Your Clothes

A/N: Sorry that I've taken so long getting this chapter out. Uni has been a pain in the arse. Also, I wasn't entirely sure where I wanted to go with this. I'm very nervous about it so I'm very keen to see what everyone thinks.

I disclaim…

Chapter 4

The call to Grandma McCoy had been harsh to say the least. Like all McCoy's I considered Danny's grandmother more family than my actual grandmother. After Grandad McCoy had passed away when Danny and I were roughly ten Grandma McCoy had moved to a small town in Florida saying she needed a break from the activity of Vegas. I had been absolutely devastated at the time but Grandma McCoy had gone out of her way to make sure we remained in contact and now I most likely spoke to her more often than Danny.

To say she had taken the news of Larry's accident badly may have been the understatement of the century. I've never felt so helpless in my life listening to the distraught mother as I relayed what little information we had at hand over the phone. I couldn't comfort her. She was beyond that. Comfort if I was sitting right next to her would have been of little use let alone comfort over static wires. In that moment I have never been so thankful for Sam and her connections. After a quick a call to her I had Grandma McCoy booked first class on the next flight to Vegas. It was a relief to say the least.

My next call the Ed had been much easier. When he picked up the phone I had the sneaking suspicion that Sam had already cornered him. For a man who made it his business to know the details of all his employees' personal lives, especially Danny's, he asked remarkably few questions. Big Ed had made it clear that he didn't want to see either of us at work until news on Larry was more positive and promised that the concert I had been organising would be placed in capable hands. He also mentioned that he would send one of the girls over as soon as they had a spare minute.

As I flipped shut Danny's cell, I was surprised to find Jamie sitting cross-legged opposite me in an arm chair, magazine discarded, studying me curiously.

"So," she prompted as if eager to gain information of some kind.

"So?" I returned innocently. I knew exactly what she was fishing for; it didn't mean that I was going to take the bait. If Jamie was anything like she was in high school I knew I would have to eventually but I would have liked it to be on my own terms.

"You? Danny? This may seem stupid to you but I could never really figure out what was going on there." She pauses a minute, thinking as she studies me again for a second. "Still can't."

"Just friends," I answer, hoping that maybe if I kept my answers short she would stop pressing. I knew it was in vain.

Jamie snorts. "I'm sorry Mary, but you and Danny have never been 'just friends'."

"We're not sleeping together if that's what you're getting at," I snap, pre-empting her next line of questioning.

"Ah-ha!" Jamie exclaims as if I've just revealed the juiciest piece of gossip.

"Ah-ha?" I question, puzzled by her reaction. "Ah-ha, what ah-ha? There is no ah-ha."

"I didn't ask if you are sleeping together."

"Believe me, we're not," I tell her, unable to keep the cynical edge from my voice, staring at my hand as I absently pulled at a lose thread on the hem on the boxers I was wearing.

Jamie remains silent for a second, choosing her words carefully. "Amazing how it seems like everything has changed since high school when in reality nothing really has."

My head snaps up to study her, and I realise its true. At the heart of if Jamie is still the same girl who knew almost as much as Danny about me. The same girl who used to sit opposite me in the McCoy's living room as we giggled and gossiped about boys. The same girl who kept me sane when Danny and Greg were off doing boy things.

That's when it almost came out, that's when I almost told her everything from prom night to last night after the concert, every sordid detail of the Danny and Mary story.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I haven't decided which, that's when Danny returned from seeing Larry, his face pale, his eyes retaining the look of a lost little boy. It was all I could do not to jump up and crush him in a hug.

"Are you – do you want to –," Danny mumbles, struggling to find words he simply points to the door he just came from.

I nod slowly. As much as the thought scared me I knew I would have to do it sooner or later. I didn't know how I would cope seeing Larry hooked up to beeping machinery but I had to do it. Part of me still didn't want to believe that this was happening, that this wasn't some horrible nightmare. I needed to see him just to make sure.

As I brush past Danny I feel his hand come to rest gently on my arm, stopping me from going any further. I look up and see his concern written across his face. He was scared. I don't think he had been prepared to see his father like that.

"I'll be okay," I whisper, answering his unasked question.

