Run Away

~
He stared at her from across the room through the crowd.
"JOHN!" She called from across the room.
"Yessssssssss?" he stood up and laughed at her leaning against the wall, drink in her hand.
"Come here!" she slurred, "BEER PONG BEER PONG!" she chanted.
He walked across the room and stood next to her, grabbing a ball.
"We are SO gonna beat you guys." she laughed at Jared and Kennedy from across the table.
"We'll see." Kennedy winked.
John took the first shot, made it in, and kissed her. Her breath smelled of booze and he liked it.
"Lucky shot!" Kennedy laughed, taking a shot. He missed, and stomped his foot.
"HA!" she laughed, taking her shot and making it.
"Another lucky shot!" Jared smiled, and took his shot making it.
The game went on for another 10 minutes, Lauren and John finally winning.
"SCORE! We are the champions!" she sang, putting her arm around John.
John kissed her forehead and smiled. He loved when she was drunk. She wasn't like all the other girls. Stupid, dramatic, and obnoxious. She was full of personality and she acted as if she wasn't really drunk at all. She was just happy. The only difference was nothing brought her down. Not even her own father.
~
John shook awake with Lauren's bruised hand in his. The beeping of the monitor gave him relief. She was still there. He moved his eyes up to her face. Her bruised and broken down face. She was smiling a little in her sleep. He hoped she was dreaming of him. He gently pulled his hand out of hers and checked his phone. It was 9 in the morning. He laid his head back down and closed his eyes again but it was brief.
"John?" she whispered in a groggy voice. He shot up and looked at her.
"Hey baby." he stared into her big brown watery eyes.
"I remember again." she smiled as best as she could.
"You remember?" he felt his heart flutter. He got a tingly feeling in his face, and he felt everything was going to be alright.
"Up until I got hit. I was listening to it. Saving Grace. On my iPod. I was crossing the road to go and sit under the tree. Our tree. And I was going to have a picnic with myself. Just me and the tree. I hoped it would heal my aching heart from missing you and put me in a better mood. And just like that..." she paused and wiped her eyes which had started to well up, "Someone rounded the corner going really fast. The only thing I could think of was that I'll never see you again, and everything went dark."
Tears rolled down her cheeks . He grabbed her hand.
"I'm never going to let anyone hurt you ever again, do you hear me? I will fight tooth and nail for you. You and I are going to grow old together, do you hear me Lauren?" he was bound and determined. With all his might, he was going to fight for her.
The doctor walked in with a chart, pulling a paper back.
"Lauren." he smiled at her.
"I remember doctor." she sat up carefully.
"I'm glad. If you keep this up, you'll be out of here in a few weeks, and that will be that. Your bones are healing well, and you won't have any permanent damage." he smiled at her again.
"A few weeks? My baby can take me home?!" she grinned, squeezing his hand.
"You can go home. Your brain is a miracle. You are a miracle Lauren. Want me to call your mom?" he asked.
"I want to see my mom." she said, looking at John.
"I'll go call her then. I'll leave you two alone." he stepped out, closing the door behind him.
John's phone rang, showing Garrett's name on the caller I.D.
"Let me answer it?" she asked.
He handed over his phone, nodding his head and smiling.
"Gare bear." she beamed as she answered it.
It was silent for a minute then, "LAUREN OH GOD!" he sobbed.
"Garrett, don't cry." she replied softy.
"Oh my god Lauren it feels so good to hear your voice." he sniffed, tears still falling down his face.
"Come see me darling." she asked.
"I'll be right there TREY COME ON TREY NOW!" Garrett yelled on the other line.
She laughed, "I'll see you in a few Gary."
"Okay." he hung up.
"I bet he's scrambling around his room right now trying to find his shoes." she laughed.
"You know Garrett. One is probably in the living room and the other, as far as we know, is on the roof." John laughed.
"He's always misplacing things. Same old Garrett. How was the tour?" she asked.
"It was great, until, well you know. I just wanted to come home. I don't know why we didn't just cancel..." he trailed off.
"You didn't cancel because you knew I'd be pissed. You know how much your fans mean to me. You know how pissed I would have been John. You and your career come first. We've discussed this." she said fastly.
"But you were basically dead!" he spat out, suddenly frustrated with her.
"Don't get snippy with me Johnny. I was not basically dead. I was in a coma. Just sleeping, waiting for you to come back. Don't you ever put me before hundreds of people. People who have waited months after hearing you're coming to their town, only to find out you'd canceled for 'personal reasons' or something like that? I don't want you letting down people for me. I can hardly handle knowing how much I upset you when this all happened." her eyes welled up again.
"That's why I love you so much. You put everyone and everything above yourself." he wiped a falling tear from her eye.
"You will never even know how much mental pain I am in." she sniffed.
The door swung open and Lauren's mom walked in, sobbing. The doctor followed her in.
"Oh my baby girl!" she sobbed, running over to the bed and softly flinging her arms around her.
"Hi mom." she smiled, wiping her eyes again.
"How do you feel?" she whispered, and pulled away.
"I feel wonderful. It doesn't hurt much. I'm just ready to go home." she grunted a little as she sat up straighter.
"And you will as soon as possible. We are going to take you in for another x-ray and see where those bones are, monitor you for about 3 days to check brain activity in case you have another memory relapse, and then you'll be on your way in a maximum of two weeks." he flipped through the charts again.
"When are you doing x-rays?" she asked.
"Whenever you say go." Dr. Capucilli smiled at her.
The door flung open and Garrett ran in, tears streaming down his face. His brother Trey followed, smiling.
"Oh my god my Lauren!" he scooted past her mom and the doctor and flung his arms around her gently, keeping in mind how bruised and broken she still was.
"Gare bear. Oh sweet angel." she rubbed his back.
He pulled away and smiled through his tears.
"I'm so glad to see you... awake." he wiped his face and kissed her on the forehead.
"Do you really think I could leave all of you amazing people?" she smiled and stroked his cheek with her fingers.
"You are so strong, you know that?" he put his hand on hers.
"Hi Garrett." John smiled, pulling his best friend into a hug.
"Oh John she's okay." Garrett whispered into his ear.