L I G H T N I N G

“My, what a lovely face. Might I have the pleasure of knowing the name of whom it belongs to?”

“Patrick Cipriano, and I’m definitely not used to compliments like this.”

“I’m not leaving.” The tone was final, and his voice was hoarse from the shouting. Patrick’s eyes never left her face as he spoke, his fingers curling into a fist. “I can’t leave you. I need to know that you’re okay.”

If Michael had been anyone else, he would probably be scared. Luckily for him, he could probably get Patrick on the ground if he wanted to, although he considered it quite unnecessary. “Have you considered that she might need rest? Getting an upset visitor aren’t gonna magically improve her well-being.” He paused for a moment, closely watching the other male. “No. You shouldn’t. Because then you’d both be in this state and you wouldn’t be able to be there for her when you’ve calmed the fuck down.”

Patrick knew that he was right, absolutely right, and that hurt. He wanted more than anything to see her, just to kneel beside her and gaze upon her face once more. What if she was gone by the time he got to her? What if he never saw those beautiful blue eyes look at him again? The thoughts were tearing him apart, but he tried to keep a hold on himself under the iron grip of Michael’s hands gripping his arms. “You’re...you’re right, as much as I hate it.” He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling exhaustion kick in. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I think I’m losing my mind, M.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It actually is the place for me, sorta-kinda.  I’m visiting my dad.  He’s, ah, he’s in the room two doors down from that girl everyone’s here for.  You don’t gotta apologize.  I’ve been there, so I get it.  It seriously sucks.”  Patrick looked so damn deflated.  Last time she’d seen him, he’d been so bright, so enthusiastic about everything.  She awkwardly clapped a hand on his shoulder.  “So, what happened?  With that girl.”

Patrick immediately felt his heart drop in his stomach as he took in what the girl was telling him. He immediately reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close beside her. “I can’t imagine how difficult that must be, I’m so sorry.” He stroked the side of her arm, adding, “You know I’m here, right? If you need anything. A place to stay, someone to hang out with here, a shoulder to cry on. Anything at all.” Patrick pressed his lips to the top of her head briefly, hoping to comfort her, before sighing and pulling back to speak again. “She...erm, Dina got hit. She was in a car accident. That’s all I know right now.”

“I...I’m sorry.” That was all he could say in that moment. Patrick couldn’t deal with all the emotions raging through him, from the pure fury that seemed to buzz through his veins to the sorrow and heartbreak that pounded through his bloodstream at the thought of the blonde that seemed to always occupy his thoughts. Cold, alone, hanging on by a thread. It was enough to send him insane, if he weren’t trying to focus on the girl in front of him. “I really am sorry, Bianca, I...I can’t do this. I can’t be composed and calm here. I just keep thinking about her. She’s...what if she doesn’t make it?” The words came out small and weak, so unlike himself. He was vulnerable, and could only cover his head in his hands as he tried not to break down.

“Well,” he took a small step backwards, not really thrilled about the idea of fighting someone in a hospital but Patrick did seem kind of aggressive and Michael wasn’t too sure what to expect. “You don’t need to see Dina right now, no. You need to calm the fuck down, or I’m afraid going in there might be a terrible idea. Do you really think being angry is going to solve anything?”

The only sound that could be described as coming out of Patrick’s mouth in response was a growl. He turned to his friend, letting the full range of emotions he was feeling come to the surface as his voice raised. “Don’t tell me what I need and don’t need. Don’t tell me I don’t need to see Dina, or I need to calm down. She’s in there, alone, and I couldn’t protect her.” He ran a hand through his hair, looking away. “I...I don’t know what I’m doing. I should’ve been there, I should’ve...”

“Whoa.”  Felicity, who’d been perched in the waiting room to see her dad, wasn’t quite sure who Dina was.  She just knew this guy looked like he was about to strangle to nurse.  “Whoa, I’m sorry, whatever happened.  You can sit next to me while you wait if you want.”

Turning to see Felicity standing there, he immediately felt bad about how angry he had let himself become. Shame washed over him; he must have looked like some sort of monster, no better than the creatures who walked the streets of Verona. Somehow, seeing her innocent wide eyes looking at him, her hesitant little smile as she gestured for him to sit by her, seemed to stop him from exploding. Sighing, Patrick nodded, walking over to her. “I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have had to see me like that. I...I apologise.” Frowning, he asked, “What are you doing here? You should be at home. This isn’t the place for you.”

Of all the people Patrick may have wanted to see in that moment, Gertrude would have been at the bottom. No, that was a lie. She would have been second to last, next to her bastard of a son. In his furious mind, he could only think about the fact that she was part of the reason Dina was in a hospital bed, lying between life and death. She had brought Hamlet into this world, and he had hurt Dina. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said, his voice cold as he glared at her. He couldn’t bring himself to feel guilty over it, either. “I need to see her. I need to see what damage your son did to her.”

She did not care about Patrick or his pesky problems, but she also knew it was likely the doctor would leave him here waiting if she left his side. “What’s going on here?”

"Thank you,” he gritted his teeth, torn between knowing she didn’t deserve any of this malice and needed someone to take his frustration out on. Finally, he answered her question, his voice full of venom. “Dina— she got hit by a car. Hamlet Nielsen’s car.” Patrick pinched his nose between his fingers, letting out a long sigh. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Why would I lie about something like that? You. Hit. Dina. Don’t try and lie about it.”

3 am thoughts (via suspend)

“You’re in the hospital. You—You hit someone. A car crash.”

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