A WILD NIGHTMARE OR JUST HARSH REALITY?
"Barney Stinson?" a small, grey-haired police officer asked.
"Yes?" Barney answered, worry and dread building in his stomach.
"I'm afraid your fiancé has been in a car accident. It's bad, son, it's really bad."
The next few moments seemed to be like a dream. After the words had been spoken Barney's world had been tipped into some crazy nightmare. He told himself she would be fine, that everything would be alright. It was Robin Scherbatsky, after all; the strongest woman he had ever met, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly and unmistakably wrong. The police man had told him she was at St Marcus' hospital being prepared for surgery. The first person he had called was Lily. He knew that whoever he called, they would panic. Robin was always the person who was called in a crisis, and she was laid in a hospital bed.
"This can't be happening," Lily whispered down the phone, her voice broken with fear.
"I...I'm scared, Lil," Barney stuttered, his eyes filling up with tears.
"I'll meet you at the hospital in half an hour. Don't worry sweetie, we're all here for you," Lily put on a brave voice, knowing how much her friend needed her support.
Half an hour later, Lily, Ted and Marshall met Barney at the hospital. Immediately, they knew how hard Barney was taking this. His face looked drained of happiness and it looked like he had lost hope, and maybe even, as he would say, awesomeness.
"Hey, hey, it's going to be okay," Lily comforted him, hugging her friend at once.
"Look, bro, it's Robin. She'll pull through, I promise," Ted tried to smile, but he realised how much this was hurting him too. It was Robin.
"She...she's going into surgery in 10 minutes. She was on the side of the cab that the car crashed into. They...they said the blood loss is what they're worried about the most," Barney managed to get out, in between sniffles.
"Sit down, honey. Marshall, get him some coffee will you?" Lily said, trying to stay as strong as possible. This wasn't like Lily. In a crisis she would normally end up panicking or crying and someone would have to comfort her, but this time it was different. Her best friend in the whole world was on the verge of death and she needed to keep strong, for Barney's sake.
"She's all ready for surgery. We'll be sending her in shortly," an attractive male doctor appeared in the hallway. He seemed optimistic, something which everyone needed to be.
"Can I come and see her first?" Barney asked, getting to his feet. The doctor nodded and led Barney into the hospital room. Robin was lying in the bed, attached to monitors, her hair still clotted with blood and her face covered in scratches. The sight of his fiancé like this made Barney die a little inside. He swallowed back tears and walked over to her. She still looked beautiful, lying there passed out with bruises covering her body. How that was possible, Barney had no idea, but it somehow was.
"I'll leave you two alone for a few minutes," the doctor smiled, and left the room.
"You better pull through, Scherbatsky," Barney laughed, trying to cover up how worried he was. He knew she wasn't going to react - she was unconscious - but he spoke to her anyway, just like he would if she was awake. He paused for a while and took in a deep breath. He looked down at her once again and sighed. This shouldn't be happening. She doesn't deserve this, he thought to himself.
"Mr Stinson? We have to take Robin into surgery now," the doctor reappeared at the doorway.
"Yes," Barney managed to murmur. He left the room, nearly shaking with fear.
"She'll do fine, Barney. Don't worry," Marshall smiled and patted Barney on the arm as he entered the hallway again.
The next couple of hours seemed to drag on forever. Barney didn't move from his seat at all and his eyes were firmly fixed on the floor at all times. He couldn't stop thinking about their last conversation. She had said bye and he hadn't even replied. She had said she loved him and all he did was laugh flirtatiously. It was a cute moment, he knew that, but he wished he had said he loved her too, because he did. He really did. She deserved to know that. All sorts of thoughts went through his mind – what if she doesn't make it? What if she doesn't recover properly?
"Hey, how are you holding up?" Lily appeared at his side, with a bag of gummy bears and a coffee in her hand. Barney remained silent, not moving a single muscle in his body. Lily sighed. She was also feeling an overwhelming amount of fear, just as Barney was.
