The plane ride was eerily quiet. And I mean eerily quiet. I felt like I should say something to Noah, like ask him how he arranged all this or thank him once again but I didn't know how to formulate the words so I just kept quiet all through, staring out the window, watching the clouds pass and the scenery beneath. I would have loved everything, found this experience incredibly exciting and beautiful. But within me, all I could do was dread whatever awaited me at the end of this journey.

Noah, bless him, didn't say anything to me either. He just quietly checked his phone once we were cleared to and once in a while, I felt the heat of his concerned gaze on me. He had lost a parent much closer to him than Darryl had been to me; he knew exactly how I felt and worse.

I did nothing but stare out that window, huddled up in my seat, deep in thought until I didn't know what to think anymore. Whenever Georgina came to check if I needed a snack, some juice or a blanket, I sent her away. I thought of Darryl countless times and the pain in my chest grew with each passing second. I wished I could fall asleep but my overactive mind wouldn't let me.

Finally after what seemed like an endless agonizing journey though it had just been two hours, we landed in Tribune, Kansas. I don't know how Noah arranged it but there was another car waiting for us immediately we touched down.

While Noah was having a quick word with the pilot, I got into the dark Kia Picanto car and hastily gave the driver the name and address of the hospital they were at; St. Claude's General Hospital. He gave me a kind smile and told me that Noah had already informed him previously, and the directions had been fed into his GPS.

Noah joined us shortly and then the last leg of the journey began; the drive to the hospital.

I felt like I had been doing a good job of getting my nerves under control, but as we got closer and closer to our destination, my teeth began to chatter and my hands began to tremble uncontrollably. I was filled with a dark tension, the apprehension coiling around me so tightly, I could not break it. Dark thoughts swirled in my head. Nothing could have prepared me for this. I woke up today thinking it would be as normal as any other day.

But I was wrong.

Oh boy was I wrong.

I didn't realize how bad I was freaking out, until Noah's hand came out of nowhere to settle on mine. He squeezed my quaking fingers reassuringly. I turned to look up at him then. It was the first contact we had had in over two months. It felt familiar.

It felt safe.

"Ellenore, relax. You just have to believe everything's going to be okay", Noah looked at me with those eyes the colour of liquid hazel and I immediately wanted to melt into him. His words filled me with a renewed gust of strength and hope I never thought I could have at this point.

I nodded as I tried to decipher my feelings. How could he do all this for me after everything? After the way I had ended things with him? He didn't have to be here right now, he didn't have to bring me down here but yet he had done all of that and more.

And I wasn't going to lie to myself, I was glad he was here with me.

We got to the hospital sooner than I expected. I had been dreading the moment but here it was. I had to be brave for my dad's sake.

We rushed into St, Claude's General hospital and the sterile smell of bleach and antiseptic hit me like a brick wall. Goosebumps prickled all over my skin as an unsettling feeling washed over me.

It smelled like my very worst fears come to life.

We got to the waiting room and while I stood there, looking around and looking frantic, Noah pulled me up to the front desk where the medical receptionist, dressed in blue scrubs, was fielding calls.

"Excuse us, miss. We're here to see a Darryl Wyatt. He had an accident at a construction site and must have been brought in a few hours ago", Noah spoke on my behalf which was just as good seeing as I hadn't found my voice just yet.

The kindly African American woman gave us both a scrutinizing look as she typed something into her computer. "Are you immediate family?" she asked as she glanced at whatever information was displayed on her computer screen.

"I...I'm his daughter", I sputtered out.

"I see", she said still perusing her records "Well Mr. Wyatt was rushed to the emergency room about four hours ago. He's in ICU, still unconscious and his doctors have been prepping for another surgery in about thirty minutes. I can't give you any more information; you'll just have to check with the doctor in charge"

"And who may that be?" Noah asked his voice confident but still I could detect a hint of a strain hidden in it.

"That's Dr. Sullivan. I'll page a nurse to lead you guys to him", she gave us an empathetic smile and reached for her desk phone, pressing in a couple of buttons. "Nurse Jackie... please come on down to the front desk. We have a couple here to see Dr. Sullivan. Yes, it..."

I tuned out because just then, I heard my name being called from behind me.

Noah and I both turned to see Sandra coming up towards us. Dammit, she looked worse than I felt. And I felt pretty darn awful.

"Sandra!" I rushed towards her, holding out my arms to embrace her and she collapsed into them. She felt so tiny and frail, like her bones weren't able to bear her weight any longer.

"You guys made it!" she tried to smile but I could see from her red rimmed eyes and ashen tear-streaked face that she wasn't feeling remotely joyful. "I'm so glad you're both here. Darryl would be too"

Noah had joined us by then and he pulled Sandra into a hug. "How's he doing?" he asked the question I wanted to, but wasn't brave enough to.

Sandra's face changed and she suddenly looked like she had aged about a hundred years. "Not good", she shook her head and tiny tear droplets fell with them "Not good at all. He came in with a fractured skull, broken leg, five cracked ribs and a bruised kidney. The doctors even marvelled at how he hadn't broken his neck when he fell...", Sandra burst into choking sobs now and the pain in my heart continued to fester until I thought it would engulf me.

I pulled Sandra into my arms knowing she was feeling my pain but about a million times worse. "It's going to be alright, Sandra", I tried comforting her just as Noah had comforted me, rubbing her back as she trembled uncontrollably in my arms.

I said it was going to be alright, but I didn't know if it was true. But what I did know was that she needed to hear that, and I needed to believe it.

She pulled away on her own; I could see her trying to be strong.