Danny doesn't say anything, just nods his head slightly and lets my arm go. I don't think he wanted me to go in there. Part of his protective instinct. Something which annoyed me to great ends at the same time giving me little flutterings in my stomach because I knew it was his way of showing he cared.

I make my way out into the hall where there is a nurse standing there.

"Mrs McCoy?" she questions and I nod. I don't know how she does it. She was about my age but something in her voice made me instantly want to cling to her for any source of comfort. She was happy but not cheerful, concerned but not overbearing.

"This way," she gestures and I start to follow her down the hall. "Just a warning, most people get a bit of a shock when they see their loved ones hooked up to so many machines. It's a bit daunting. I'll get you to look through the window first just to get over the initial shock."

The nurse stops just outside a door and gestures for me to look through the adjacent window. Slowly I come around to peer through the glass, mentally trying to prepare me for anything.

When I said I wasn't sure if I could cope with seeing Larry hooked up to machinery I was right.

"Oh god," I whisper taking a step back from the window. "Larry."

It was more horrible than I had ever imagined. His mouth, open at a strange angle was full of tubes, an IV was inserted into the back of his right hand and I could see the wires to the heart monitor disappearing into his hospital gown. But that wasn't the worst of it. The look on Larry's face. I'd never seen it so expressionless. Larry was the kind of person who regularly fell asleep on the couch and whenever he did he never looked like this. He always looked so peaceful when he slept, so much younger than he appeared when awake.

This was different. His eyes were sunken, deep shadows around them. His face waxy and pale. A deep bruise was forming across his forehead. It was all I could do to convince myself it was Larry.

"Does it," I start but my voice doesn't want to come out more than a whisper. I clear my throat. "Does it hurt? The tube thing."

"Surprisingly no. At least not until it comes out. After that I've been told it feels like your throat is on fire. But at the moment, Larry barely even feels it."

I nod unable to take my eyes off Larry.

"Do you want to come in?" the nurse suddenly asks gently.

I nod again not sure if I could get my mouth around words. She opens the door and we enter the room silently. A gentle beep interrupts the quiet of the room every few seconds. I like that beep. It's slow, steady and regular. It lets me know that Larry is doing okay for now.

"Can he hear me?"

The nurse looks up from where she was checking Larry's vitals and smiles slightly. "Honestly," she starts, "it varies from case to case. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can't. I suppose the important thing is to try."

I nod. I'm glad she hadn't fed me the lie about all coma patients being able to hear you. It always struck me as a stupid thing to say. It was a ridiculous idea really. I could never hear a single thing while I was asleep so why would coma patients.

Nevertheless, the idea was extremely comforting and at the same time disquieting. If he really could hear me then it made sense that he was capable of some kind of conscious thought just unable to express it. The unable to express it is what scared me. Was it like he was locked in a black hole, hearing people around him, unable to interact making them sound so far away.

"Hey, Larry," I start, taking his left hand in both of mine. I never expected it to feel so clammy. "It's me, Mary. You're giving us quite the scare. Of course, Danny's not saying much, just pretending that he's – oh, you know how he is. Bottling everything inside while he tries his best to pretend he's okay. A lot like you actually. I don't know what's been going on between you lately but you're both as stubborn as each other. I know you're both busy but it's ridiculous." I pause, suddenly realising I was starting to rant. "I probably should have said this months ago but I don't think you would have listened. You're both too stubborn for your own good. I guess my point is that you love each other and you should stop being stupid. Just spend time; I know you've both been wanting to for ages."

I pause for a moment just to watch Larry's face. Nothing changes. He just lays there. It's unnerving to say the least. As I watch, it starts to hit me just how much I need Larry. Almost as much as I did Danny. As long as I can remember, whenever Danny couldn't be there for any reason it was always Larry who picked up the pieces.

"Just get better. I don't think you know how much we need you. How much I need you. Just get better."

I stand, unable to keep sitting here watching him. It was too hard. I was so used to seeing Larry so alive. Even after his wife had died Larry was more lively than this. Ignoring the nurse who had brought me in, I leave the room shutting the door firmly behind me. Leaning back heavily against the wall I finally let the reality sink in. Thick tears make their way down my cheeks as I stare across the drab hall, letting me emotions finally catch up to reality.

TBC