Your Dad has just popped out but he will be back soon."

"You're good." Clara finally came back round and sat up a bit. "Thank you, or sorry, I'm never sure which one to go for first."

Claire stood up and held a hand out for her. "Don't be silly, you shouldn't need to say either. How you feeling?"

She shrugged, "embarrassed."

"Well don't be. But I do think you need to get out of here for a few minutes and I'm due a break so why don't we go grab something to eat?"

As she spoke, Phil returned to the room. "Your Dad's coming back love but we can tell him where you are." They all saw where Clara's gaze was heading. "Danny will be fine, we're here."

"I guess I am kinda hungry," she admitted. "Okay, but not long."

"Oh don't worry, they don't let me out for long either," Claire chuckled. "Come on then."