I forgot to mention it before, although it should be obvious, this was based around the song 'Never Too Late' by Three Days Grace. Also I would love to put this under both dxc and dxg category, but I can't. So just because it is in this category don't automatically assume they will be the end ship. I'm not saying that they won't either, honestly I don't know. Just don't assume anything.
Courtney was rushed to the hospital as fast as was possible for them and was given immediate attention. She became the number one priority for the hospital, every doctor racing to apply the necessary treatments to save the young girls life. She would have been considered the life of the party had she been at one like all other normal teenagers. Unfortunately she was not. She was in the arms of the devil, facing death itself, instead of out partying the night away. And she was most certainly not normal. She was as far from it as it could get in her quiet town, and it would only get worse when word of her dark deed got out. And it would. Nothing was a secret in this town, everyone knew everything about everyone else. It was the one major drawback to residing where they did. Her mother knew this well too. She just never imagined it would be an issue. She never thought her baby, Courtney, could ever do anything wrong. Especially not this...suicide.
As this was going on Duncan and Courtney's mother were waiting in a room outside of where they had Courtney, forced to by the doctors. But even they had had issues getting her mother to comply. She'd pitched a fit and a half when initially separated from Courtney. She screamed, pushed, hit, and kicked in an attempt to pry through the wall of doctors to reach her daughter. To no avail. There were enough doctors to spare to drag her away, despite her desperate pleas and incessant behavior. And as she was brought further and further away she eventually gave up. She didn't have the energy, it was all drained from every pore of her body. All she wanted to know was one thing. Was her daughter going to live?
Duncan had his hands clasped on his knees as he hunched over in one of the crappy chairs outside Courtney's room. His face was still paler than its usual tone, eyes half open in order to hide the obvious distraught in his teal orbs, and lips drawn tight together. There was no better way to put it than he was in shock. Still, even after what felt like forever, he could barely register shit. Sure he knew Courtney was on the brink of dying, that they were at the hospital, and the all hell had broken loose in the matter of a few minutes, but that was about it. He didn't feel the proper emotions that normally went with seeing someone so near death, their body nothing more than dead weight in your arms as you carried their thrashing form from the house. He was strangely numb.
Courtney's mother hadn't ceased crying since the moment she walked in on her daughter as she had been, as good as dead. Her sobs, of course ebbed every now and then, but only enough to allow her time to breath regularly for a bit. Aside from that window she was nothing more than a shattered shell of her former self. She was so caught up in worrying for her baby that she didn't even notice that she wasn't in a seat like Duncan. She was crumpled on the floor of the hospital, arms wrapped around her body so racked with sobs that she herself appeared to be having a seizure of the sorts from time to time as she nearly choked from the consistency of her sobs, and tears streaked her beautiful face, ruining her makeup.
Duncan sighed sadly, mouth slipping into a deep frown as his eyes held even more pity then previously. He was even half regretting how he'd spoken to Courtney's mother back at the house. It may sound kind of like guilt talking, but if he had known that they were going to walk in on her daughter overdosing then he'd have never been so much of an ass. Seeing your kid like that was the worst feeling in the world for a parent. At least that's what his mother had told him, and on multiple occasions he might add. And as such he wished that there was something he could do or say to make this easier for her, to see her pain fade away. But there was nothing. Every time he opened his mouth to speak the words became tangled in his throat and he realized how foolish his thoughts were. She didn't need nor did she want to hear him tell her how sorry he was or that she should be calm because everything would be all right in the end. Because there was no guarantee that this would come to pass. And no mother wants to be fed lies, no matter how comforting.
Courtney's mother was screaming now, a few coherent words passing her lips. "W-Why! W-Why h-h-her!" she bellowed. "Wh-what's she e-ever d-done!" she was speaking to no one in particular, God perhaps. This was merely the way for her to cope with this unforgiving truth. It was the last hope she had to soothe her restless soul without seeing her daughter safe and sound before her eyes.
Duncan sighed again, unclasping his hands and bringing them up so he could rest his head in their palms. "Miss..." he murmured weakly, trailing off when he both realized he didn't know her last name and that she had frozen.
At the sound of the delinquents smooth voice, no matter how faint, she froze instantly. Her eyes opened wide, mouth curved into a sinister snarl. She hadn't heard what he'd said in all honesty, all she knew was that whatever he had to say was not worth her time. As such she found herself turning her puffy, ice cold eyes on him. "What?" she hissed, words coated with malice and voice amazingly steady.
