A/N: A huge thank you to those of you who left me with a review on my last chapter. Your encouraging words really made me feel a hell of a whole lot more confident about my skills as a writer. Bonus points to those of you who figure out why this chapter might be relevant to the case. Otherwise, you'll find out in the next chapter. Please review!
Pick Your Poison
Dan fell back onto the seat and put his head in his hands. He fought hard to suppress the sobs that threatened to escape from the hollows of his throat.
"This isn't your fault Dan," Serena reiterated as she took the seat next to him.
She rested her hand lightly on his shoulder in a failed attempt to comfort him.
"It is!" Dan shouted a little louder than he had intended to as he jumped up from his seat.
"Excuse me sir," one of the nurses called out to him from her place behind the counter, interrupting their conversation. "Please keep your voice down. This is a hospital."
Dan blushed at his outburst and sat down once more, nodding his head slightly at the nurse in apology.
He then lowered his voice, turned back towards the blond, and enlightened her, "I said a lot of horrible things Serena. I even told her that I never wanted to see her again. If I hadn't been so harsh with my words, she wouldn't have..."
"Stop it Dan!" Serena hissed in a barely audible whisper. "Stop blaming yourself for this! You and I both know that Blair's had this condition since high school and the things you said to her were understandable considering the circumstances of the situation."
"She hasn't hurt herself like this in a long while Serena. You and I both know that as well," Dan reminded her. "And regardless of whether the things I said to her were appropriate or not, they still got to her. This is my fault Serena."
The blond bit her tongue to prevent herself from disagreeing with him again, although she truly believed that Blair hadn't been as affected by his words as Dan had led himself to believe. She knew the brunette well enough to know that she had probably relapsed because she was disgusted with herself after what she had done to Dan rather than because of what Dan had said to her. Even if his harsh words had sent her over the edge, Chuck was to blame for this as well. He shouldn't have instigated something with Blair knowing full well that she had a boyfriend and Blair herself was to blame too since she should have had enough restraint not to cheat on Dan. Now wasn't the time to point fingers though at who was responsible for Blair's hospitalization and who wasn't. All Serena knew was that her best friend was currently unconscious a couple of rooms down and that a doctor was diligently running various tests to ensure that her vitals were stable in spite of her current passed out state. Dan had already informed the doctor of her condition, but he insisted on running some tests to access the damage that her body had suffered from her sudden relapse.
Dan took a swig from the bottle of beer in his hand as he trudged home. He had decided to walk home to clear his head, although ironically, the alcohol was working to do just the opposite. He stumbled a bit in his movements as he neared The Palace, but stopped abruptly in his tracks when he noticed a sleek, black limo stationed not far from where he stood. It was hardly odd to find such a vehicle within the vicinity. However, the unpleasant vibes he was receiving from that general direction forced him to stay rooted to the ground. He rubbed his eyes lightly as his vision began to blur at the edges. A dark figure exited the vehicle and it took a few seconds for Dan to register exactly who the perpetrator was – Chuck Bass. Dan scoffed as he washed his disbelief down with another helping of the bitter brew. Chuck took a step in his direction before he swiveled around abruptly, having changed his mind about talking to the dark-haired boy after all.
"Where do you think you're going?" Dan shouted at his retreating form.
The brunette paused in his movements, turned around reluctantly, and answered, "I called Blair about half an hour ago and she failed to answer her phone. I figured she was headed home, but she has yet to make an appearance. I was wondering if you had any idea where she might be and I also wanted to apologize for taking Blair from you, but I can see that..."
"Oh, that's rich," Dan commented sarcastically, a darkness possessing his eyes.
"Look, I know my apology doesn't mean much to you, especially not right now, but..." Chuck trailed off when he noticed a sudden negativity in the atmosphere that enveloped them.
Dan pointed his empty beer bottle at the brunette menacingly and spat, "Why don't you take that apology of yours and shove it up your ass? As for that cold-hearted bitch of an ex-girlfriend of mine, I have no idea where the hell she might be."
Chuck remained calm as he took a few steps closer to the dark-haired boy. He opened his mouth to speak once more when Dan interrupted him, throwing a forceful punch at his right eye.
"You took her virginity you son of a bitch!" Dan snarled as his fist connected with his face.
Upon contact, Chuck crumbled instantly onto the sidewalk as his right eye exploded with an almost unbearable pain. He reached up to trace his injured eye to find a drop of blood on his finger. He hissed at the sensation of his throbbing eye as he tried to pick himself up off the ground. No sooner had he regained his composure than Dan slammed him ruthlessly against the side of his limo.
"Dan, stop!" Serena cried in desperation as she ran across the street towards them.
