Carrying on the Torch

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie

A/N:

Chapter 42 (Rupture)

She burst through the hospital doors and charged down the halls, not taking a moment to stop and consider whether anyone would be operating on Mason or not. Eventually she did reach his room, after some persuasion of a random nurse she'd seen in the halls. No one was in his room with him, much to her amazement. However, his Uncle was in the room next door, doctors and nurses were operating on him.

Mason's eyes were open and moving along the ceiling. The monotonous beeping of the heart monitor beside him irritated Charlotte's ears, but she did her best to ignore it. Mason was lying beneath the covers and had tubes all around him. He groaned softly and tried to sit up, only to fail. She rushed to his side and put her hand to his bruised wrist. "Don't try to move, Mason. Are you okay? What happened?" The right side of his face was bruised, and he had a small cut just above his left eyebrow. He curled his lips upwards and slowly curled his hand around hers. "I just got the news…what happened?"

"Car accident, some idiot ran a red light." She felt a sudden spike of anger inside and slowly close her hands. How could someone be so stupid? "I guess they6 really wanted to get where they were going…" He was straining to speak, and had moved his arm up to his head, scraping his fingers along his forehead. "God my head is throbbing, but no one's giving me any Tylenol." Her eyes started to water and she leaned forward, gently kissing his forehead.

"You'll be okay Mason." Fortunately he didn't have any major injuries that she could see. He chuckled nervously and closed his eyes. Sudden images of his plunging forward into the dashboard shot through her head. It killed her to think about it. "You didn't sustain any major injuries, right?"

"Yeah…well that's a bit debatable. I mean, the car hit us on my side, and I did slam into the dash." Her hand flew to her mouth and she eyed his bruising once more. Debatable? That just couldn't be. She met his eyes and felt him caressing the side of her face. She lifted her eyebrows and started to speak, but no words came out. "I'm glad you're here. You know how beautiful you are?"

"Mason…now isn't the time…"

"No, but it is." She pulled her lips back as he lowered his arm and struggled to sit up. After a painful attempt, he stopped straining and fell back onto the bed with a defeated groan. He moved his eyes to hers once more and smiled at her. "Look around you, your family's here. Holding on…" She lifted her eyebrows and closed her eyes. Her heart began to pound and sweat slid down her neck. She felt her stomach flipping and her throat tightening as she slowly glanced around. He was just rambling on about nothing, it seemed like, because she wasn't seeing anything.

"Don't talk like that Mason, not now…" She moved her hand to his face, tenderly feeling his bruise. He didn't recoil, but continued to gaze back at her as though he couldn't feel anything. His pupils seemed to dilate, which was a major concern to her. Her heartbeat started to quicken as he gave her one more smile.

"Hey Charlotte, you know how long I've been wanting to say…You've made me very happy." Why was he talking like this? Her heart pounded even more and her adrenaline started pumping through her veins. Was it because of the accident? Had he become delirious? "I think…I think I've fallen for you. Do you think it's possible to fall in love with someone at our age?" Her lungs drew in a sharp breath and her voice hitched, everything around her froze for the moment as she contemplated his words. He'd fallen for her? They were a bit young, but hell, love was tricky like that.

"I think it's possible." The only question on her mind was, did she love him back? She'd never thought about it, and now seemed like a hell of a time to think on the matter. If anything should happen, this would truly be that heartbreak, but nothing would happen. Right? She choked out a breath and let a tear run down her face. Mason reached up and brushed it away.

"Why are you crying? I'm okay." She wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve and huffed.

"I'm upset because I thought you died. I don't know if I'm ready for that…" He frowned and closed his eyes. "I mean, I'm starting to feel something, I really am, and I can't just…I can't imagine what would happen if I lost you. I don't want to lose you, Mason…" He opened his eyes and visibly cringed.

"Ugh, can't someone dim those lights? I feel like I have a migraine." Charlotte gazed with worry as he rubbed his forehead and started shaking his head. Panic hit her like a tidal wave and her eyes grew large as he began taking heavy breaths and sweating. "Charlotte…I haven't been completely honest with you…"

"Mason?" He turned his eyes to her and started panting. Sweat beads dripped from his forehead, and dripped down to the pillow. Her body began shivering as she met his pained eyes. He needed help, and fast. "Hold on Mason, I'm going to get help!" She ran for the door as he began groaning.

"W-Wait…"

"Just one second!" She ran from the room and hurried into the operating room next door where Emmett was lying down on his hospital bed. The doctors were finishing up and Skyler was reading off a chart. Skyler had on a face mask and Nurse's uniform. She lifted her eyes and stared with shock at Charlotte.

"Charlotte? What are you doing here?"

"Hurry! Something's wrong with Mason! He's having some kind of attack!" Skyler's eyes widened and Dr. Reed signaled everyone to move. Emmett let out a shuddering yell and Charlotte eyed him closely as he tried to sit up. "Mr. Heglin, don't try to move."

"I need to see my nephew!" He barked. He tried to sit up as Charlotte hurried over to his side, hoping to keep him still.

"If you move, you'll be hurt even more."

