When You Love Someone

Two months after the car accident and Lanie was still non responsive. She simply laid in the bed, her eyes closed, her body unmoving apart from the rise and fall of her chest made by the respirator. The cuts and bruises along her body had healed, the blood washed away by the nurses, her hair was once again blonde and hung around her shoulders. Alex took to running his fingers through it; even brushed it every morning. The doctors said it could help her, his touch. He also did it because it calmed him. The laceration on both her calf and her head healed nicely, leaving behind nothing but a long scar. Her wrist had healed, the cast gone, the leg cast soon following it and her ribs healing perfectly.

Now there was nothing to do but wait... Wait for Lanie to open those blue eyes once more. Alex sat beside her bed for every minute of the wait time. The only time he left her side was the hour or two he left to go home and shower and to spent some time with his kids. He didn't let his kids come to the hospital. James was too young to really understand what was going on, and Colton was old enough to know but just didn't want to see his mother like that. Alex didn't even want to see Lanie like this, but he refused to leave her side for an extended amount of time.

All Time Low were supposed to go on tour but as soon as Matt had heard about the accident, he cancelled the tour. The band made a video blog to explain it all, Alex telling them that his wife had been in an accident and was now in the hospital and he was not going to leave her side. The response from the fans was mixed. A majority of them were very understanding, had even sent gifts, home made cards, and sent flowers to the hospital for Lanie and Alex. There was still that group though, that hated that All Time Low cancelled. They bashed on Lanie, saying that nothing was really wrong with her, that this was just a cover up for the band to slowly fade away, never to be seen from again. Alex was constantly on twitter, keeping his fans updated on Lanie's condition, as well as soothing those fans who thought that this was the end of All time Low, telling them that the four of them were still writing and as soon as Lanie woke up, they would be back in the studio to record it all for them.

"Alex..." Alex turned away from his wife to see her doctor, Sam Corine, standing in the doorway. The past two months had brought the two of them close. They spent a lot of time together, discussing Lanie's situation, past cases that Sam had that were similar to Lanie's, and simply just getting to know one another. "Have you done any more thinking about what I suggested the other day?" Alex turned back to look at Lanie.

A few days previous, Sam had suggested that it was time to take Lanie off the respirator. It was risky. Lanie showed few signs that she would be able to stay alive without it but the doctors feared that keeping her on it would simply hold her back, that she would just stay where she was now, never getting better. They wanted to basically give her a little shove towards recovery. Alex didn't see it like this though. He saw it as pulling the plug on her. To take her off her breathing machine would be to take her air away, to kill her. He knew that it was a 50/50 chance of her either breathing on her own, or her dying, but he was terrified that the latter would happen.

"I don't know, Sam... I'm just scared." Alex answered as he reached forward to take Lanie's hand in his, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

"I know that, Alex, but she is getting no where like this. She will stay like this or die. We have to do something." Sam moved more into the room. Alex looked back at him, staring into his calm blue eyes rimmed with lines. Sam was not an old man, he was only 28 years old but the stress of being a doctor had obviously taken its toll on him. He had bags under his eyes and his blonde hair was limp and had a few grey hairs riddled within the blonde if you looked close enough. Alex figured that he was once a very handsome man, before he chose this stressful career choice. Alex even noted that under his lab coat he was wearing blue jeans and converse on his feet.

"If we take her off of this though, she might die then too, only quicker."

"Yes... but she may also come back to you quicker..." Sam spoke quietly, watching as the words sank into Alex's brain.

"Fine... we can do it..." Alex whispered, staring into Lanie's face. Alex stood up from the chair he sat in and leaned over her, burying his face in her hair as tears welled up in his eyes. "If this makes me loose you...." He sobbed. Sam stood by and watched, his eyes full of sadness as he watched his new found friend. "Come back... please.... don't leave me." Alex turned his head and pressed his lips to her temple. "I love you... so much." Alex stood up, wiping the tears from his face. "When?" Was all he asked Sam.

"As soon as possible..." Alex nodded and stepped away from Lanie's bed.

"I would like to be in the room when it happens." Alex told him, crossing his arms over his chest. More tears continued to well up in his eyes. He tried to hold them back as best he could but his eyes remained watery.

"Alex.. I don't know if -"

"I have to be here, Sam. I'll stay back, out of your way, but I will be in this room. And if you start to lose her, I will come and hold her hand. I will be the last touch she feels before she passes on." Sam stared at Alex sadly, seeing that he would not back down, so he sighed and nodded.

"I'll go get my team ready." Alex simply nodded as Sam left the room. Alex stood where he was until Sam and two nurses returned. He stepped farther away from the bed as they moved around it, clicking buttons and checking certain things. "Alex... this is it... Are you sure you want to be in here?" Alex had his back to the bed, but focused on the beeping of the heart monitor.

