Chapter 5
Phil sat in the waiting room staring at a cold cup of coffee. It was 2AM and he'd been there for hours. He felt disorientated, and lost. He tried so hard to process what the doctors and nurses told him, but all he could think about was Dan's face submerged in water.
He pulled at the edges of the cup, ripping the polystyrene into tiny pieces and dropping them into the coffee. He'd bought it more out of a need for something to do than because he was actually thirsty.
"Mr Lester?" Phil blinked himself out of his trance to see a nurse kneeling in front of him.
"Mr Lester?" He swallowed and nodded, trying to push some sound out after hours of not talking.
"The man you brought in, Mr Howell is-"
"Dan."
"Pardon?"
" His name is Dan"
"Oh. Well, your friend, Dan, is in a stable condition. Is there any way that you can get in touch with his family?"
Of course, he should have called Dan's parent's as soon as he got in. Idiot.
He nodded at the nurse slowly and pulled out his phone.
"Do they live nearby?"
"They, they live an hour away.. I, I should have call-"
"Don't worry about not calling them, we can fix that by getting in contact with them now dear."
She took the coffee out of his hands and put it on an empty chair, then gently pulled on his arms to get him to stand up. He let himself be lifted and managed to stand with her. His legs felt like jelly, and almost buckled as they stood.
"Well, you're a tall one aren't you?"
He looked down at her as they started walking, noticing how far down she was. He also realised that he was leaning heavily on her. She had one arm around his back supporting most of his weight, and the other was holding his hand as they walked. He wanted to lean away to make it easier for her, but his body wasn't doing what his brain told it to. Plus it was kind of comforting having her there.
"Where are we going?" he mumbled.
"We're just popping outside to make that call to Dan's parents. We can't use mobiles inside the hospital, they mess with the machinery. And I thought that it would probably be best to call them this way, you could do with some air."
Phil only really heard the first sentence, but he nodded anyway.
"Would you like us to call anyone for you?"
Phil realised that he should have called his own parents as well, suddenly really realising that he really, really wanted his mum to be there. He shook his head at the nurse though, wanting to call them in his own time without her there.
"My name is Linda by the way. What's your first name my love?"
"P-phil" he stuttered out.
They stepped outside and he was hit by the cold autumn air. It was refreshing, and so nice to be out of the stuffy bleached white corridors. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, feeling the cold air moving down his throat. He opened his eyes and moved with the nurse as she gently lowered him onto a bench.
"Right then, do you have the numbers there dear?"
Phil pulled the phone out of his pocket and stared at the screen. A photo of him and Dan laughing was the wallpaper. He could feel the tears as they started to stream down his face but he ignored them as he unlocked it to find the numbers. He knew he was crying, but he felt so numb. As if his brain had blocked his emotions completely.
He handed the phone over to the nurse, knowing that he would be unable to talk coherently to Dan's parents. She seemed to understand, and took the phone to talk to them.
" Hello? Hello. Is this the number for Mr and Mrs Howell? My name is Linda, I'm a nurse at King's College Hospital in London. I'm afraid your son Dan has been admitted to the hospital, and if you can make it to the hospital as soon as possible I would highly recommend that you do. I'm calling from his friend's phone, Phil Lester? Yes, Phil… Your son is in a stable condition but again I would suggest coming here as soon as possible. Okay, yes...okay. Ask for me at the desk and I'll come and see you when you get here."
She hung up and handed the phone back to Phil. He was staring at the sky in a daze. He'd only half listened to the conversation, finding himself fixated on the clouds and the cold. He'd noticed that Linda hadn't let Dan's parent's speak much, but he understood that she was being professional. He clutched the phone in his hands, feeling the warmth from the battery, and thinking about how he was going to explain things to his parents.
Linda turned to him, "I'm going to go inside now. I'll come and find you in a bit and check you're okay. I'll tell you when you can see him, okay?"
She squeezed his knee gently, stood up and walked inside.
He was left in the cold, staring at the stars, ignoring the tears that streamed down his face.
