When Two Worlds Collide
Chapter 2
AN: Wow. So many reviews for the first chapter! Thank you so much! :) Anyway, here's the next chapter!
It took Eddie a few seconds before he realized what had happened. But when he did, he went straight to Loren.
"Loren!" Eddie shouted, jumping up and running to his girlfriend's side.
Loren groaned, her head rolling from the right to the left side.
"Eddie?" She muttered, obviously not in her right mind, but at least she was calling for him.
"I'm here, I'm here, Loren." He replied frantically, taking her hand in his. His mind raced back to his mother's untimely death in a car accident, but shook his head to get rid of the thought. That wouldn't happen to Loren. It just couldn't.
"Eddie," Loren called out again, but this time painfully, her face scrunched up in pain.
He held her hand tighter, "It's going to be okay, Loren. It's going to be okay. You're going to be fine."
Whether he was trying to convince her or himself, he wasn't really sure. He kissed her hand then yelled for someone to call 911.
It had been two hours and the waiting was nearly killing Eddie. He called Loren's mother, his father, and Loren's friends. Loren's mother, Nora, got on the first flight out, but she still wouldn't be able to get there until late tomorrow. His father, however, had just stepped out of the elevator when he saw his son. Eddie looked like a mess. His hair was disheveled and when he looked up, Max would tell his son had been crying. Max quickly made his way to Eddie.
"Hey, how is she?" Max asked, obviously worried about both his son and his son's girlfriend.
"They-" Eddie got choked up a little but cleared his throat, "they haven't told me anything. It's been two hours and I know nothing."
Max just nodded and said comfortingly, "That's okay, they probably just want to make sure what's wrong before they tell you." He put a hand on Eddie's shoulder, "Why don't we go get some coffee?"
Eddie immediately shook his head, "No, I don't... What if she..."
Max felt sick to his stomach at what Eddie thought would happen to Loren, "Eddie, she'll be alright. She's a strong girl, she's going to make it through this."
Eddie said nothing, but sat down and put his head in his hands.
"I should have just taken her home," Eddie muttered, looking up at his father, "then maybe this wouldn't have happened."
Max sat down and put a hand on Eddie's back, "This isn't your fault, you know that, right?"
Eddie shrugged, looking more like a child than the adult rockstar that Max and the entire world knew him as.
"Don, I have to go. Loren's in the hospital." Nora was packing her stuff quickly, hoping to get to the airport in time.
Don frowned, leaning on the doorframe, "What? What happened? I hope she's okay."
Nora shook her head, stuffing more clothes into the suitcase, "Eddie said something about a car accident, but I couldn't really understand him. He kept breaking up. Signal here kind of sucks."
"Sorry about that, I kind of chose this place so no one would bother us," Don moved towards her, helping her move her now fully packed suitcase off the bed onto the floor.
Nora sighed, running her hand through her hair and looking back to Don, "I'm just so worried about her, Don. What if she..."
"Don't think about that," Don interrupted, "I'm sure she's fine. We'll go right away."
Nora nodded, smiling slightly as Don pulled her closer and they shared a quick kiss. Don went to pack his stuff, leaving Nora to sit and worry about her only daughter.
"The plane leaves in thirty minutes, have you got your stuff packed?" Nora asked, tugging on her suitcase and making her way towards the door.
Don nodded, holding up his single bag in his hand, "Yeah, I'm good to go. Let's hurry, I bet traffic's going to horrible tonight."
The couple made their way out the door and headed towards the airport. They didn't know that this would be the last time they would ever get to spend together. Once they got on that plane, there was no going back.
"Mr. Duran?"
The young woman doctor stepped into the hallway, chart in hand.
Eddie immediately stood up and asked, "How is she?"
"Well, Ms. Tate was very lucky. It could have been much worse. We think she hit her head on the windshield pretty hard. Also, she has broken ribs and a broken leg, and while she is a little beat up, everything else is fine. We do, however, want to keep her tonight for some tests."
Eddie and his father exchanged nervous glances. Tests usually meant that something was wrong.
"Some tests? What kind of tests?" Eddie immediately asked.
"It's nothing to worry about, just a precaution. Like I said, we believe she hit her head pretty hard on the windshield but as far as we can tell there's nothing to worry about. We'll let you know if anything changes," the doctor responded.
