A Lot of Potential

It was a long wait. I sat in the emergency room waiting area for the longest time by myself. I sat in the corner, crying and praying to God he would be okay. It didn't help me out any by the way I looked now. My makeup was smeared and I had my hair pulled up into a messy bun. My dress was stained with his blood and was missing fabric from it, exposing a lot of my left thigh.

After four hours of waiting, a nurse finally came out. "Hi, are you in relation to Alexander Gaskarth?"

"Yes." I nodded. "I'm his wife."

"Okay, excellent." she smiled.

"How is he?" I grew impatient with her slow talking.

"He's fine. He had some internal bleeding, but we took care of it. He's stitched up and sleeping in a room."

I sighed with relief, tears flooding from my eyes again. "Thank God! Can I see him, please?"

"You most certainly can." she nodded. "He's on the second floor in room 221."

"Okay, thank you so much." I said, standing up quickly. I nearly ran to the elevators, tapping the up button what seemed to be over a thousand times. "Hurry the fuck up!"

The elevator opened and I hurried in, pressing the second floor button. It jolted up, nearly knocking me to the ground. The elevator doors flew open, exposing the second floor. I walked out, looking for the number 221. Once I found 220, I kicked off my heels and ran to 221. I quietly pushed open the door and shut it behind me, taking slow steps to the other side of the room.

Like the nurse said, he was sleeping. He had a oxygen mask over his face, with his mouth slightly open. I swore to God he was the cutest thing when he was sleeping, but it hurt to think that since he was laying in a hospital bed.

I set my heels down and walked to the edge of his bed, touching his arm carefully. I pushed his hair out of his face and kissed his forehead. I was startled when his eyes flew open, looking around for a moment. We made eye contact and he flashed me a warm, tired smile, then closed his eyes and returned back into his sleeping state.

I walked over to a chair in the corner and sat down, resting my head on the arm of the chair. His phone lit up in my lap, making me sit up to check it out. He had a text from Rian, telling me that they were down in the lobby. I wanted to let Alex rest for a bit, so I decided to go down to the lobby with them. They needed to know what was going on.

I stood up and walked back across the room, placing another kiss on his forehead before I left. I pursed my lips and walked back out to the elevators. I rode it back down to the lobby, finding Rian and Matt pacing the floor, Jack sitting on the couch with tears running down his face. Kara and Kaylyn weren't to be found.

I walked into sight of Rian, pulling him into a hug. "Haley, where the hell is he? What's wrong?" he asked with a worried tone.

"Right now he's asleep." I sighed with relief. I swallowed the lump in my throat before I attempted to say anything else. "We, we were walking b-back and we g-got followed by this st-strange man. We tried to ignore him and keep walking, th-then he threw a rock and h-hit me in the back. Al-Alex stopped and asked him what he wanted, and he wanted money. He handed it over, then Alex got stab-stabbed in the side." I stuttered, trying to keep the sobs from returning. "He stole money and my cellphone."

"Are you hurt?" Jack asked, standing up from the couch.

"I have a few scrapes on my knees where I was pushed down and possibly a bruise on my back, but I think I'm fine."

"Okay, good." he sighed. "What the hell was Alex thinking?"

"He was trying to protect me." I sobbed. "Jack, it's all my fault."

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is." I sighed, wiping away the tears. "It's only because I'm a helpless little girl."

"Haley, quit putting yourself down like this. It isn't your fault at all." he said, wrapping his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. "You saved his life."

"Yeah, Haley, without you there, Alex probably would have bled to death." Rian said, patting my shoulder.

"Haley!" I heard Kara call, running across the lobby with Kay close behind her. "Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked, pulling me out of Jack's arms, and brought me into hers.

"Yeah," I nodded. "but Alex is who you should be worried about."

"You have no idea!"

"Haley, how is he?" Kay asked, also joining into the hug with Kara.

"He's okay now. He's just sleeping. He got stabbed in the side- i'll explain the rest of that later- and he had a little internal bleeding, but they stopped it and he's fine now." I shook, just really wanting to go back up and sit with him.

"Oh thank God." she said, placing her hand over her heart.

"You should come back to the bus with us and get some rest, Hails." Kara suggested.

I shook my head, feeling a bit angry. "No, I'm staying here."

"But don't you want to change?"

"I don't care honestly. I only care about my husband's well-being right now." I snapped, walking towards the elevator. "I'll see you guys in the morning."

I rode the elevator back up, starting to feel a little guilty about being a bitch to Kara. I had every right to not want to leave Alex's side. She wouldn't want to if it was Rian. I brushed off those thoughts and calmly walked back to his room, ignoring the stares I got from nurses and doctors in the hallway.

I walked back in and dragged the chair to the side of his bed, taking a seat in it, and attempted to find a comfortable sleeping position. It was rather difficult, but I pulled it off and fell asleep. But that task took time, not feeling the same without his arms wrapped around me.
__________________________________________

I woke up the next morning to a pillow hitting me in the face. I opened my eyes quickly and sat up, looking at Alex. He laid there with a smug grin on his face. "Good morning, baby."

"Alex!" I shrieked, pushing myself out of the chair. I grabbed his hand and held onto it tightly, feeling tears explode from my eyes again. "Oh, Alex, I love you so much."

"I love you too." he tiredly said.

"I'm so sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for."

"Alex, this is my-" I started, but stopped because of his quickly changed expression.

"Don't even start." he sighed, covering his face with his free hand.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, wrapping my arms protectively around me. "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted." he answered. "I can't feel anything from my rib cage to my junk. I'm not sure how I feel about this." he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

I giggled, lacing my fingers through his again. "You'll get it back later."

"And I'd like to apologize for ruining that lovely dress of yours." he said with a straight face, his chocolate brown eyes traveling up and down my body. "I'm sorry I bled on you too."

"I had to do something." I shrugged. "Fast thinking."

"Without it, I probably would've bled to death."

"I wouldn't be able to live without you, so if that meant ruining my dress with your blood, I'd kindly take that bargain." I smiled, setting down on the edge of his bed.

"Come here." he moved over a little, patting the space next to him. I gently laid down next to him, feeling him wrap his arm around me. I curled on on his right side, which was opposite to his wound, and rested my head on his chest. "I feel really bad for not getting to tell you how beautiful you looked last night."

"It's okay. I don't care. Just as long as you're still breathing."

"I love you."

"I love you too." I whispered, kissing his pale lips.

"Now, I wanna know when I can get out of this horrid place." he smiled, leaning his head into mine. "I have shows to play."

"You're gonna have to take it easy for a couple days, babe."

"Fuck that shit." he rolled his eyes. "I also wanna know how long this sets me back from having sex for a while."

"Oh my God, you would think about something like that." I shook my head. "Lets just focus on getting you back to your healthy state."

"I am healthy."

"Alex, quit being difficult." I sighed.

"Sorry. I just have a lot of people to make happy." he kissed my cheek, playing with my hair.

"Don't worry about me." I shrugged. "Worry about making yourself happy."

"But you being happy makes me happy. I'd love to give you what you want." he placed his hand on my stomach. "If I haven't already." he laughed. "I'm gonna nap now."

"You need it."

"You look like you need it worse than I do." he kissed my lips and wrapped both arms around me. "I love you, like a lot."

"I love you too." I whispered back, cuddling closer to him. "Always."