"It's been over 2 hours now. How long was the procedure supposed to last?" Ted asked, not really sure who he was aiming the question at. Nobody replied.
It was a total of 3 hours before the surgeon rushed into the hallway. Barney immediately got to his feet.
"How...how is she?" he stammered, hoping for the news to be good.
"She's stable at the moment but there was a tiny complication during surgery," the doctor explained. Barney's heart leapt into overdrive.
"What...is...is she okay?" Lily stood up, her heart racing.
"She is for the moment but a lot can change. We know for definite that she won't be awake for a while yet. It differs; it's just up to her. It could be less than a few weeks, or it could be months," the doctor continued, moving to face towards Lily.
"What was the complication?" Ted brought himself to ask. Barney stood there in silence, taking all of the information in.
"Because she lost so much blood it was not at all uncommon for her to experience trouble during surgery. Her heart rate lowered to a very dangerous level but luckily we were able to fix this. Like I said, she's stable for now but it's just a matter of time," the doctor said, trying not to worry everyone.
"I need to see her," Barney managed to say, heading towards the hospital room. As he approached the doorway for the second time that day he hesitated. This seems surreal, he thought to himself. She looked different this time; she seemed more relaxed and more at peace. The blood was finally cleaned from her hair but this time she was all bandaged up. He walked over to her and sat down on the chair that was placed next to the bed.
"Hey," he whispered, gently getting hold of her hand. He fingered her engagement ring and sighed.
"You know if you don't wake up I'll have wasted my money on this," he laughed, trying to joke but feeling beaten down. Wake up, please God just wake up, he thought to himself, praying she would open her beautiful eyes. But it was no use; she stayed perfectly still, her eyes almost seeming glued shut. He didn't feel like the normal Barney Stinson anymore but then again, he hadn't dealt with many life-or-death situations in his life. He wasn't used to this sort of thing, especially when it was someone like Robin. His fiancé. He kept saying the word in his head over and over again, trying to become familiar with it.
"It's funny isn't it? We never wanted to get married. We were always against commitment. How did we find ourselves here?" he said, hoping she would do as much as move a finger in response.
Out in the hallway, Lily, Marshall and Ted sat in silence. Marshall had his arm around his wife, wondering how on earth they got to this situation.
"Marv can't grow up in a world without his Aunt Robin. He can't, he just can't," Lily cried, breaking the silence and finally letting the tears she had bottled up all day roll down her cheek.
"Don't say that, Lil. You heard the doctor, she's stable. She's doing fine," Ted said, wanting to be the person who stayed optimistic in this whole ordeal.
"Yeah, come on Lilypad. Don't cry," Marshall agreed, wiping tears from Lily's face with his thumb.
"It's just...I just didn't think this would ever happen, you know? I didn't think I would ever have to face my best friend being in this situation. I'm starting to wonder whether it's a wild nightmare or just...harsh reality, I guess," Lily said, resting her head on Marshall's shoulder.
"I wonder how Barney's doing," Ted said, hoping his best friend was coping as well as he had hoped.
"I can't even begin to imagine," Marshall said, trying to avoid thinking how traumatic it would be knowing your other half was in a hospital bed, with a chance of never waking up.
Barney was in Robin's hospital room for almost an hour. He tried to stay calm, just talking about normal everyday things but he couldn't help but feel intensely scared. Thinking of how many sleepless nights he was going to have from now until she woke up made Barney shiver. She will wake up, she will, she will, he said to himself in his head, not bringing himself to think of the alternative. He thought of the previous times he had been in hospital rooms, in particular the time Robin had 'Mosby'ed him. He remembered that day like it was yesterday. He smiled to himself at how different they were back then, yet completely the same. It made no sense but it was true. He knew he had changed a lot since then but the most important thing was he knew he was in love with her that day, and he was in love with her right then. His thoughts were interrupted when the doctor from earlier entered the room.
"I'm afraid visiting hours are over now, Mr Stinson," he said.