Nate and Serena had been strolling through the streets of Manhattan. He had walked her home in time for them to witness the scene that had unravelled before them. Nate struggled to pry Dan off of Chuck as the dark-haired boy tried frantically to maintain his grip on his target, who had made no attempt whatsoever to defend himself.
"Let go of me!" Dan spat at the blond. "I'm not done with that asshole!"
"Let me take you home Dan," Serena cooed. "You're incredibly drunk right now. You can deal with him in the morning when you're sober alright?"
He stopped his struggling upon hearing her soothing voice and Serena signalled for Nate to let him go. The blond complied with her request and Dan subsequently stumbled into her arms.
"Ok Serena," he hiccupped. "Ok."
Chuck continued to pace back and forth in front of her room, mumbling incoherent sentences under his breath. The doctor had been in there for almost half an hour. What could possibly be taking him so long? He glanced briefly over at Dan and Serena, who were deep in conversation a few metres from where he was pacing tirelessly. Nate was cautious to place himself somewhere in between Dan and Chuck in case another fight broke out between the two, although in truth, it had been more of a one-sided fight. Chuck had remained motionless, readily prepared to take the abuse he knew he deserved. He reached up subconsciously to touch his swollen eye, eliciting a low growl from his lips at his own intrusion. He was too distraught over what had happened to Blair, however, to dwell on the pain. He had had no idea that she was bulimic and this made him feel all the more responsible for instigating a relationship between them.
"This is my fault," he whispered absentmindedly to no one in particular.
"Stop blaming yourself for what happened to Blair Chuck," Nate insisted from behind him.
Chuck whirled around to face his best friend as fresh tears threatened to make their mark on his chiselled face.
"It is my fault Nate," Chuck reiterated. "I knew Blair was off limits. I knew she had Dan."
"I know man," the blond assured him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You still can't blame yourself for what happened between you and Blair though Chuck. In your defence, she's the first girl you've ever cared about."
"That still doesn't justify what Blair and I did to Dan," Chuck answered bitterly.
"Well, I can't argue with you there," Nate agreed, allowing a tired sigh to escape from his lips.
"If I hadn't lured Blair into cheating on Dan with me, he would be the happiest man alive right now and as for Blair, she would be happily engaged," Chuck continued.
Nate shook his head to denounce his theory.
"You don't know that man," the blond insisted, reaching up subconsciously to fix his man bangs. "Look, I'm sure Blair will be fine. She just fainted from her relapse is all."
Chuck ignored his words and continued, "Instead, she felt so horrible about what she had done to Dan that she tried to purge the guilt from her system."
Nate wanted to refute his statement, but ultimately decided to simply walk away. He patted Chuck lightly on the back to signal his departure before walking over to Dan and Serena to see how they were holding up.
"Dorota?" Serena spoke uncertainly into her phone. "What about Blair? Calm down Dorota. I can't understand a word you're saying."
Chuck stiffened at her words as Dan managed to sober up at a rather miraculous rate. Nate went over and stood next to Serena in a silent display of support for his girlfriend.
"What happened?" Dan whispered impatiently, his head still pounding from the alcohol in his system.
Chuck chose to remain silent, listening intently to what the blond was saying instead.
Serena stole a nervous glance at them before she spoke into her phone one last time, "Thanks for letting me know Dorota. I'm on my way right now. Don't worry. Blair will be fine."
"What happened?" Chuck echoed Dan's earlier question the moment Serena had hung up on her end of the line.
"Blair had a relapse and she fainted. She was found unconscious on the bathroom floor at some restaurant. According to Dorota, Blair is still unconscious. The doctor is with her right now though to ensure that her vitals are stable. Cyrus and Aaron are there as well," she answered. "We have to get to the hospital immediately."
"We can take my limo," Chuck suggested straight away.
Dan whirled around to face the brunette upon hearing his offer and opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly decided not to voice his thoughts. All that mattered right now was that Blair was ok. The four of them climbed into the waiting vehicle without so much as a sound until one of their phones began to ring insistently. Dan traced the noise to his phone and answered the call. It was Vanessa.
Vanessa sprinted over to Dan the moment she had pinned down his location.
"Dan! I got here as fast as I could," she told him breathlessly. "Jenny insisted that she come with me after she overheard our conversation on the phone earlier. She went down to grab a bite to eat with Dorota at the cafeteria. Has Blair woken up yet?"
Dan shook his head grimly in her direction as Serena answered, "No, but she'll be fine."
Vanessa nodded and clarified, "Is the doctor still in there with her right now?"
"Yeah," Serena answered as the raven-haired girl took notice of Chuck pacing a short distance away.
She turned to face her best friend and accused him, "You never told me Chuck was here."
Dan sighed as he stood up from his seat,
"Nate is here as well," he informed her. "He went down to the cafeteria for a coffee run about five minutes ago. You probably missed each other by a minute or two."
