The Glass Passenger

It had taken Alex three days to cover three of the charms so far, a day per charm. It was a slow process but it was necessary.

The charm bracelet allowed Alex a revision of his life with Rachel and today he was meant to be telling Annie the story behind the pair of dice charm but Annie couldn’t spare him the time.

It turned out that Alex wasn’t the only person floating around who had unfinished business. Annie was off dealing with a hysterical grandmother who had left her inheritance fund hidden in her kitchen where her nieces and nephews would never be able to find it. Moments like this demanded a person like Annie.

So for the first time since Alex’s supernatural waking he was alone.

With Annie’s absence he was able to dedicate everything he had towards Rachel and he was able to see how far Rachel had really been pushed and how on edge every one of her emotions were.

His mother had to drag Rachel away when she arrived in the early morning to check up on her son. Mrs Gaskarth felt a sharp sense of helplessness when her eyes had fallen upon Rachel who was still sat at Alex’s bedside in the same clothes that she had arrived in three days ago.

With considerable force both Mr and Mrs Gaskarth had gently taken Rachel to their home and insisted she shower and that she take her time. But Rachel took all but twenty minutes to shower, wash her hair and find a new change of clothes. Before the Gaskarth’s could even voice their concern over her, she had asked them to take her back to the hospital.

They didn’t have to heart to refuse her.

Alex had watched Rachel leave with his parents from his place on the windowsill, and he felt a sense of relief as she walked out of the horribly claustrophobic room, it wasn’t good for her to stay in the room longer than was absolutely necessary. He knew she was stubborn and that she would be back soon, but even Alex was shocked when she returned only half an hour later with her hair still damp and in clothes there were incredibly plain for her.

In her arms she carried bunches of flowers, cards and a ridiculous assortment of cuddly toys.

She dropped the load on the large wooden table that had been pushed to the back of the room and then gently set her carrier bag down. She let out a long and agonised sigh and turned around back to the white hospital bed.

Taking slow steps, as if she were preparing her mind for something, Rachel walked back towards the immobile form of Alex and then gently pressed a kiss to his forehead - the only place that was free from all the wires and tubes.

Alex who was still sat on the windowsill felt the phantom kiss on his forehead and this evoked a current of emotions that caused a knot to form in his stomach. It was agony of the highest form. She was so close and yet so far away.

But then he heard a low whine coming from the inside of Rachel’s bright blue patent leather bag that she had placed on the floor with such care.

Rachel had heard it too and with a shadow of a smile she walked back to the bag and unzipped it, pulling from the inside a rather shell shocked looking dog, who turned its nose up when it smelled the disinfectant of the room.

Alex’s heart melted as his eyes fell on his adorable dog Sebastian. Rachel had always looked out for him too and it just went to show to what lengths she went, seeing as dogs were strictly forbidden in hospitals. She had always had her work cut out with both Alex and Sebastian, but she loved them too much to complain about it.

Rachel walked back to Alex’s bed and placed the dog on the clean covers, smiling at the thought of what the nurse would do and say if she walked in at this precise moment. But mercifully Rachel was spared this and Sebastian curled himself up against Alex’s side letting out a low and pitiful whine as he placed his tiny head on Alex’s immobile leg.

“I miss him too,” Rachel said softly as she petted the dog, and she was about to say something else but was interrupted by the door to the room flying open and three boys falling through the door.

Zack, Rian and Jack had been putting the hospital visit off for a long time. It was so unlike Alex to be in hospital, and to see a boy once so invincible wired up and kept alive by IV drips broke their heart.

Hello and comfort hugs were exchanged and the dog was petted some more, the three boys all-smiling at Rachel’s thoughtfulness to bring him to his master.

Jack then went about organising the cards, flowers and cuddly toys that had been sent by fans. A large amount of post for Alex had been piling up and Jack knew that when he woke up he would be thrilled and take the time to read every letter and every card. Jack not only wanted to be helpful by setting up the cards, but it was also easier to avoid Rachel’s hurt and empty eyes that way.

She was about to break and they all knew it.

“He’s going to be fine Rachel,” Rian said soothingly, he put his strong hand on her shoulder as a shudder shook her body.

Rachel was trying very hard to suppress the tears that were building up in her eyes, but she couldn’t hold out any longer. She dropped her face into her hands and sank down into the chair that was hers by Alex’s bed.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she said, her voice thick with tears. Zack and Rian were instantly by her side, Jack staying near the table. It was almost too much for him to take.

“He needs to wake up,” Rachel cried hysterically as the sobs viciously racked through her body. “He needs to wake up! What am I going to do Rian? What am I going to do if he doesn’t? The doctor’s say he needs to fight but how do I know he’s fighting how do I know he’s going to be ok? He can’t do this to me he can’t do this to you!”

Rian gently put his arm around her and let her cry into his shoulder. She soaked the right side of his shirt in under a minute. Rachel had held the hysterical tears back for three days. The dam had broken and now every single doubt, worry and anxiety flooded out of her mind, which had only occupied itself with Alex since his admittance into the hospital.

Alex had stood up from his perch on the windowsill, feeling numb in every sense of the word. He had never seen her in such a state, not even when her father had almost died of a stroke six months into their relationship.

He walked over to where Rachel and Rian were. He reached out to touch her shoulder and let his hand rest there. He desperately wanted her to feel his presence, he willed her to understand that he was still there but no matter how hard he tried to communicate his thoughts nothing happened.

Rian had gently released Rachel once she had calmed down; he gave Zack a poignant look as he left the room in search of the doctor that was treating Alex. He had to know exactly what was going on.

Zack pulled up a chair and sat down next to Rachel, taking her hand, whilst Jack occupied the chair on the other side of Alex’s bed. All three of them looked at Alex with their faces pained and sombre, a sob escaping from Rachel’s tightly pressed lips every now and then as she took in every injured detail of the boy whom she loved with every fibre of her existence.

Alex was stood at the foot of the bed looking down at both himself and three of the people who meant the world to him. His eyes fell on Rachel last and as he saw her, really saw her; he knew that now was the time to fight.

He had to fight for her, not for anyone else but for her.

He wanted to make that smile appear on her face again, he wanted her eyes to light up the way they used to.

He knew that the only way that was going to happen was if he fought.