"They got him into the emergency room once he came in, to try and stop the bleeding, both external and internal. Then they did a blood transfusion because he lost a lot of blood. That got him stabilised for a while, but now they have to go into surgery again, he cracked his skull and they need to drain some fluid, relieve some pressure... else he may end up with a brain haemorrhage", Sandra explained. She was fighting the tears as she talked to us.

It was bad, really bad.

Much worse than I had imagined.

"When's his surgery?" I found myself asking

"In a couple of minutes... I was actually just stepping outside to get some fresh air before the operation when I saw you guys", Sandra replied sorrowfully "Doctors say it's a 50-50 percent chance at this point"

"C-can I see him?"

She wiped away at freshly formed tears. "Its family only and you're not on his records, but I think I can explain to the doctor that you're his daughter. Come with me"

Sandra began walking away in the other direction which was our cue to follow her.

We walked past a long hallway with doors leading to different hospital rooms, the kids' ward, burn unit, x-ray room, and doctors' offices and so on. Finally Sandra stopped us in front of a door flanked by a nurse dressed in signature blue scrubs tagged ICU. A few people milled around, some were standing and some were sitting. I noticed one or two familiar faces as Darryl's co-workers he had introduced me to when I visited back in the summer.

They had been all laughs and jokes then.

What a departure this was now.

Sandra made some hasty, half-hearted introductions explaining to the unfamiliar faces, a couple ladies I guessed were her friends or family, that I was Darryl's daughter from a previous relationship.

She talked to the nurse on standby, explaining that I was family, and after the nurse got clearance from Dr. Sullivan, she made us wash our hands with some antibacterial soap, then let us in.

The sterile smell in here was even more potent than the rest of the hospital and I shuffled in slowly, hands shaking uncontrollably and scared of what I was about to encounter. When my eyes finally landed on Darryl's unconscious form, I nearly fell to my knees and wept.

He didn't look like Darryl at all; he didn't look like the gruff, strong man I had met back in the summer. He was hooked up to about a thousand beeping machines. Different tubes stuck out from different parts of his body and about a third of his body lay bandaged and supported by some straps. His head was thoroughly bandaged and his face was oh so bruised and swollen.

I forced down the bile that rose in my throat as Sandra walked over to his side, touching his fingers lightly as we both looked over him silently.

I couldn't help it; the sight was heartbreaking. And suddenly all the water works I had been holding in for the past few hours were let loose and began to flow uncontrollably down my face.

"The doctors say he still has some cognitive functions so he might be able to hear us", Sandra said to me without looking away from Darryl "Darryl, honey. Guess who's here to see you? Ellie's here... Noah came too. We all want to see you get better Darryl, please you can't break our hearts like this"

Her voice was breaking and she reached up to wipe away at her face then she turned to me. "Come on, come say hi. He'll feel better with you here. You can even touch him a little... It might help", Sandra urged.

I gulped and walked over to where Sandra was standing. He looked even more bruised and swollen up close. He must have been in a world of pain. I reached for and tentatively touched his fingers with mine.

"Darryl, it's me Ellie", my voice was hoarse, so I cleared it. He needed to hear me sounding hopeful, not like all hope was lost. "I came to see you recover so you have to promise me you're going to be strong, okay? You're going to push through... I just found you; I can't lose you now, okay? And Sandra needs you... We all need you so you'd better hang in there. I need to spend more time with you. I need you to be my dad. I need you to walk me down the aisle someday", my voice cracked in a sob and I glanced over at Sandra to see her smiling through the glistening tears in her eyes. Her look spurred me to go on. "I need to come visit you and Sandra all the time. I need you to hold your grandkid someday. So you have to promise me.... Promise us..." I looked to Sandra and took hold of her free hand; squeezing and she squeezed back "... That you're going to make it. We're counting on you, okay? We love you"

He obviously didn't respond, he couldn't respond but I felt a bit of the massive weight I had been carrying lift from my shoulders. Sandra hugged me, putting her head on my shoulders and we just stood there, watching Darryl, listening to the rhythmic and steady beeping noises coming from the machines he was plugged into.

The nurse came in a minute later. "I'm sorry, guys but you have to leave now. Mr. Wyatt needs to be prepped and moved to the theatre for his surgery"

"Okay. Thank you", Sandra wheezed out and the nurse held the door open for us as we slowly made our way out of the room. Once we were out, Sandra broke into loud, wracking sobs, almost collapsing to the ground and one of her friends, came to take her from me.

"I'm just going to take her outside for some fresh air", her friend, Regina explained "She needs a break"

I nodded dazedly as she walked off with Sandra, who was still sobbing. I looked around and my eyes met Noah's. He was standing against the opposite wall, his hands folded across his chest. Wordlessly, I rushed towards him and hugged him, Noah appeared startled but a second later, his hands came around to hug me back.

We stayed in that embrace for a couple of minutes, me not saying anything, just letting the tears fall and seep into Noah's shirt. He rubbed my back in slow, circular motions until the tears dried up then he spoke, "How does he look?"

"Like he may not make it", I wheezed out "Oh my goodness, it's really fucking bad, Noah"

Noah, didn't say anything, he just pulled me in and hugged me tighter as I watched a muscle in his jaw clench. But he didn't need to say anything; the heat of his comforting embrace around me was more than enough.

After a while, Sandra returned with her friend Regina looking calmer but morose. We all watched quietly as some Doctors and nurses came and wheeled Darryl away, and out of our sights for his operation.

The operation that would determine if he lived, or died.

A/N: This was an emotional chapter. Hope you guys liked it :). How are we feeling about Darryl's chances? Drop a comment to let me know. Btw, excuse me if my medical knowledge is not up to par, I know all I know from watching TV shows lol. Don't vote to vote, share and comment!!! Xoxoxo
-Crystal