Vanessa could feel her heart breaking at the lifeless tone of his voice. She knew that Dan was probably blaming himself for what had happened to Blair. She was here for support, but she could tell that all he needed right now was to be alone.
"You know what?" she suggested. "I think I'm going to head down to the cafeteria to check up on everyone. Cyrus and Aaron are also there I believe. Nate might need some help with his coffee run as well."
Serena stood up immediately and volunteered, "I can go Vanessa. Why don't you stay right here with Dan?"
She hurried off before Vanessa could protest. The raven-haired girl reluctantly took a seat next to her best friend, careful to remain silent until he chose to speak. She could tell that he was consumed by his thoughts. After a prolonged silence, she decided it was time to speak up.
"Dan, you can talk to me," she reminded him warily as she tilted her head to look at him.
Dan crinkled him nose in consideration over whether or not he should confide in her about what had transpired between him and Serena. He let out a frustrated sigh, but ultimately spilled the beans to his best friend. After all, if not to her, then who else?
"When we arrived at the hospital," Dan started. "Chuck and Nate stepped out of the limo first."
Vanessa was confused as to why Dan was thinking about Chuck and Nate, but nodded her head for him to continue. She bit her lower lip in a reminder to herself to keep quiet until he was finished voicing his thoughts.
"Serena was next and I was prepared to climb out after her, but she forgot her purse," he continued. "She whirled around suddenly to reach for it right when I was attempting to leave the limo and somehow our lips met."
Vanessa gasped at the news, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"You and Serena kissed?" she hissed in complete shock.
"It was hardly a kiss," Dan muttered. "Her lips simply happened to brush ever so lightly across my own."
"And you happen to be dwelling on this accidental kiss instead of a certain brunette because...?" Vanessa trailed off, waiting for him to finish her thoughts.
"Because I'm trying to forget the image of my ex-girlfriend lying motionless in a hospital bed because of me," he snapped at her.
"Dan, this is not your fault," Vanessa insisted, ignoring the abrasive tone of his voice.
The dark-haired boy apologized for his clipped tone and sighed, "I was such a fool. You and Jenny warned me about her infidelity and I still managed to convince myself to go through with the proposal. I was in denial Vanessa. If I had merely listened to you and Jenny, the break-up would have been less emotional; less painful. Instead, I was so blinded by my own idealistic thoughts that I completely snapped when I was finally forced to face my reality."
"Did you feel anything?" Vanessa asked abruptly in a desperate attempt to take his mind off of Blair.
She could understand why he was trying to focus on his accidental kiss with Serena instead.
"What?" Dan responded before he realized what she was referring to. "Oh. Much to my surprise, no. That accidental kiss was nothing short of awkward."
"Oh," Vanessa remarked, masking the utter happiness she felt on the inside.
"Yeah," Dan answered as a chuckle escaped from his lips. "Oh."
"We have coffee!" Serena announced cheerfully upon her return.
The blond handed Dan and Vanessa their coffees as Nate strode over to present his best friend with the beverage. Chuck shook his head upon seeing the container he held in his hand, but Nate forced him to take it anyway. He knew Chuck preferred his scotch, but they had to make do with what they had for now.
"Thanks," Chuck mumbled eventually.
Nate nodded just as the door behind him swung open. The doctor stepped out with a report in his hand. A nurse bustled out from behind him, giving a slight nod to the group that had gathered in front of the doctor to find out how Blair was doing.
"Miss Waldorf will be fine," the doctor revealed as a chorus of relieved sighs were heard in the background. "She has woken up, but her body is very weak at the moment. She will need some rest. The irony of the situation is that she was very lucky to have purged most of the food that she had consumed from her stomach."
"Did she not faint because of her condition Dr. Parsons?" Dan asked, his forehead creased in confusion.
"Yes, she did, but according to the test results I hold in my hand, she also has a mild case of Clostridium perfringens food poisoning," the doctor answered as he reached up to readjust his glasses. "She may experience nausea and diarrhoea later on in the night, but it's nothing to be concerned about."
"Does she need any medication?" Serena clarified with the doctor.
He chuckled before he responded, "No. In fact, the bacteria have no effect on some folks. Even if Miss Waldorf does experience the symptoms of Clostridium perfringens food poisoning, she should be as good as new in no more than twenty four hours."
Serena thanked the doctor as Chuck and Dan both reached for the door handle only to be stopped in their tracks by Dr. Parsons.
"I'm afraid the patient has requested to see only a Mr. Dan Humphrey," he apologized.
Dejected, Chuck took a step back from where he was standing as Nate put a hand firmly on his shoulder in support. Dan stepped into the room with a nod of encouragement from Vanessa and Serena offered to head down to the cafeteria to tell the others of the news.
