Daniel stood in front of JFK International, his one and only bag slung
over his shoulder containing two days worth of clothing and necessities. This
was going to be a short trip, but one that he would probably regret taking.
Seeing Chance in a coma at death’s doorstep wasn’t the way he wanted to remember
her last. He was used to seeing her full of joy and happiness, not lifeless
and hanging on by a thread to whatever life was left in her. His eyes clouded
over as he tried not to think about it.
As he looked across the sea of people walking around him, Daniel noticed
a woman who looked strangely familiar to him. She was slightly shorter than
he was and had long blond hair that was wrapped in a ponytail behind her head.
He walked towards her, wondering if it could possibly be the same girl he had
met years ago the first time he met Darren.
The closer Daniel got to her, the more she stood out from the rest of
the crowd as someone he knew. She was wearing a long dark gray suit and overcoat
that matched, contrary to the tank tops and shorts he was used to seeing her
in. She turned towards him before he was able to make his final steps in his
direction.
“Daniel!” she cried, her think Australian accent giving away her identity.
“This is such a coincidence!”
“Hey, Colby,” Daniel replied, wrapping his arms around her and giving
her a hug. If Darren ever found out that they were still friends, he’d kill
Daniel for betraying him. “How’s life been treating you?”
“Absolutely wonderful!” her eccentric voice bubbled. “So, what are you
doing in the Big Apple?”
“I’m going to see Darren and a friend in the hospital,” he told her as
they walked down the sidewalk together.
“Is Darren okay?” Colby suddenly became serious. It was still apparent
she had feelings for him.
“He’s just fine, but I can’t say the same for Chance,” Daniel mournfully
replied. He looked down at his feet as he held back painful tears.
“Chance?” she inquired, the puzzled look on her face reminding him that
she didn’t know what had happened in the last few years she and Darren had been
separated.
“She’s the friend in the hospital. She had an accident, and the doctors
aren’t expecting her to pull through. I had to come down and see her.” Daniel
felt as if his heart would burst repeating those words.
Colby looked at him softly and wrapped her arm around his shoulders to
comfort him. She sympathetically replied, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea. Were
you two close?”
“To the point where I called her my sister.”
“Oh, poor Dan. I’m really sorry about your friend,” Colby replied. “Well,
I must be on my way. I still have to look for a cab to take me to my hotel.”
“Why don’t you just come with me? My limo is waiting a little further
down. I’m sure the driver can take you to the hotel then come back later to
pick me up from the hospital,” Daniel suggested.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, and if you don’t want to go to the hotel just yet, you can come
with me and see Darren. I don’t think he should end up being as hostile as last
time.”
“Maybe seeing Darren would be nice. Besides, he just might listen to
me today and hear what I’ve been wanting to tell him ever since we broke it
off.”
~~~~~~~~~~
The limo ride to the hospital wasn’t anything like actually arriving.
Daniel was practically shaking when he walked through the automatic door that
led to the main entrance of the hospital. He all of a sudden felt weak in the
knees and began to shiver even though it was warmer in the hospital than it
was outside. As Daniel and Colby walked down the almost deserted hall towards
the reception desk, each thought about what to say when they saw Darren.
‘Oh, God. I can’t believe this. I should have stayed. I should have trusted
my instinct when it told me Chance was not all right. Why? Why didn’t I listen
to the fucking thing? What the hell is wrong with me? God, please let her be
okay,’ Daniel silently pleaded. Chance was the closest he’d get to having a
real sister. She was the only one who knew how to get to him.
Colby got directions from the nurse at the desk and began to lead Daniel
down a dimly lit hall to a door at its end marked 142: Private. Daniel began
to feel nervous as he stepped through the door. He let out a sigh of relief
when he found Darren curled up on the old maroon couch asleep. ‘Thank you,’
Daniel silently prayed before hearing the soft giggles escaping from Colby’s
lips.
Darren began to stir on the couch. He opened his eyes, focusing at first
on Daniel then past him at Colby. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he nearly
yelled.