"Just do it." Alex whispered, not trusting his voice as tears leaked from his eyes, streaming down his cheeks. He heard Sam's sigh before there was more movement. The beeping of the heart monitor sped up a little. The nurses and Sam called things back and forth to each other, none of it seemed urgent, but none of it made sense in Alex's mind either.

"Alex..." Sam said, his voice calm but hinted with a little surprise. Alex was afraid to find out what the surprise was for. "Look." Alex slowly turned. In front of him was his wife, now hooked up to nothing but an IV drip and a blood pressure cuff. And she was breathing. Her chest was moving up and down, now without the help of any machine.

"It worked!" He gasped, rushing over to the bed to take her hand. Sam patted his shoulders and smiled.

"So far so good. Her lungs sound very strong as does her heart. We want to send her for brain scans a little later, see if there is any activity going on in there that may show that she is becoming more alert. Later on in the week we will start to run some simple tests to see how alert she is, things that should get a response from her. In the mean time, continue to talk with her, play her music, hold her hand. Do everything that you have been doing, basically. I'm full of hope for her, Alex and I will do everything that I can to make sure she is back with you and your kids." Alex stared at Sam for a few seconds before pulling the man into a tight hug.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." He told him when they pulled back. Sam smiled and patted Alex's shoulder once more before he and the nurses left the room. Alex sat down again, still holding Lanie's hand. He stared at her face, it now not being obstructed by the large tube. She looked just like she had two months previously, the last time he had seen her before the accident. Now she looked like she could simply be sleeping. If only that were the case.

Alex rested his head down on the bed, his forehead pressing into the back of her hand. He closed his eyes and began to sing.

"I'd fall anywhere with you
I’m by your side

Swinging in the rain
Humming melodies
We're not going anywhere until we freeze

I’m not afraid, anymore
I’m not afraid

Forever is a long time
But I wouldn't mind spending it by your side

Carefully we'll place our destiny
You came and you took this heart, and set it free
Every word you write or sing is so warm to me, so warm to me
I’m torn, I’m torn to be right where you are

I’m not afraid, anymore
I’m not afraid"

When he finished the song, he could have sworn that he felt pressure on his fingers and her hand twitch a little bit but as he lifted his head up, he saw that she still wasn't awake.

"Lanie?..." He questioned, standing up to lean over his wife. "Baby, can you hear me?" Nothing. He knew he felt her fingers move, he would swear his life on it. "Squeeze my hand again, baby girl. Please, just once more. I need to know that you are in there. Just one squeeze or move your fingers, do something." He told her desperately, bringing his hand up to her cheek, his face close to hers. His eyes widened as her eyebrow twitched down in a frown and then seconds later she was squeezing his hand gently. "Lanie. Oh my god. Baby." Alex now had tears of happiness falling from his eyes as he leaned down to press his forehead to hers. "I knew it. I knew I couldn't give up on you. I knew that you would come back to me."

He pulled back to stare into her face, seeing that her eyes were still closed but she was still frowning. He brought his fingers up to run across the crease her frown was forming on her forehead.

"What's the matter, sweetheart? Open your eyes.... look at me." Rather than her eyes opening, instead her mouth dropped open, her frown growing bigger. Her lips began to move, as if trying to form words but her throat was unwilling to speak after having a tube shoved down it for two straight months. Her heart began to beat a little faster, her breathing increasing as well. Alex kept his hand on her cheek as she was now squeezing his hand with much more force. His heart was pounding against his chest and his eyes were glazed over with the ever present tears as he watched his wife become reanimated in front of him.

".... Lex." She finally croaked out. Alex gasped and smiled a little.

"Baby, no. Don't talk. You'll hurt your throat." He ran his hand through her bangs, moving the hair from his face. "Open your eyes, baby." He watched as her eyes scrunched up, her frown increasing before they slowly began to peer open. She blinked a few times, glancing on the room before her blue eyes met Alex's wide and dripping brown eyes for the first time in two months. "Oh my god." Alex smiled as she stared up at him, the corners of her mouth tilting up as well.

"I-i.... so-" Her mouth was moving to 'I'm sorry' but no words would really come out.

"Shhhh. Baby, I know. It's okay. Don't speak, alright?" Alex told her, making her nod gently. He reached forward to press his forehead to hers. "I knew you would come back to me."

"Always." She managed to whisper out, making him laugh before he leaned forward to press his lips to hers for a short kiss.

So many people may have given up on the young women but Alex hadn't for one second. He knew that she would return to him and here she was, smiling up at him again after two months of being unconscious.

Miracles really do happen. Lanie was proof enough of that.