A/N Hello everyone!, I'm terribly sorry for the long wait for this one. I've been really busy in regards to finally finishing Uni and applying for various jobs, and I hit a terrible case of writer's block, so this took a long time to write, but I think I'm back into it again. I hope you all enjoy this more than I enjoyed writing it! :P
"No change today?"
"Not a peep, still stable though which is good."
"Well at least that girl finally allowed herself to be taken home. Poor thing."
"Yes, did you see her friend who took her? How on earth did she get that much hair into one bow."
"And that redhead, how anyone can be that energetic at that time in the morning I have no idea…"
The voices and footsteps faded away as the two Doctors left Henry's room. The beeping of the heart monitor the only indication of life. They had removed the bandages across his face, revealing a thin, long jagged scar running down his cheek. On the bedside locker was a multitude of cards from well-wishers, as well as a large flower arrangement from the Oorai girls. Kay and the Saunders team had visited the other day, as well as regular visits from the St Gloriana team. The BC Freedom commanders turned up one day, where Philip expressed his regrets at what had happened and how he was considering stepping down as Commander whilst Marie just looked on sadly.
The stillness in the room was broken by a slight twitch of Henry's right hand, almost as if he was trying to scratch himself, whilst on the outside it looked like Henry was peacefully lying there, inside his head there was a raging storm of emotions and memories.
"HENRY"
"HENRY!"
"Multiple breakages…miracle he's still alive."
"Minor burns….gonna be some scarring on his face I imagine.."
The cacophony of voices continued ringing in his ears, person after person. First Darjeeling screaming in fear and crying; then Assam speaking sadly, Pekoe sobbing, Tim and the others downtrodden and glum. The sarcastic and arrogant tones of the BC commander. Time flowed slowly for Henry, his eyes felt like they had been glued shut as he heard voices moving all around him, unfamiliar deep tones followed by more concerned female ones.
"Have you slept today Darjeeling?"
"No, I can't….I….just keep seeing it happen…"
Suddenly he was back in his tank, slowly watching as the ARL crept forward. The gun barrel pointed directly at him as flame and smoke erupted from it and the shell thrust through the air towards him. All he could hear then was the panic in his crew's voices as they yelled, he could feel Tim trying to tug him back down, then a loud bang accompanied by a blinding flash and he was standing on what seemed to be a cloud.
He seemed to be alone, as he looked down and patted himself.
"All here? Good good…. Hello? Is anyone there?"
His voice echoed across the empty space, as he scratched his head in confusion. "Where on Earth am I?"
"You need to wake up." A light voice echoed through his head
"What? Am I dead?"
"Wake up…."
"I can't!"
"You have too….." then he was falling, faster and faster, yelling as the green Earth grew closer and closer. He closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable impact then…..
Nothing, he blinked once, twice. Then Light.
The bright hospital light glared down at his unused eyes, he blinked rapidly again as tears started forming. His right leg felt stiff and ungainly as he looked around at his surroundings. He coughed loudly coming out hoarse and rough, there was a sound of quickly walking feet as a nurse burst through the door to see him sitting up in bed, blue eyes flicking to her as she walked in.
"Oh Mr Fordwaith, you're awake at last!" She bustled over to his side, her brown eyes checking the monitors he was hooked up to.
Henry coughed again, "How long was I out for?" She poured him some water from a jug that was on the side and handed him a cup which he gratefully drank from, gulping down the fresh liquid like there was no tomorrow.
"About six days, your team has been very worried about you." She checked his temperature and blood pressure as he processed that information. "There was a young lady who was sat with you for most of the time, she refused to let anyone take her away until yesterday, poor thing was besides herself."
"Platinum blonde hair? Blue eyes?"
"Yes that's right" The nurse finished up her checks "Well all seems to well and good, I'll go and inform the doctor that you are awake and performing fine and we'll see about getting you discharged." She gave him a smile
"Thank you." He smiled back, before resting his head against the pillow, his thoughts drifting off to Darjeeling.
'She waited for me to wake up for five days? God, what did I do to deserve her?'