As if unable to hear the comment, Colby turned to Daniel and said, “Still
hostile, isn’t he?” He shrugged as she returned her icy gaze to Darren.
“Look, we’re all adults here. Stop acting like children. There’s a bigger
problem facing us than you two bickering all the time,” Daniel tried to make
peace between them.
“You two are involved, aren’t you?” Darren raged. Daniel saw it coming,
though. It was written all over the angry expression on Darren’s face. “Oh,
my God. I should have seen it sooner. Dan, you fucking bastard, how could you?”
Daniel put his hands up as a barrier and said, “Nothing is going on between
us. Colby is just here on business. We met at the airport and she needed a ride
to her hotel.”
“Then what is she doing here?” Darren asked.
“I’m here because I wanted to tell you I’ve moved on,” Colby answered
even though she knew the question wasn’t directed towards her. “I’m getting
married in a few months to a lawyer in Sydney.”
“Well, isn’t that wonderful?” he sarcastically retorted. “Could you please
leave now because my day has gotten worse by seeing you.”
“Don’t think I can’t see past that tough guy façade you’ve become so
accustomed to. I can see deep down to places where others can’t, and I know
you’re not as strong as you perceive yourself to be. You’re scared, and the
only way you can get around that feeling is by building up a wall so that no
one can get to you. For once can’t you be a little less naïve and take a look
around? I’m here to try and make amends to what went wrong with us and all you
can do is be an ass about it,” she firmly declared.
Daniel stood motionless as he watched the scene unfold in front of his
eyes. He was expecting Darren to come back with another smart reply, but he
cracked like a dried tree branch in a strong wind. The stress had become too
much for him to handle. Darren lowered his head into his hands and began to
cry. Colby sat down beside him and quietly said, “I’m sorry, Daz. I didn’t mean
to say that. It just came out. If it means anything to you, you’re still going
to be in my heart. You were my first love, how can I just forget you?” Her hand
crept up his back and gently stroked it. A few tears had escaped her own eyes
as she looked at him in his pitiful state. Darren pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Thank you,” Darren said as he wiped the tears off his face.
“You’re welcome. Now get out of here and take a shower, you smell like
shit,” Colby replied as she stood up and headed for Daniel at the other end
of the room. He and Darren began to laugh before she added, “I’m serious. Where
have you been, in a dumpster?”
“I jumped into a river to save someone’s life,” Darren solemnly answered.
“I told her the whole story. You don’t have to elaborate if you don’t
want to,” Daniel cut in before Darren had another episode.
“Thanks,” he retorted. He stood up and began to walk towards the door.
“I’m going to take Colby’s advice and go home. Could you please stay here? If
you find anything out, give me a call, especially if they let you see her. I’ll
be back as soon as I can.” With that, Darren was off to his apartment in the
city.
Daniel turned to Colby and said, “That went well.” He sat down on one
of the maroon couches knowing it would be a long wait.
Colby sat down beside him and replied, “Surprisingly it did. I wasn’t
expecting Darren to be so placid. I guess I caught him in a ‘good’ mood, if
you could call it that.”
“Are you going to stay, or are you going to the hotel now that everything’s
been said and done?”
“I think I’m gonna stick around and hang with you for the rest of the
day. I know you’re not going to want to go into Chance’s room alone. Besides,
I’d like to see what Darren sees in her that he didn’t see in me,” she said
as she sat down beside Daniel on the comfortable couch.
~~~~~~~~~~
Hours passed as Daniel and Colby sat beside each other in silence without
anything important happening. Daniel was beginning to wonder what happened to
Darren. It had been way too long since he had left, and he knew that whenever
something concerned Chance, Darren would either be there half an hour early,
or come back within a few minutes. This was the first time he hadn’t returned
when he said he would. He wanted to turn to Colby and ask her what she thought
might be holding him up, but an old doctor in a white lab coat walked into the
room holding a cup of coffee and a manila folder. He stopped in his tracks at
the sight of Daniel and Colby.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I’m Colby, and this is Dan. We’re Darren’s friends,” Colby spoke up
quietly. She stood and walked over to the old doctor.