Duncan swallowed hard. "I..." he trailed off again, licking his lips from nervousness. "I...sorry..." he spit out, jerking his eyes away from her own intense tortured ones. He couldn't bear to stare into them a moment more than he had to. And this ended that period of 'had to'.
Her nostrils flared, eyes ablaze, and teeth bared menacingly. "...Sorry...?" she growled, shaking now from anger instead of agony. "Sorry?" she said in the same tone, releasing a scream shortly after, hands clenched into tight fists. "You're fucking sorry!" she exploded, throwing her hands in to the air. "You just watched my daughter go through hell and-and..." she was starting to lose control. "A-And...all you can say is you're sorry!" she slammed both fists into the ground with immense force. It sent a backlash through her body in return, warning her that her body wasn't meant to do such things. Not that she was about to listen. She continued punching the floor in the same manner, screams increasing in volume and sobs coming back stronger all the while. "You bastard!" her hands were pounding from the result of her idiotic banging as she buried her face in her hands.
Duncan was extremely pissed off by her resorting to name calling. He hadn't done anything wrong! If anything he had saved her kids life. If not for him she might never have known what Courtney was doing until it was far to late, long after her body had gone still, breathing nonexistent, and heart ceased beating. As much as he knew this hurt at least this way she had a chance of coming out of it. Yet he did not act out on his anger. He bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes into slits, but no more. He knew better.
A nurse walked in then. "Ma'am." she muttered tentatively, tugging at her shirt sleeve. "Are you ok?" a pause. "Why don't you sit down?" she walked toward her, reaching out to take her by the hand and lift her up to her feet. This was an extremely bad move.
"God bless..." Duncan whispered to himself. He knew what was coming before it did.
The close proximity of the nurse was bad enough, but when she made contact it was all over. She all but murdered the poor woman. "Don't touch me!" she shrieked, smacking her clear across the face. "I don't need your fucking help!" she was standing now, staring the nurse down with all the intensity in the world. "Now get the fuck away from me! I'm not the patient! My daughter is!"
The nurse gawked all the while as Courtney's mother went off on her, rubbing her face tenderly to ease the stinging pain from the blow she'd endured. But she didn't dare speak. Once Courtney's mother had finished bitching she simply nodded before scurrying off to do anything but deal with this psycho.
Duncan emitted a low grow, running his fingers through his hair in order to keep calm because he honestly didn't know how much longer he could stand psycho mom here. He got a good enough dose of this from his own mother whenever he snuck out after curfew or got got smoking and the like. He could most definitely do without all this drama. And he was about to get up and leave when the door to Courtney's room opened.
Out walked a tall man with charcoal hair and baby blue eyes. He wore the get-up the differing from the nurses, signifying that he was not one of them. He was one of the leading doctors, someone a person only got to have when they were in dire condition. What was worse was that his face virtually unreadable, only sign of emotion being the solemn look in his eyes. "Mrs. Martin." the doctor said evenly, not giving any sign that the sight of this woman before him bothered him at all. He was the image of a perfect actor. And he should be, for he had been doing it for years. He knew better then to let his emotions of sorrow and pity get in the way.
She perked instantly, standing straight as a board before the doctor. "Y-Yes!" she stuttered, trying her best to control her shaking. She was actually doing pretty well too.
Duncan had been in thee process of getting up, so in the end it appeared he too was interested in the girl's fate. And in a way he was. He wanted to know if he was going to have to break the hard truth to Gwen, and more so he needed time to think of how he would do this. She wasn't fragile or anything, but lately she wasn't exactly her usual hard as stone resistant self either. That's ultimately why he found himself stepping forward toward the doctor instead of taking his initially planned path out of the building.
"We managed to pump most of the drugs out of your daughters system and she is now stable." he held in a sigh. "She is, however, still unconscious after having those seizures." a pause. "We'll need to keep her here overnight even if she wakes up before then so we can see if there is any long lasting damage done by the overdose." he withheld some information for a minute as to let all he'd already said sink in for her and whoever it was with her.
Courtney's mother didn't realize it, but she had been holding her breath as she waited for him to finish, finally letting it out when she heard it all. She smiled painfully, eyes dancing with a hint of their former life. She was so happy that her daughter was at least alive that she barely heard anything else. She's stable. his words bounced around in her head and she started to softly cry from joy.
Duncan half smiled at hearing that Gwen wouldn't have to be put through all hell because of Courtney's insane attempt on her life. But he also smiled for another reason. He smiled because her mother was smiling, because Courtney still had a life to live, and because he himself wanted to. But he couldn't help but wonder...would Courtney be so thrilled?