He chuckled to himself, thinking about what he would do when he got out of hospital when the doctor walked through the door.
"Ah, young Henry, the nurse told me you were awake and she gave me your readings. You seem to be functioning perfectly well, but I'll explain what we had to do whilst you were out."
The Doctor reeled off a list of things and minor operations that the surgeons had to perform on Henry after the accident, Henry winced as he heard, two broken ribs, a broken leg, minor burning along his left arm and a large cut across his face that had to be glued back together, rather than stitched.
"So, no tanks for me for a while then?" he chuckled as the Doctor smirked.
"Yes, no tanks for you until that cast comes off your leg and your ribs are fully healed, I don't want you un-doing all our hard work."
The next few hours were a blur of doctors and nurses coming in and out of his room, barely giving him time to think as they bustled around taking various readings and comparing notes. Someone had returned his phone to him so he could scroll through the various well wishers on his social media pages and text messages.
He flipped open the text messages and scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he wanted. His thumb hovered just over Darjeeling's name as he debated sending her a message, after a few moments of indecision he decided he'd rather reunite with her face to face. Instead he scrolled further down to Tim.
Hey squire, bring the rolls Royce around to the front for me will you?
A minute later his phone began vibrating as Tim's icon popped up on screen, Henry pressed the green phone icon and answered the call
"Henry you're awake!"
"Yes, turns out that taking an ARL-44 shell point blank does wonders for my constitution."
Tim awkwardly chuckled through the phone "I'll get the others and we'll come get you! Saunders is here as well, they were coming into dock to re-fuel and stayed for a while. I'll tell the girls you're awake!"
"Actually, hold that thought, just bring the lads. No need to tell the girls just yet."
Tim tsked over the phone "You know she hates surprises and you'll probably end up with worse injuries."
"Oh, when did you become an expert on my love life Timothy?"
Tim was quiet for a moment, "Someone had to pick up the pieces."
Henry sobered up, "I see…come get me anyway, I'm tired of this hospital and Tim…. Thank you"
"I'll see you in about half an hour." There was a click and the line went dead.
As Tim's icon disappeared, Henry scrolled back up his contacts and pressed down on the call button next to Darjeeling's name. The phone rang once, then went straight to the automated voice
"The Person you are calling is currently unavailable, please leave a message after the beep."
Beep "Hey Darling, it's me." He coughed awkwardly "I've got so many things I want to say to you, but I'd rather save most of them for when we reunite. I'm just going to say sorry and I'll see you later…" with a sigh he ended the call.
Someone cleared their throat at the door and Henry turned to see the same nurse from earlier looking at him apologetically, "Sorry Mr Fordwaith, but we need to get you changed and into a chair. We've already sized you up for crutches as well, and for what it's worth, if that was the same girl who was sat with you this entire time, then you'll be alright."
Henry gave a terse smile as she started helping him get changed, in order to preserve his dignity, he chose to wear shorts, plus it looked like a nice day outside and it meant less finicking around with his cast, he also pulled on a bright yellow House Baratheon t-shirt and finally slipped on some socks and one trainer. The nurse helped him awkwardly slide into the wheelchair and then packed what belongings that had been brought to him such as the cards into a backpack that had also kindly been deposited in his room, probably by his crew.
The nurse wheeled him out of his room into the corridor where he was handed his pair of crutches by another nurse, then he was taken down the hall into a large waiting room.
"I can leave you here whilst you wait, unless you want me to stay with you until your friends turn up?"
"Thank you but no, I need some time to think."
"That's alright, you take care now. I don't want to see you back here anytime soon."
Henry chuckled, "No chance of that I think."
She smiled and walked away back down the hall they had emerged from. Henry shuffled his chair over into a corner and sat watching the entrance for his teammates. After what seemed to drag on for an eternity, when it reality it had only been fifteen minutes. Tim and the rest of the crew burst through the front door of the hospital, earning them a glare from the receptionist. It didn't take them long to zone in on him, the four crowding around him before deciding to jump him.
