Author's Note: Hey ya'll here's Chapter Four...let me know what you think :)
Chapter 4: You Were There?
" One day at a time; this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering."-Anonymous
I stare out of the window of my hospital room, my body aching. It was more than somewhat difficult to change into the clothes my mother had brought for me to wear home, even with her help. I sigh heavily as Mom runs her hands through my hair, braiding it expertly and quickly.
" Are you excited to be going home?" Mom asks, breaking the silence. I swallow harshly.
" Yeah, overjoyed," I murmur, staring at the window, " I'll be calling Jay on Monday morning, he said I will always have a job with him," I say, wincing slightly when I move too quickly, " These medical bills are going to take me forever to pay off."
" Why would you be doing that, you have a job, remember?" she asks, and I look at her confused.
" Momma, what are you talking about? I don't have a job. I quit remember?" I say, grasping the rail of the bed as my head spins furiously, " That's how I ended up in this mess in the first place."
" Dani, sit down," she urges me, and I barely make it to the chair in the corner, sitting easily, " Now honey, you know I love you, but you need to stop being stubborn. Your good at what you do, I bet if you just talk to Michael he'll consider your quitting all water under the bridge." I shake my head shrugging my shoulders.
" Mom. I know I'm good at it, and I love the job, but what good will I be at the job when the doctor said himself it will be at least another month before I am back to normal," I say, cursing the tears that fill my eyes, " Michael will be starting tour again in December, before that it will be meetings, rehearsals, costume fittings, all of those things I would have to arrange and attend, and how can I do that when I can barely walk without wanting to cry?"
" You have always proven people wrong Daniella Isabelle. Do you remember when you were twelve, and you and Kyle were messing around in the yard and you dislocated your shoulder?" she asks, and I smile slightly at the memory, nodding my head, " It was right before your big recital and the doctor told you it would take six weeks to heal. You were dancing beautifully in that recital three weeks after the accident. So don't tell me you cant do this, I know you can." I nod simply as I sit in the wheelchair. I don't worry so much about me not being able to do the job, I'm more worried that Michael wont give me the chance to prove that I can.
I watch as the scenery flashes by us as I look out of the car window, barely able to keep my eyes open. The pain medications the doctor prescribed to me have everything going fuzzy and dim. I blink my eyes quickly noticing that we are heading in the opposite direction of home.
" Momma, where are we going?" I ask, my words slightly slurred.
" Just close your eyes and sleep pretty girl, you'll see when we get there," Mom answers and I rest my head against the cool glass window, my eyes fluttering shut quickly and easily.
" Dani," a voice calls out to me, and I open my eyes slowly trying to blink them clear. Max's face swims into my vision and I smile lightly up at him.
" Hey Max, where am I?" I ask, groaning when he lifts me easily into his arms. I bury my face in his neck drifting off to sleep before I can even here him answer my question.
Michael's POV
I pace around my room, the fire crackling lowly in the fireplace. I know I did the right thing by bringing Dani and Carly-Ann to Neverland. Where I can keep them safe, keep them close, keep them mine. I run my hands through my hair, Cassidy's voice echoing in my head. ' Dani's afraid Michael.' I groan knowing that the next few months are going to be hard. The healing process is going to be rough, convincing her to stay even rougher. I run my hands shakily over my hair closing my eyes as I try and think of the best way to ask her stay. To beg her to stay. I didn't realize how much I needed her in my life. The month that she was gone was spent in denial, expecting to find her and Carly-Ann waiting backstage telling me that they are here to stay, and when that didn't happen the denial was replaced with anger and hurt. Then she almost died while I stood by helpless to stop it from happening, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I love Daniella. I need her like I need air. I sit on the corner of my bed, losing myself in thoughts and memories. A piercing and terrifying scream fills the room and I shoot to my feet, throwing open my doors as I race towards the sound. I skid to a halt in front of DanI's room, pushing open the door. I watch in terror stricken horror as DanI thrashes around in her bed, her screams ripping out of her like a wild animal. I race to her side, easing my arms around her shaking body. Her green eyes glazed over as tears fall down her face.