After scrutinizing the pairs faces thoroughly the doctor coughed lightly and spoke once more, "Once we determine the effects we will also have to put her under psych ward for seventy-two hours." a pause. "She will then be evaluated so we might know the reason behind her actions and her current mental stability level. After that..." he trailed off, not liking the look that played across her face. "...we'll see what happens." he altered his words, something highly uncommon for him. Yet it helped the woman little.
Courtney's mom let out a choked whimper, bringing a quaking hand up to cover her mouth, eyes wide in horror. "W-What...?" she breathed, voice wavering.
The doctor sighed. "It's how we handle overdose cases. Even when the patient isn't suici-"
"NO!" she snapped. "Don't say it! Don't you dare say it!" she shook her head violently back and forth. "My daughter is not suicidal! You hear me! She isn't!"
The doctor raised a brow at her. He was a parent himself and knew that it would hurt to an unimaginable extent to have his kid accused of being suicidal. But he wouldn't stand there and deny the facts before his very eyes like this woman was attempting, and failing, to do. There was such a thing as going to far in protecting you child. "Then why did she chug a bottle of cymbalta?" he asked sternly.
Her eyes grew wider still. "Cymbalta?"
He nodded. "It's what was on the bottle that he brought." the doctor nodded toward Duncan.
Duncan lowered his gaze, preferring to stay clear of this conversation. He just wanted to see her already. At least then he could tell Gwen all about it, at least the bits h saw fit.
"But...but..." she struggled to find an explanation. "W-We...don't have that..." she shook her head slowly. "No...that can't be right."
"Look at it yourself then." he shoved the bottle towards her, giving her the chance to see what was so plain. It was up to her whether or not she decided to look. He knew why she was hesitating too. She wanted to be able to say she was right, but she knew deep down she wasn't and thus didn't want to have tangible proof of the fact.
She tentatively took it from him, gently moving it about to read the label plastered across its side. It was as he said. Cymbalta. Her baby had gotten her hands on depression meds. But how? How had Courtney done this without her knowledge? It wasn't like her. Not at all. But there was one question that burned more fiercely in her mind then these. It also was the one which had the potential to break what little control she was managing in to pieces. Why hadn't she noticed her daughter was depressed and, dare she say, suicidal...?
Duncan sensed the immense amount of tension and terror in the air surrounding them. It was the same feeling he had right before something on one end snapped. If something wasn't done soon this lady was going to have a meltdown and then end up in the same place as her daughter.
The doctor saw all Duncan saw and did what Duncan was unable to do and spoke up. "But you can see her now." he said it a bit too quickly, an automatic tipoff to any sane person that he was trying to hard to change the subject.
Although at this moment Courtney's mother wasn't well enough to be classified as 'sane' and the sped of his words went unregistered. She just skipped right over to the words themselves. She zoned in on 'see her' and latched on tightly to them. "Yes!" she whimpered. "Yes..."
The doctor nodded, stepping toward her door in one swift movement. Halfway through the motion of opening the door he paused. "What about him?" he motioned toward Duncan. "What's he to the girl?"
Duncan went unfazed by the doctor's words which held an unusual edge to them as his eyes narrowed slightly. Besides, that's what he wanted, for him to grow fearful of his supposed power. And there was no way in hell that was happening. "A friend." Duncan growled right back, revealing his bared teeth and sent a glare back at the doctor.
The doctor looked over to the mother for conformation.
She hesitated under both Duncan and the doctor's gazes, shrinking. "I-I..." she mumbled, fumbling through the limited amount of words she had available to her at that moment with such a hazy mind to find the right answer. "I..." one last look over at Duncan and his slowly saddening teal eyes was all it took. "...yes..." still she found herself miserable by her decision.
The doctor snorted lightly, making a face in response to the mother's obvious lie. Still he didn't call her out on it. He merely did as he was paid to do, he lead them in the room holding Courtney.
Upon a first glance no one could have said without a doubt that the thing they were looking at was Courtney. She was that messed up. She had IV wires going in and out of her body all over, an endotracheal tube shoved down her throat to make sure she continued breathing, and she was strapped down to the bed by her wrists and ankles. It was an awful sight.
Duncan cringed at the sight. Still, at least he could say she was cleaned up and still. This was, in his eyes, an improvement from her condition in the house. Yet he did find the restraints to be a bit much considering she wasn't moving an inch. "Um..." he started uneasily. "Do you really need the restraints...?" he muttered.