"How are you feeling Blair?" Dan asked in concern as he took the seat next to her bed.
"Dan," she started in a barely audible whisper.
He shook his head to ward off the apology that was about to escape from her parted lips.
"I said some pretty horrible things to you Blair," he reminded her. "You wouldn't have..."
"Stop it," she chided him, covering his hand with her own. "You know this isn't your fault. I just felt so terrible for what I did to you Dan. I needed to..."
"I'm sorry anyway," he murmured as he placed a comforting kiss on her forehead. "After all, I was the one who prepared the food that gave you Clostridium perfringens food poisoning as mild as it is and although a broken heart sucks pretty bad, at least I won't get diarrhoea later. The feeling nauseous part though? I think I've got covered."
Even though Dan was attempting to lighten the atmosphere, the effect of his words did exactly the opposite. Blair bit her lower lip in thought over what she could say to make things better between them.
"Blair, we can still be friends," he told her. "I'll always love you. I mean, I'll need my space for a little while, but I can't stay mad at you forever."
Blair smiled weakly at him in response as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"Thanks Dan," she whispered, enveloping him into a tight hug. "I'll always love you too. I guess me being hospitalized wasn't such a bad thing, huh?"
Dan pulled back in confusion and wondered, "What do you mean?"
"You said you never wanted to see me again, remember?" Blair asked in an attempt to jolt his memory.
"I didn't mean that," he shot back immediately. "And even if I did Blair, I believe the worry that I had for your well-being overshadowed the resentment in me."
An awkward silence fell between them then and the brunette was smart enough to know not to push the conversation. She was teetering on a thin line with Dan as it were and if she wanted to maintain her friendship with him at the very least, she needed to give him his space. Dan knew what she was thinking in her silence and gratefully took a step towards the door. Despite the fact that he had made peace with her, he was still hurt from their break-up. He turned back one last time to address her.
"Blair? I thought you should know that Chuck is waiting outside to see you," he informed her.
Blair lifted her eyes to meet his own, but remained unresponsive to his words.
"I can see that he really cares about you Blair," he continued. "It's a good thing though because if he were to ever break your heart, I'd have to punch out his left eye as well."
"You punched him?" Blair asked in disbelief, finally opening her mouth to speak.
Dan shrugged and answered, "I was completely inebriated and he really didn't understand that I wasn't quite ready for his apology."
"I told him to give you your space!" Blair protested, her lips in a delectable pout.
Dan laughed before walking out of the room, "Men can be awfully pig-headed Blair. Take care of yourself."
Serena had come in to see her after Dan had left as did Cyrus and Aaron. Vanessa, Nate, and Jenny expressed their concerns as well and Dorota scolded her in Polish for a good ten minutes. Her mother had even called from France to ask how she was doing. Eventually, the commotion died down and there was only one person she had left to see. He was the only one she truly wanted to see because she knew he was probably blaming himself for all of this.
"Chuck?" she called out for him as the group sauntered out of her room.
He came in a few moments later and the redness that lingered in his eyes told her that he had been crying. Her heart fluttered in realization over how much he really did care for her and she motioned for him to come closer to her side.
"Hey," he whispered as he took the seat next to her bed. "Are you feeling ok?"
"I should be asking you that question," she answered, reaching out to touch his swollen eye.
He hissed upon contact and took her hand in his to relieve the pain.
"I'm fine Waldorf," he assured her. "It was nothing I didn't deserve."
Blair smiled at him and said, "Well, Dan plans to take out your other eye as well if you don't treat me right. He told me so himself."
Chuck smirked and went along with her attempt to lighten the mood of the conversation.
"Not if you get to it first sweetheart," he retorted, winking at her with his good eye.
"True," Blair agreed as she let out a dramatic sigh. "I'd prefer using castration as punishment though."
Chuck cringed before he replied, "Lucky for me then that I don't plan to hurt you. Ever."
"Good," she whispered as she leaned in to give him a kiss.
Her stomach gurgled as they broke apart and she groaned at the stirring sensation in her abdomen as she made her way into the bathroom.
"You should go Chuck," she told him. "This could last all night and you have work in the morning."
"You're not getting rid of me that easily Waldorf," he responded. "I'll stay up with you all night if I have to."
"Suit yourself Bass, but don't whine to me when you're bored to death," she called out from the bathroom.
Chuck laughed and assured her, "I'll be fine. Eric was kind enough to drop off some reading material for me. I'll even read to you Waldorf."
Blair started to whimper in pain as Chuck flipped the novel open to reveal the first page.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife," Chuck read. "However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters."
Despite the discomfort she was experiencing at that very moment, a tiny smile escaped from her lips as Chuck continued to read one of her favourite novels for the first time, Pride and Prejudice.