"So, she's going to be okay?" Eddie asked, a smile gracing his lips.
The doctor smiled at Eddie to reassure him there wasn't anything to worry about, "Yes, but she'll need plenty of rest and no singing until those ribs heal which could take at least 4-6 weeks but it varies from person to person. She should be able to check out tomorrow morning."
Eddie nodded, relieved to hear the good news, "Got it. Thanks, doctor. Now, can I see her?"
The doctor nodded and led the way to Loren's hospital room. Max followed, but stopped just outside her door.
"I'll let you spend time with her, okay? I'm going to get some coffee."
Eddie smiled tiredly, "Thanks, Dad."
Max smiled back and patted him on the back before turning to go to the cafeteria. Eddie watched Max walk away for a second before putting a hand on the knob and walking into Loren's room. Loren's face was a lot more bruised than Eddie remembered, but she was the girl he loved. He stopped himself, loved? Did he love Loren? He watched as she blinked and opened her eyes.
"Hi," She whispered, and suddenly Eddie felt like the happiest person in the world. That's when he knew. He loved Loren Tate. He let out a sigh of relief and walked to the side of her bed.
"Hey, gorgeous," He whispered back, kissing her cheek gently before sitting down in the chair next to her bed. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He felt that if he did, she might not be there anymore.
Loren didn't say anything at first, but looked around the room all the same, "What... what happened?"
She attempted to sit up, but her ribs protested. She bit her lip to bite back a groan.
"Easy there," Eddie immediately stood up and helped Loren lay back down, "You were in a car accident. Your ribs are broken."
Loren just nodded, blinking back tears of pain as she was lowered back. She let out a sigh of relief when her ribs finally stopped hurting as much as they did. Eddie caressed her face with the tip of his finger, causing her to close her eyes. It was insane how much she loved him. Not as Eddie Duran the rockstar, but Eddie Duran the man. Eddie sat back down, just looking over all the bruises that Loren's face now had.
"Thanks," She whispered, not having the energy to talk any louder. She could feel the drugs taking a hold of her, because her eyes were drooping, but she didn't want to sleep. She wanted to talk to Eddie. She wanted to tell him she loved him.
Eddie, sensing this, smiled and said, "There will be plenty of time for talking. You need your rest."
Loren didn't even bother protesting, finally giving into the drugs and letting her eyes shut. Just before she fell asleep, she turned her hand upwards for Eddie to hold. When he grabbed it, Eddie could see her visibly relax and let herself fall asleep.
Not too long later, Max knocked quietly on the door of Loren's room before entering. He sighed when he saw Eddie asleep by the side of Loren's bed, holding her hand tightly. He quietly made his way back out of the room.
The sun was brightly shining when Loren woke up. She opened her eyes then immediately regretted it. The bright sun started to make her head throb so badly she just wanted to go back to sleep. Groaning, Loren squeezed her eyes shut, putting a hand up to her face to shield the light. She heard a knock on the door and took a deep breath before answering. She winced when her ribs reminded her that she should not be doing that.
"Hey, I brought you some-" Eddie grinned, but frowned when he saw her facial expression, "what hurts?"
Loren shook her head, and then realized that made her head hurt even worse. She bit back a groan, not wanting Eddie to notice how much pain she was in.
"Nothing hurts, the sun's just a little... bright." She winced when she tried opening her eyes again and immediately squeezed them shut.
Eddie put the food down before quickly closing the blinds, "Better?"
Loren opened one of her eyes and sighed, "Much better, thank you."
"You're an easy girl to please," Eddie teased, causing Loren to laugh, which in turn caused her to wince.
"Ow, don't make me laugh," She groaned, gently touching her ribs.
Eddie looked at her with such concern and guilt, it made Loren's heart ache, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—"
Loren shook her head, looking up at him, realizing that he was apologizing for more than just the open blinds, "Eddie, this wasn't your fault. None of it is."
"I should have just taken you home," He blurted; he needed her to know how sorry he was and how it all could have been avoided if he had just taken her home, "then this wouldn't have happened."
That's when Loren noticed how completely broken Eddie looked. His hair, which she had never seen messed up, was disheveled from running his hands through it so many times. It was his eyes that got her, though. His eyes had turned a slight red, which she knew meant that he had been crying. He had only cried in front of her once, and that was a few months ago, just after they started dating. They had been talking about his mom's car accident. And now, Loren saw the same eyes she saw then; exhausted, overwhelmed, afraid.