" Dani," I murmur, gently shaking her as I realize that though she appears to be awake she isn't, " Dani, wake up." As soon as the words leave my mouth the clouded look in her eyes rolls away and she sit's a mass of shaking and quivering flesh as she gasps for air, finally collapsing against her pillows, turning her body from me curling into a ball, her weeping uncontrollable as I run my hands over her hair. How am I ever going to make this right?
Dani's POV
I lay my body weak and aching from tears that have now run dry, Michael's fingers running through my hair.
" What was it about Dani? What has you so scared?" Michael asks, his voice low and soothing. I squeeze my eyes tightly wishing that I had been able to contain the screams. I didn't mean to wake him.
" Why am I here Michael?" I ask, turning slowly wincing when my ribs scream at me.
" What do you mean?" he asks, and I open my eyes finding his in the pale light of the room.
" You know what I mean. What am I doing here, at Neverland?" I ask again, wishing that I could move freely without feeling like my body is going to fall apart.
" You belong here Dani, you cant do your job from your house," he murmurs, and my eyes cloud over with tears.
" I cant work for you Michael," I say, closing my eyes as the first few tears slide down my face.
" Why not?" he asks, and I roll my eyes at him.
" Look at me Michael, I can barely move without wanting to cry like a baby, how am I going to run your life when I wont even be able to run my own?" I ask, trying hard to sit up, finally sighing with frustration when Michael has to brace his strong hands under me bearing most of my weight as I get comfortable in a sitting up position.
" Dani, until tour starts up again in December, you wont have to do anything but arrange meetings and appointments, last time I checked all of that can be done over the phone," Michael encourages, and I smile slightly.
" Michael, I, I'm sorry," I finally say, my heart aching with my words.
" For what?" he asks, sitting back to look at me.
" Everything. For just leaving the way I did, for being so stubborn, for the accident," I say, but Michael cuts me off shaking his head.
" Don't apologize for anything. I knew you would come around eventually, but I pushed it with those papers. It's just, you're my best friend Dani, and I adore Carly-Ann, and the thought of living without both of you in my life killed me. I went to far trying to use a contractual agreement to convince you to come back, and I'm sorry," he says, and I smile at him.
" Well, I will forget about it if you do two things for me. One, forget that I left like an idiot," I say, and Michael smiles broadly nodding his head, " And two, you cant treat me like a baby while I'm recovering," I say, holding my hand out to him. He take my hand shaking it slowly before his eyes turn serious.
" What was the dream about Daniella?" he asks again and I sigh shakily as I stare at him.
" I died," I whisper, " None of you told me. The doctor told me they lost me for a few minutes when I was in the emergency room. I dreamt that I didn't come back. That I was all alone in darkness screaming for someone to help and save me, but no one came," I confess, cringing at the thought that I had died even if it was for just a few short minutes, " Why didn't any of you tell me?"
" Dani, I, we," he says, cringing as he fights for the words to say, " We didn't know how to tell you. I kept telling myself that I would tell you after they got you off the ventilator, but those first few days all you could do was cry, and you were so worried about Carly-Ann. I didn't know how you would handle knowing." I stare at him, noticing the dark circles under his eyes. I brush my fingers across his cheeks, sighing heavily.
" You were there the whole time weren't you" I say realizing that in the time I spent laying in that field next to my father it was Michael's voice that whispered in the soft breeze that continually flowed over us in our little sanctuary.
" Of course I was, where else would I be?" he asks, brushing a soft kiss to my forehead before turning to leave. My heart hammers against my ribs as I reach out taking hold of his hand.
" Michael," I say, watching as he turns to look at me, a smile on his face.
" Will you stay?" I ask, knowing I will never find sleep without him here. Michael smiles, wordlessly slipping into the free space on my bed, gently and carefully maneuvering me so that my head is pillowed against his chest, his long fingers running through my hair, humming me into a peaceful sleep.
