A near death experience can change everything. It can make a person question who they are and what they believe and who they want to be. But no matter what, in the end, they're still the same person. ChuckxBlair. Blair is mugged a few days into her summer break in France.
Wow, thank you guys so much for all the responses to this story! I'm glad people are so interested. :)
Chuck arrives at the hospital in France late that night after the longest two hour flight of his life and a taxi ride that was just long enough to make his fears and his self-loathing go out of control. Now as he stares up at the building where his ex-girlfriend is fighting for her life, he feels as if he's going to have a panic attack.
He knows he'll never be able to forgive himself if the last months of Blair's life were so miserable for her because of him, and he doesn't know if he can live knowing the last time they ever talked, it was while she yelled at him through tears he had caused.
She can't leave him forever like this. She just can't.
His fingers shake at his sides and he forms them into fists to make them stop.
He can't lose her.
"I won't lose her," he assures himself out loud. He takes one last deep breath before pushing his way through the double doors and into the hospital, the sickly sterile scent overwhelming his senses. He briefly stops at the reception desk before quickly heading to the fourth floor where he finds out the Waldorf family is waiting.
He expects to walk into a depressing, somber waiting room where the Waldorfs and Roses are trying to fall asleep in uncomfortable hospital chairs. Instead what he walks into is near chaos.
Eleanor is yelling into her cell phone in French about what sounds like some fashion emergency back at the atelier. Roman is wildly pacing back and forth in the middle of the room. Cyrus is talking animatedly to a French police officer, while two other officers are questioning a hysterical Serena and a distraught Harold sits at her side.
"I told you, I don't know anything!" Serena sobs at the top of her lungs. "I didn't see anyone watching her and I didn't think she was in any danger before I left, otherwise I wouldn't have left her!" She huffs dramatically and wipes at her eyes as she turns away from the cops.
Her eyes light up the second they land on her brother standing in the hallway and she instantly jumps to her feet. "Chuck!"
He's confused as Serena rushes across the room to him because just a couple weeks ago, she would barely even speak to him after all that he's done, but right now he doesn't have the capacity to worry about that. He's too worried about Blair. The blonde wraps her arms around him almost desperately and he hesitantly hugs his sister back, allowing her to bury her face into his neck as she shakes with tears.
Looking over her shoulder, Chuck suddenly is very aware of the momentary silence that has taken over the room. Harold's sad eyes meet his and he barely acknowledges him before he goes back to speaking with the cops, while Roman and Cyrus both look up at him with piteous, melancholy small smiles. Eleanor, though, full on glares at him. Her sullen eyes stare into his and he can feel her hatred pouring out of her towards him until she finally rolls her eyes and turns her back on him, going right back to yelling into her phone.
He swallows back his emotions at feeling outcasted by people he had once thought would be his family. Obviously, Blair had let them know at least some of what had transpired to lead the demise of their relationship. He sighs to himself and quickly forgets about it, refocusing on what is really important right now.
"Serena," he starts, his voice strong and determined as he pulls out of their hug and meets her crying eyes. "How is she?"
She shrugs and her bottom lip trembles and Chuck feels his stomach drop.
"How bad is it?"
"They said if she hadn't been found right after it happened, she would have…" Serena trails off, because she can't bear to say the words, but he knows exactly what she means.
He takes a shaky breath as fear and worry once again overwhelm him. "What exactly happened, S?"
Serena sighs and wipes at her cheeks again. "The cops said she was found without any jewelry or her purse. Luckily she had her phone in her pocket so they could call Eleanor otherwise she'd be here all alone."
"She is all alone!" he exclaims, looking around the room where all of her family still is. "Why isn't anyone with her right now?"
"She's still in surgery, Chuck," Serena tells him softly, placing a hand on his arms.
His heart pounds in his chest and he can see Eleanor glaring at him once again and his shoulders slump. "Maybe I should go wait somewhere else." He sighs and shakes his head. "I mean, who knows if she would even want me here."
"No, stay here, Chuck," she says seriously, tightening her hand around his arm. "I know that Blair will want to know you're here for her when she wakes up."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that."
Both Chuck and Serena turn to see Eleanor has come to stand right behind them, a horrible scowl on her face.
"I doubt that being shot will make my daughter suddenly change her mind about you, Charles. Maybe it would be best if you did wait somewhere else," she sneers at the young man. She turns to go sit back down before pausing and turning her glare on her daughter's best friend. "You can feel free to join him, Serena."
Serena's jaw drops and she can't help the fresh batch of tears that start to fall. Chuck is also a little shocked, but more that his step sister seems to be just as hated as himself. He goes to ask her about it and try to find out more of the attack, but he doesn't get the chance.
"Family of Blair Waldorf?"
Everyone in the room immediately turns their attention to the doctor in the corner and within seconds everything except Blair's well-being is forgotten. Eleanor puts away her phone, Harold and Cyrus excuse themselves from the policemen, Roman goes to his husbands side, while Chuck and Serena, who were just basically told to leave, suddenly couldn't be removed no matter what. The two adopted siblings make their way over to the group and Serena holds desperately to her brother's hand for support, while he's too worried about what the doctor will say to even notice.
"The surgery took much longer than expected, but Ms. Waldorf is a very strong young lady," the doctor explained through his thick French accent. "We were able to remove the bullet, but there was a significant amount scar tissue, as well as very heavy blood loss. We've moved her to intensive care and she will be there for as long as is necessary. Her wound is very delicate and we've had to put her on a blood transfusion to try and get her levels back up."