"Eddie," Loren said softly, shaking her head, "It wasn't your fault. You weren't the one driving that car."
Her eyes pleaded with him, begging him to believe her. Eddie shook his head, running a hand through his hair anxiously. She wondered how many times he had done that that night. Probably way too many, Loren thought to herself. Loren motioned for him to come towards her. Eddie sheepishly walked his way over to her bedside.
"Bend down," She ordered, and he obeyed.
Loren pulled at his neck, making him come closer until her lips touched his. After a few seconds of kissing, Loren pulled away, breathless. Her ribs aching, but she didn't care. All she cared about was Eddie.
"Now do you believe me?" Loren asked, Eddie noticed the sparkle in her eye and laughed.
"If I say no, can we do that again?" Eddie joked, causing Loren to smile and attempt to not laugh.
Loren shook her head at him, sighing as she traced the dark circles under his eyes with the pad of her thumb.
"I'm fine," Eddie argued, knowing exactly what she was going to say. He took her hand away from his face and kissed it before holding it in his as he sat down.
Loren rolled her eyes, "Eddie, you should go home. Get some sleep."
"I got plenty of sleep here. Do you know how long you were out? Long enough for me to sleep and then finish writing my album." Eddie joked, grinning at her as if she wouldn't notice how completely exhausted he was.
"Eddie, I'm being serious." Loren sighed, "You need to go home to an actual bed. I'll be fine."
"Look, this makes me feel better, alright? I feel better when I have my eyes on you. You think if I go home I'll be any better? I'll just be even more worried about you than I already am because I won't have you in my line of vision," Eddie raised his eyebrows at her, not even attempting to hide his smile as she blushed.
"Well, I don't know, I mean I guess you..."Loren mumbled, blushing furiously at the thought of Eddie being worried about her.
A knock on the door interrupted her train of thought, not that it was actually going anywhere, but still. It was Loren's nurse, Amanda.
"Hi, sorry to interrupt, but the doctor wants Loren to go down for some tests."
Loren looked worriedly at Eddie, then back to the nurse, "Tests? What tests?"
She automatically was thinking the worst, but Eddie pulled her out of those thoughts by grabbing her hand and kissing it.
"The doctor just wants to check your head, that's it," Eddie assured her, looking into her eyes to make her relax.
Loren almost melted with relief, smiling gratefully at Eddie. Without Eddie, Loren would probably be going crazy with worry about the tests. He always knew exactly how to calm her down.
"Okay, let's go then," Loren let Eddie remove her covers for her, because her ribs were still aching even more than they were when she woke up. To Loren's surprise, Eddie swiftly lifted her out of bed, without hurting her, and placed her into the wheelchair. My hero, Loren thought to herself, a tired smile on her lips.
"Is it sad that I already want a nap just from moving from bed to the wheelchair?" Loren said, briefly closing her eyes before making herself open them again.
"Hey, now, I did all the heavy lifting!" Eddie joked, making both Amanda and Loren smile and laugh.
Loren frowned, hugging her ribs a little, causing Eddie to whisper an apology in her ear before kissing the top of her head.
"It's perfectly normal, I assure you," Amanda smiled at Loren, making sure she was all settled in. She glanced at Eddie to see him kissing her on the cheek and whispering that he would be waiting for her to get back. Loren whispered something back and Eddie grinned as he stood back up to his normal height. Even Amanda could see that he had it bad for this girl. Eddie wheeled Loren out into the hallway with Amanda holding open the door to Loren's room.
"Can I wheel her down there?" Eddie asked, once they were all in the hallway.
Loren looked up at that, smiling slightly to the nurse.
"Nope, sorry. I really don't want to lose my job, not even for Eddie Duran himself," Amanda joked, causing Eddie to laugh.
"Eh, it was worth a shot. I figured I wouldn't be able to."
Loren frowned a bit, feeling a bit jealous of this nurse slightly flirting with her boyfriend. She looked down and played with her robe until Eddie bent down to kiss her on the cheek.
"I'll see you soon, okay?" He whispered, kissing her again on the cheek.
She just nodded, suddenly not feeling very talkative. Eddie noticed nothing, but watched Amanda wheel Loren towards the elevators.