"I don't care. You don't understand, Mason, he…" Emmett managed to pull himself into a sitting position, groaning in pain as he moved his hand to his side. "He has a genetic condition from his mother's side of the family. He took a bad head injury. If that aneurysm ruptures, he could die, or at least go into a coma…"

Silence, the air grew dense and still. The only sound heard was the sound of her own heart, steadily pumping out what seemed like a beat a minute. It was true? Mason truly had an aneurysm? She let out a panicked scream and ran for Mason's room, entering in just in time to see the doctors and nurses fiddling with machinery and some of the tubes surrounding him. He wasn't moving! "N-No…"

"Charlotte?" Skyler looked over to her just as she started to drop to her knees. She heard Mason's heart monitor beeping normally, but that didn't explain why he wasn't moving at all. She looked to Skyler and saw her lips moving, but no words were coming out. She couldn't hear anything but the heart monitor, which sounded out each beat with an increasing volume.

Suddenly she was being inspected by some of the doctors. They shined a light in her eyes, testing her visibility. She shook her head and pulled herself from the shock, sobbing as Skyler led her outside. She sat on a bench in the hall and put her hands to her eyes, weeping quietly. "I-Is he dead? Tell me he's not dead…"

"He's not dead." Her heart rose and she turned her hopeful eyes to Skyler, but frowned at the woman's frown. There was something more, she could see. Skyler breathed in and closed her eyes. "Unfortunately he's fallen into a comatose state, and there is a risk of that brain aneurysm bursting."

"C-Coma? So you don't know when he'll wake up?"

"I'm sorry, Charlotte…" Skyler looked at her bloody uniform and let out a frustrated grunt. "I want to comfort you right now..."

"It's okay." She understood now wasn't the best time for that, Skyler was covered in blood and needed to get back to her job. She smiled sadly at Skyler and slowly nodded her head. "You can do that after work…"

"I will do that, dear."

"I love you."

"Love you too sweetie." She watched as Skyler hurried back into the room. After a moment more of silence, she looked to her left and saw Brittany making her way towards her. Was she here to rub it in her face? No, the girl was crying as well.

"Brittany?"

"How is he?"

"He's in a coma…the aneurysm may burst any time…" Brittany put her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes.

"Charlotte, I am so sorry."

"You were right. He had an aneurysm. I didn't even believe you." She waved her hands out slightly and brought them down. She was angry with herself, angry at Brittany, and somewhat angry with even Mason for never telling her. Brittany grasped her shirt and shook her head.

"It's not a matter of being right, not something I want to be right about. I just feel…I'm sorry Charlotte, for all the grief…"

"What am I supposed to do now?"

"Hope…pray…" She clenched her eyes shut and started to sob, shivering with each heightened sob. She felt Brittany move her arm around her shoulder, and looked up just a bit. "I know it's hard Charlotte, keep hoping he'll wake up from this."

"And if he doesn't? What then?" Brittany took a long pause and lifted her hand, gently brushing a tear from her own eye. Charlotte watched her with growing anticipation. "What happens then, Brittany? What do I do if he dies…"

"Don't think about that. Just…prepare yourself for that outcome. You don't know what'll happen in the future, nobody does. Whatever happens, you should be ready for it."

"Why do you even care…" Brittany moved back some and remained seated beside her. Charlotte studied her closely, waiting for a response.

"Because I know all this crap going on is causing enough stress. I mean, you lose your whole family, you have everything else going on, and then this happens with Mason…I know it's going to hurt, and just maybe I'm not as heartless as you think I am." She smiled at the girl, a bit relieved to hear those words. "We were friends once, we let competition get in between what we had…"

"Yeah. I'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry too. I really am. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to start over. You know?" There was a thought that she'd not thought of, but maybe starting over was a good idea.

"If we can keep from getting too competitive with things…maybe." Brittany smiled slightly and folded her arms across her chest.

"You think I can't issue self control?"

"Well…just don't start trying to compete with Dee and Regina. That wouldn't end well…" Brittany paled and shuddered, causing Charlotte to chuckle.

"Yeah, I can see that ending badly…" The two looked towards Mason's door and Charlotte bowed her head, she couldn't shake this sadness inside of her. Would this heartbreak really ever go away? How would she cope? She felt Brittany rub her shoulder and looked over to her. "It'll be okay…It hurts now, but it'll be okay."

"Funny." She wiped her eyes and breathed out quietly. "My actual mother said that to me once. In one of those videos…" She couldn't believe she was acting this way, and Mason wasn't dead. Though, it seemed like it, and she was afraid of it becoming the truth, but she honestly wanted that hope that he'd be okay. "Thank you Brittany…for being here…Even though I know…" Maybe they could get over their past of hating each other, only time would tell. Either way, she was glad she had someone there with her. "I appreciate you being here."

"No problem, Charlotte." She hugged her, then pulled away after a minute. "Hey, you know that guy in the first row of our martial arts class? The Red belt?"

"Yeah?" Brittany grinned and Charlotte's eyebrows rose.

"I hope he's single, because I'd love to ask him out."

"Well go for it." That's what she needed, a distraction, for now. This was turning out to be a horrible day, but maybe it would get better soon.

So, yikes, turns out to be a big shock for everyone...