"She will make a full recovery though, right Doctor?" Harold speaks up.
"The first couple days will be very crucial, but as long as everything goes as planned from this point forward, I expect her to fully recuperate," he assures them all. "Her anesthesia should actually be wearing off in a little while so if you'd like to, one or two of you are free to go sit with her."
Chuck can't help but hope he'll be allowed to go see her, and he knows when Serena tightens her grip on his hand, she's hoping the same thing. But it's quickly decided that Harold and Eleanor will go be with Blair and in seconds they disappear down the hallway behind the doctor. He can't help but be disappointed, even if part of him knows he shouldn't force his presence on Blair after all that's happened between them. But he needs to see her, if only for a second, just to confirm for himself that she's still alive and fighting.
"Don't pay too much attention to Eleanor," Cyrus tells the two of them sincerely after his wife has left. "She's just very upset about what's happened. She'll soften up eventually." The small man pats Chuck on the back, and then hugs Serena, before he makes his way back over to the police to talk again.
He anxiously digs hands into his suit pocket and looks around the room. "Well what are we supposed to do now?"
"We wait," Roman declares, before going to sit down.
"Yeah, come on," Serena agrees calmly, feeling relief from the doctor's prognosis. "We'll get to see Blair once Harold and Eleanor have." She motions for him to sit down next to her when she goes to sit with Roman.
Chuck's jaw tenses anxiously and he shakes his head. "I can't just sit here and do nothing."
"There's nothing more you can do though. The doctor said she's going to be fine."
"Were we listening to the same doctor?" he asks incredulously. "Because what I just heard is that she almost bled to death and now she's in intensive care!" He grits his teeth in annoyance before begrudgingly dropping into a plastic chair. He wrings his hands and curses. "I can't believe someone did this.." he trails off as he catches sight of his pinky ring and an idea suddenly strikes him.
He turns to his sister with his brow furrowed in thought. "You said they took all of her jewelry?" Off Serena's nod he immediately jumps to his feet and excuses himself, ignoring the odd look she gives him.
Once he is alone in the hallway, he quickly pulls out his phone and calls his P.I.
"Mike, I need you to do something for me," he drawls into his phone, clenching his free hand into a fist. "I need you to check all pawn shops within a fifty mile radius of Paris to see if a gold ring with a ruby heart on it has been sold, and if you find it, I need to know everything there is to know about whoever sold it."
–––
At first everything is a haze. Her limbs feel heavy, her mouth feels dry, and there's a dull ache in her stomach that just won't go away. She turns her head tiredly to the side and she instantly feels a tight grip around her hand. Curiously, she allows her eyes to flutter open and she flinches against the bright white of the room.
"Blair-Bear.."
She blinks slowly and her vision swims as she sees her father's warm face smiling down at her through tears. She closes her eyes again and tries to will away the feeling that her head is stuffed with a million cotton balls.
"Blair-Bear, open your eyes," he softly coaxes. "Everything is fine. You're gonna be alright."
She squints, but opens her eyes, and feels dizzy as she looks up at him. "Daddy.."
His smile widens and more tears start to fall as he leans over and kisses her forehead. "I'm right here, sweet pea. Your mother's here too."
"Mom?" she breathes in question, sliding her gaze to where her mother has appeared at her father's side.
"Yes, darling, I'm so glad you're awake," her mother announces tearfully, brushing her fingers against Blair's pale cheek.
"Where are we?" she questions softly, her brow furrowing.
"We're at the hospital, dear," Eleanor answers hesitantly. "Don't you remember what happened?"
She closes her eyes and thinks for a moment before it comes back to her, but it all seems a little vague. "I was... shot, right?" she asks looking at her father, because that's what she remembers. She remembers excruciating pain and being certain that she was going to die and having no time to even attempt to make peace with it.
She knows that she's supposed to be dead right now.
"Yes, sweetie, I'm afraid that's what happened," Harold confirms, squeezing her hand.
"And the police are doing everything they can to find whoever did this to you," her mother quickly adds.
She nods, looking down at the horrid white blanket on the bed to avoid their gazes.
"But don't think about that. Just get some rest for now," her mother continues, moving her fingers to brush through her daughter's hair.
"Yes, Blair-Bear, you need to get some sleep," her father agrees. "And when you wake up, Serena and Chuck can come visit you. I know they're both very eager to come see that you're okay," he smiles, trying to cheer up his daughter, while her mother immediately glares at him.
Blair's tired eyes widen as much as they can while this weird feeling settles in her gut. A small part of her can't help but be comforted to hear that her ex-whatever is there waiting for her, but it is hugely overshadowed by the anxious and confused sensation growing in her stomach. "Serena and Chuck?" she repeats in uncertainty before she comes to an unexpected decision. She bites her lip and sighs. "I don't want to see them."
Eleanor's lips instantly fall into a relieved grin.
Harold studies Blair in confusion. "You don't want to see either of them, sweetie? Not even Serena?"
"No.. I really don't want to," she repeats and she's almost surprised at how much she means it. Her eyes grow heavy, and she lets them close for a long moment, before looking back at her parents. "Please don't let them in here."
"Don't worry about that, dear, we'll take care of everything," Eleanor assures her daughter before her ex-husband has a chance to speak. "You just get some rest, okay?"
Both of her parents tell her they love her and kiss her on the cheek, tucking her in like they haven't since she was a little girl, before she finally lets her eyes drop shut for good. But as she starts to drift off, she can't seem to shake the uneasiness from her troubled and drugged mind.
TBC...