The doctor glowered over at him. "I don't know. We were just using them while she was seizing to keep her still. But considering her state of mind if she were to wake up she might try that stunt again." a pause. "As long as she can't move then there is little to worry about. It's a hell of a lot easier this way."
Courtney's mother's lip was quivering awfully, eyes shining with fresh tears and increased levels of fear and inner torture as she clamped a firm hand over her mouth. She didn't want to say something wrong again, but she knew she would if she didn't do this.
Duncan grimaced as he watched her struggle as best she could to remain 'calm'. It wasn't working to well for her, anyone could see this. But he tried not to make it to obvious that he was staring at her as she crumpled for the umpteenth time in the past. After a minute of this, however, he decided on a more fruitful act. He walked closer to Courtney as she laid there, practically dead to an observer albeit the steady rise and fall of her chest. He sighed under his breath so as not to draw either the mother or the doctors attention seeing as they were both busy with dealing with the other. She looked so fragile, as if the slightest touch would shatter her into a million tiny pieces. She was so pale...so still...so sad looking...yet...so at peace. Compared to how she'd been before she was almost angelic like. The only things missing were the halo and wings. But she barely needed them. She was virtually perfect as it was. Now...if only he knew why such a perfect girl, pretty, smart, and rich, would want to die.
Duncan peered over his shoulder at the two still bickering adults. He didn't listen for what it was that they were arguing over though. He merely rolled his eyes before looking back to Courtney. He wanted to touch her. His eyes widened. What the hell? Where did that come from? He was insane! Just as bad as her even! Still, this didn't change his intentions. So with an unsteady hand he reached out and rubbed his fingers down the side of her face. Her skin was cold, sending a shiver down his spine, but it was balanced by how smooth it was. All of the dirt he swore had been there at her house had vanished into thin air. She was even, dare he say, beautiful in this moment. He smiled stupidly for an instant then, snapping out of it at the sound of her mother's harsh voice which was now directed at him.
"Back up!" she snapped. "Get away from her!" her voice was full of tears, trembling despite how hard she was trying to sound hateful. She lunged forward, pushing Duncan hard out of her way. "I said you could come in!" she breathed heavily, swallowing hard. "That doesn't mean you can touch her!" she spat, venom dripping from her words. After another moment of heated stares she focused her attention back on Courtney. "O-Oh...baby..." she murmured gently, so different then the way she'd been speaking to everyone else in the hospital. "Why...?" she sniffled, wiping at her eyes furtively. "W-Why did this happen...? H-How come I didn't see i-it coming? W-What was wrong with your l-life?" she moaned, caressing her daughters cheek much like Duncan had done previously.
The doctor watched for a moment before saying, "I'll leave you alone." he turned to leave, giving one last fleeting look their way before shutting the door behind him.
Duncan frowned lightly, thinking of taking the same course of action so he could hurry to Gwen and tell her before she heard it from someone else or, worse yet, saw it on the news. Only he found himself immobile. Or at least he couldn't get himself to exit the room as the doctor had so easily done. He knew to much of the situation. He felt obliged to stay with both Courtney and her mother, at least for a little longer. So a bit begrudgingly he walked around Courtney's bed and stood a foot or so away and watched. For what more was there to be done? He wasn't about to touch the girl again, not after the conniption fit her mother had had before. So instead he just stood there, stood and listened. He took in everything around him. The sound of the heart monitor beeping regularly nearby, the constant soft breathing of Courtney, her mothers pity inducing voice, and even the sound of his own breathing which, to his surprise, was ragged. He hadn't noticed before, to caught up in the moment, much like he hadn't noticed the tears that streaked his face. He'd been crying all along. Only no one had told him, not even his own mind.
He brought a slightly shaking hand up to touch his cheek, just to make sure. And sure enough, they were there. They were cool to the touch, long since lost their initial warmth. They were just as Courtney was, cold as death. Only he hoped that she wouldn't take that turn. It wasn't what her mother or Gwen needed right now. She needed to get better. And she would. She had to. This is what both he and her mother told themselves repeatedly as the hours slipped by, until Duncan finally left of his own accord, making a beeline for Gwen and her mother slipped into a troubled sleep. But even then the praying never stopped. It could not, not until she had her daughter back. Only then would she regain her sanity and float up to cloud nine. Only then.
Kind of a better ending then the last one wouldn't you say? lol Courtney still isn't in the best of shape though. Also I'm gonna try to have all the chapters named after songs. This one is 'Wires' by Athlete. Anyway, hope you liked! :) Please review! :D