"Hey!" Henry yelped as Arthur rubbed his head
"You're a stupid bastard you know that don't you." Richard poked him in the nose
"Oh look at me I'm Henry Fordwaith, and don't worry about that tank right next to us I'm going to stick my head out of the turret." Arthur mussed up his hair
"That wasn't your brightest moment." Richie was content to merely mock him as Henry sat there scowling.
"Yes, yes good to see you lot as well, now get me out of this place."
Tim had simply being smiling to himself as the others harassed Henry, so he took charge of pushing him out of the hospital into the bright sunny day. It was late October so the cold still hadn't quite set in yet, but he could feel a chill on his legs.
"Where too Henry?"
Arthur muttered behind them "preferably the pub…"
Henry smacked Arthur on the arm "You have a problem."
"I have multiple problems, and alcohol solves all but one of them."
"Yes and that one is the alcohol."
Arthur merely huffed.
"To the girl's house please Tim, I have a mess to clean up."
"You can say that again." Richie cut in "You best not make it any messier."
Henry rolled his eyes to the heavens, "God help me, you've all turned against me."
Tim set off in the direction of the house that Darjeeling and the others shared. The Ark Royal was humming with activity as people went about their everyday business, some students from both Saunders and Oorai were wandering around, taking photos and generally enjoying their day off.
"I take it Kay is here?"
"Yeah she's up with the girls right now, Darjeeling took it pretty hard."
Henry frowned into the distance, "Yes I suppose she would…"
Tim smacked him gently on the back of the head "Stop moping around or I'll get Pekoe to beat some sense into you."
Henry shuddered dramatically "No please, she's a juggernaut, I only just got out of a coma."
"Then don't get all melodramatic, you're alive and well, that's all that matters."
They continued to walk in silence down a few streets away from the Ark Royal's hospital, until they reached the large house that housed the main members of the tea garden. Henry took a deep breath and ran his hand through his mop of hair, attempting to straighten it out.
"Dick, the door If you will." Richard shrugged and knocked on the door. A few minutes passed and Assam opened the door, her normally done up hair loose and flowing down to her hips. Her amethyst eyes blinked inquisitively at Richard.
"Not that I'm complaining, but why are you here?" Richard simply stepped aside to reveal Henry in his wheelchair. Assam froze for a brief second her eyes darting back and forth between Richard and Henry.
"Yeah he's back." Henry gave Assam a small smile. Before she could open her mouth to respond, Rosehip came skidding into view.
"Assam what is it- oooooooooooooooooo." Rosehip gaped at Henry, her mouth open like a goldfish, before she retreated back the way she came.
"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Henry asked Assam, who shrugged.
"Depends on how you handle this, it's good to see you again though."
"Thank you, Assam, can we come in?"
"No reason why not, I tell you one thing though."
"What?"
"I'd pay a lot of money to be a fly on that wall."
Henry scowled at her as the others burst into laughter, "Come on get inside already, I look weird enough as it is."
"I just didn't realise you had that much hair." Arthur quipped at her as they trooped into the house.
"With a mouth like that, it's not wonder you still don't have a girlfriend." She fired back.
"Ooof, I felt that one." Richie chuckled as Arthur stammered in shock.
Tim pushed Henry down into the girls still impeccable kitchen, where Pekoe and Kay where sat at the table, enjoying a cup of tea.
"Kay drinking tea? My God the world has changed whilst I was down."
Kay's eyes widened, "Henry Fordwaith you stupid son of a bitch."
Henry sighed, "Yeah I'm going to be hearing that a lot today aren't I?"
Kay put down the tea as Pekoe chuckled and waved at Henry. Standing up she launched herself at him and hugged him into her midriff, "You had me so worried."
"Sorry about that."
"It's not me you should be apologising to." Henry gently pried Kay's hands off him,
"Yeah I know, where is she?" In answer to his question, they all heard footsteps coming downstairs, "Pekoe, what's all the noise?"
The others started discreetly filing out of the room as Darjeeling's slipper clad feet came into view around the corner, before stopping as her eyes took in the scene before her, and then her empty tea cup crashed to the floor. Assam facepalmed,
"Really Darjeeling? Again?!"