“Pleased to meet you. Darren’s told me a lot about you guys. By the way,
my name is Ian McAllister. I’ve been taking care of Chance for the last few
days,” he said.
“Oh, really. That’s nice to know,” she replied.
“Where’s Darren, anyway? Last time I saw him, he was knocked out from
the sleeping pills that I slipped into his coffee to calm him down. I was just
about to give him another dose to keep him from getting out of control, but
I guess he alluded me.”
“He left for his apartment after I told him he need to change. He should
be back any minute. What has he been doing that made you slip sleeping pills
into his coffee?” Colby asked.
“Darren’s had a few episodes involving talking to voices inside his head.
I’m beginning to think he’s having a hard time dealing with this and he needs
to see a shrink if I have to keep slipping him the pills,” Ian replied as he
set down the coffee on the table. “Keep in mind, don’t touch that coffee. You’ll
be knocked out in a matter of minutes if you do. And don’t tell Darren. I’m
only doing this for his own good because I’m beginning to see early signs of
depression, so be cautious when he starts acting funny.”
Daniel couldn’t take the wait any longer. “How is Chance?” he asked,
changing the subject to the real matter at hand. His anxiety was beginning to
build as he waited for the bad news. Unconsciously he began to crack his knuckles.
“She’s still in a coma, unfortunately. The swelling in her brain hasn’t
gone down. The good thing is that it hasn’t gone up either. Now that she’s stable,
you can go in and see her, just be very quiet,” Ian said as he shuffled out
of the room. “Follow me and I’ll take you to her room.”
Daniel and Colby left the confines of the waiting room and followed Ian
down the dim hallway to a set of double doors marked ICU. As they walked through
the threshold, they entered a completely different world. The hallway was brightly
lit, and the doors to either side of them were closed. Each door had a window
beside it, and as they reached the end of the hallway, a reception desk appeared.
“Good afternoon, Rita,” Ian greeted an old nurse behind the desk. He
swerved to the left towards the last room in the ward. Slowly opening the door,
Ian held it for Daniel and Colby to walk through.
Daniel went first, anxious and scared to see what lay behind the door.
With Colby encouragingly pushing him through, he stepped inside. He looked out
onto the bed to see Chance laying there, her head bandaged in white gauze and
tubes running through almost every visible part of her body. Machines helped
her heart and lungs function while IV bags fed her. Daniel was ready to break
down and cry seeing her the way she was. He slowly crept up to her bed and started
at her pale white face.
“Oh, God,” came Daniel’s muffled reply as he covered his mouth with his
hand. His eyes close, tears running freely down his face. As he began to sob,
he could feel Colby wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him.
“No,” Daniel cried, turning to Colby and holding onto her for comfort.
“Shh…” she quietly reassured.
“I have to get out of here,” he whispered into her ear. Colby silently
led him through the door and back towards the waiting room. Once inside, they
sat down on the couch, and Colby held onto Daniel in hopes of calming him down.
“She’s my best friend. How could this have happened? How could I have
let myself leave when I knew she needed me?” Daniel asked out loud.
“Danny, it’s okay. It’s not you fault. There was nothing you could do
to stop this from happening. Stop blaming yourself,” Colby tried to reason.
“But I could have stopped her. I knew she was depressed, especially after
seeing her the night Scott died. I clearly remember how shaken she was, and
then after telling her that Darren loved her, she snapped. I should have done
something sooner,” he replied, holding his head in his hands as he shook his
head in disbelief. “She’d still be here if I wasn’t so ignorant.”
“Daniel Jones, you’d better stop blaming yourself for things you have
no control over.” Colby’s voice was stern and somehow comforted him. “I don’t
want you saying anymore crap like that because I’ll slap you if I hear another
‘I could have done this.’”
