A Heavy Heart 13/20
Chapter Thirteen:
Don is wrong.
Charlie doesn't die.
He's been wrong before but he secretly still believes that he's right. That Charlie's going to leave him. Just not right this moment.
The doctors shock Charlie's heart back to a normal rhythm for the second time in only a matter of hours.
This second unexpected attack changes everything. The doctor who originally told them all the heartening words about Charlie comes back with bad news. The second attack means the tests and the treatments can't wait, that he won't stabilize, that surgery might be needed immediately. He promises to return with options for them after conferring with the other doctors but Don figures none of them prevented this attack so he doubts any of them can prevent another final one.
Eventually the nurses tell Don he can go back in again. He just shakes his head. He can't go back in there. He gives his father a nudge to let him know he can go on in and Alan doesn't hesitate.
Don turns and walks away. He has no idea where he's going, he just walks the hallways until he hits dead ends and then turns and walks in any direction that's unobstructed.
At some point, he ends up in a stairwell and then finds himself outside. He just keeps walking.
He crosses streets as they come up, paying little attention to lights or traffic. A few cars have to brake to avoid hitting him but he doesn't care.
It's a mile and a half down California Boulevard and Don barely notices the walk. Once he finds himself on the familiar campus of Cal Sci, his feet just seem to know the way to Charlie's classroom.
Don flips on the lights as he enters and sees the blackboards filled with equations. The one closest to the door has a small note attached to it that reads 'Do Not Erase'. The note looks well worn and is propped up against the chalk tray, probably because it doesn't stick any longer. Don picks it up so he can crumple it and throw it away, now that it's no longer needed. Charlie's not going to work on these equations ever again. Some part of him feels guilty though, at the thought of destroying his brother's final works of genius, and he carefully puts the note back in place.
He walks further into the room and finds what he suspected would be there. Lying forgotten on the floor is Charlie's cell phone. Don crouches down to pick it up and looks at the screen. It still says 'Don Cell' on it.
'He called me,' Don thinks. 'He should have called 911 but he called me. And I wasn't there for him.'
Filled with grief and guilt, Don drops to his knees on the floor on the spot where Larry had found Charlie earlier. Clutching the phone, he lets the sobs wrack his frame, his imminent loss finally hitting him full force.
Twenty minutes later, Terry is in the hospital parking lot looking for Don when her cell phone rings. The caller ID reads 'Charlie Cell' and she freezes up for a moment. "Hello?" she answers tentatively.
"Terry..." Don's voice is haggard with pain and it breaks Terry's heart to hear it. "I'm in Charlie's classroom." There's a pause on the line then Don continues, his voice soft and pleading. "Can you come?"
"I'll be right there," Terry assures him as she races to the car. "Do you want me to stay on the line with you while I'm driving?"
"Yeah..." Don's quiet response is so filled with sadness that Terry fights back a sob that threatens to choke her voice.
Terry says soothing things to Don for a mile and a half and parks as close as she can to Charlie's building, not caring if it's illegal. She needs to get to Don, now.