Another Heart Calls

“Listen, call me at anytime if you find out anything,” Patrick ordered Meredith as he wrapped his arms around her. As much as he didn’t want to, he had to go back to the team to finish up the road trip. Coach had told Marty to stay, but they needed Patrick back.

“I will,” Meredith promised, nodding her head. “I love you,” she told him, giving him a kiss.

“I love you, too,” Patrick told her before turning around to look at Marty. “Marty, she’s going to be okay. You know how strong Charlotte is. She’s going to wake up any day now, and knowing her she’s going to go kick Janelle’s ass, and then finish up the wedding plans,” he joked.

Marty gave him a fake smile. “You’re right,” he told him. “Now, go and win some games for her. Because if we’re out of the playoffs when she wakes up, she’ll be blaming you.”

Patrick thought about it for a minute and then nodded his head. “She would blame me,” he said with a weak laugh. “I’ll see you later,” he told Marty before once again giving Meredith a hug and a kiss.

As he walked towards his car, Meredith moved around to put an arm around Marty, with him doing the same to her. “We’re going to get through this together, right?” Meredith asked him unsurely.

“Yeah,” Marty choked out. “She’s going to wake up any minute now,” he assured her.

The following day, Meredith woke up awkwardly slumped in a chair in the corner of Charlotte’s room. After arguing and begging with three different nurses, she and Marty had finally gotten permission to stay in Charlotte’s room for the night.

She sat up, moving her stiff neck around with difficulty. She glanced over at the bed and saw Marty sleeping in a chair he had pulled over to the side of the bed, holding Charlotte’s hand. Her heart fell for them as she stood up, walking to the cafeteria to get her and Marty some breakfast.

She glanced down at her watch to see it was 8:25, and she decided to give Patrick a call since she knew he wouldn’t be busy right now. “Hello?” he asked, sounding groggy.

“Did I wake you?” Meredith asked, mentally scolding herself for forgetting the time change.

“Don’t worry about it,” Patrick told her, sitting up in his bed. “What’s up? Is there any news on Charlotte?” he asked.

“No,” Meredith told him. “Marty and I stayed the night in Char’s room. I just woke up, and I’m going to get us some breakfast.”

“How’s Marty doing?” Patrick asked.

“As well as can be expected. He’s pretty much not leaving her side, which I don’t blame him. He wants to be there when she wakes up,” Meredith explained as she reached the cafeteria and grabbed a tray, piling food onto it.

“God,” Patrick muttered, running a hand through his hair. “I feel like this is all my fault.”

“Your fault?” Meredith questioned. “Patrick, if I hadn’t forced you to go out with Janelle, then all of this wouldn’t have happened.”

“And, if I wouldn’t have slept with her, then all of this wouldn’t have happened,” Patrick reminded her.

“Patrick, why are we blaming ourselves?” she asked as she walked to the cash register to pay for the food. “This is all Janelle’s fault, and we know it. And, I swear, if something happens and Charlotte never wakes up…”

“I know,” Patrick told her quietly.

“Listen, I’m going to let you go,” she told him. “But, call me tonight when you get finished with your game, okay?” she requested.

“As soon as I’m done, I’ll call you,” he promised. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she said. “Oh, and good luck tonight,” she added quickly before he hung up.

She walked back into Charlotte’s room to see Marty stretching out. “Hey,” she smiled at him. “I brought you some breakfast,” she told him, holding out the tray full of food.

“Thanks,” he told her, grabbing a bottle of orange juice off of the tray.

A little while later, Dr. Jenkins walked in. He looked over at the monitors and jotted down a few notes before looking back over at Marty and Meredith. “Good morning,” he smiled at them.

“Hi,” Meredith told him. “So, do you have any news?” she asked hopefully.

“There’s still no change,” Dr. Jenkins told them. “But, the good news is that she’s still got brain function.”

“What does that mean?” Marty asked.

“It means that there’s still a good chance that she’ll wake up,” Dr. Jenkins said, simplifying things as much as possible for him.

“When?” Meredith asked.

“Like I said before, it could be weeks before she wakes up, and it could be never,” Dr. Jenkins answered. “We really just don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Thank you,” Meredith said, watching as Dr. Jenkins exited the room. She turned around to look at Marty. “See, that’s good news.”

“He’s still saying that she may never wake up,” Marty told her.

“But, he said that there’s a good possibility that she will wake up. Marty, you’ve just got to have faith. You’ve got to believe that she’s going to wake up,” Meredith told him. “Marty, just trust that Charlotte’s going to wake up for you.”

“You’re right,” he said, walking around to the side of the bed and once again grabbing Charlotte’s hand.

Later that night, Meredith’s phone rang, and she glanced down to see it was Patrick. Turning to look at Marty, she said, “I’ll be right back. It’s Patrick.” Marty nodded his head as she walked out into the hallway.

“Hey, Meredith,” Patrick said when she picked up. “Any change?”

“No,” Meredith told him. “But, the doctor did say that she still has brain function, and that’s a good sign that she’ll wake up again,” she said.

“Good,” Patrick said, cheering up a bit.

“Oh, so how’d your game go tonight?” she asked.

“We won,” he told her.

“What was the score? Who scored?” she asked, wanting to take her mind off of Charlotte for just a few moments.

“Three to one, and Ben scored a hat trick,” he told her.

“Really? I’m sorry I missed that one! How excited was he?” she asked.

“He was crazy excited! I think it was even better that Lyss was there,” Patrick said, referring to Ben’s girlfriend.

“I’m sure she was even more excited than he was,” Meredith laughed.

“I’m pretty sure that he could hear her screaming over everyone in the arena and out on the ice,” Patrick joked.

Their laughter quieted down, as they both remembered Charlotte lying in the hospital. “Patrick, how am I supposed to do this? How am I supposed to keep up this brave front?” Meredith asked.

“I don’t know,” Patrick admitted. “But, I’ll be there for you in a couple of days,” he told her. “Mer, we’ll get through this together. Charlotte’s going to wake up. She has to.”

“Yeah, she has to,” Meredith repeated, wishing she could believe her own words.