Daniel looked at her and managed to smile weakly. “Now, that’s what I
wanted to see. You’d better be in a good mood when Darren’s walks in, or he
just might get freaked out.”
“Freaked out over what?” came a voice from the door. Daniel and Colby
looked up in unison to see Darren standing just outside the door, his dirty,
smelly old clothes replaced with a pair of black pants, a dark blue sweater,
and a black jacket. His hair was spiked up and he wore a pair of dark sunglasses
even though the lights in the hospital were dim.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Colby lied.
“I can see you’re not telling me the truth. I know that look,” Darren
replied, his face turning stony as his cold blue eyes stared down at her. “If
we’re going to try and be friends again, lying is not the best way to start.”
“Then you’d better just come with me. I can’t explain it. You have to
see it for yourself,” she said, taking his hand and beginning to lead him out
of the room.
“Yeah, it’s the matrix!” Daniel yelled from the waiting room trying to
keep up their spirits along with his. He knew Darren wasn’t going to be able
to stand seeing Chance the way she was in the hospital bed. Daniel waited as
Darren and Colby took their time. He didn’t expect only Colby to come back over
half an hour later.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Darren’s going to stay with Chance tonight. I don’t think he’s ever
going to get out of that room unless it’s by force. I can’t believe he loves
her that much,” Colby answered sounding more in awe than disbelief.
“You still love him, don’t you?” Daniel replied. He knew it by the look
in her eyes. She seemed so sad and out of place.
“Don’t tell him, please. I just want to leave. I know when my time’s
gone. I guess this is goodbye,” she said.
“We’ll see each other again,” Daniel tried to reason.
“I don’t think so,” Colby replied.
“But…” he tried to stop her from saying more crazy things, but she put
her finger to his lips before another word came from his mouth.
“This is so hard for me to do, but Darren’s happy with Chance, and I
have to go. If I don’t, I won’t be able to put the past behind me. I’m so sorry
to be leaving you like this,” Colby apologized. “Goodbye, Daniel.”
“You say goodbye when you know you’re going to see the person again,”
he said, trying as hard as he possibly could to get her to stay.
“Well, then, I’ll see you later,” she replied, turning towards the door
and walking off down the hall.
Daniel slid into the nearest chair and began to wonder how this could
have happened. One of his best friends had just walked out on him without even
looking back. He tried to push it all out of his head thinking about Chance,
but Colby always drifted back into his mind.
“Shit,” Daniel said. “I knew I shouldn’t have brought her.”
“Let me guess, she left?” Darren’s voice replied from the door. Daniel
looked up to see him leaning on the doorframe waiting for an answer.
“She left,” Daniel answered.
“I knew Colby was leaving. She’s moved on. I guess it’s better that she
left. At least now I can move on also. That was the one thing stopping me from
completely giving all my attention to Chance,” Darren explained as he walked
into the waiting room.
“Is that why you didn’t want me telling Chance you loved her?” Dan asked
in surprise.
“That and she was dating Scott at the time. But, really, it was mostly
Colby. I had to get some closure about our relationship and why it went so wrong.
I guess now that we had some time alone to think about it, I got the closure
I needed and we can both move on.”
“At least you got some closure. I, on the other hand, will never get
any.” Daniel was getting pissed. He couldn’t believe Darren had the nerve to
send away Colby because of his own ego. “You know, she’d take a bullet for you
any day. Why couldn’t you see that? Do you always have to be so pig headed?”
“Pig headed? What the hell are you talking about?” Darren slammed back.
“Look at you. I heard about what happened with you, Rebecca, and Alexia. Now
who’s the pig headed one?”
“You know what? I’m not about to even go there. I was defending my girlfriend,”
Daniel spat as he turned to leave.
“Fine, go to your girlfriend. See if I care,” Darren called when Daniel
was halfway down the hall.
“Stupid son of a bitch,” Daniel muttered as he walked out of the double doors and into the cold night air. His limo was parked outside waiting for him. He told the driver to take him to the airport so he could catch the first flight back to Australia.