DUSK TILL DAWN , MILEVEN AU

38.

beep beep beep.

hours and hours on end, the heartbeat monitor was the loudest thing in the room.

it has been two days. two days of mike staying in that chair in the hospital room waiting for her to wake.

"mike," abby gently said. "how about we take a small walk?"

he shook his head, continuing to watch el's figure on the bed as he rubbed the hat el made him in his hands.

"she'll wake soo—"

"it's been two days. they say she should be awake by now," his voice cracked as he spoke quietly. "i don't know what's wrong." he looked down to the present.

"nothing is," abby said gently. "we should just wait till she wakes. it's okay,"

he exhaled, looking up at the clock and watched as every second passed.

tick tick tick.

seconds turned to minutes which turned to hours.

he barely noticed when the it had turned from dusk till dawn. he barely noticed anything.

he was way too out of it.

he had been up for 48 hours straight.

just as he was about to doze off, he felt a small squeeze on his hand which jolted him awake.

"el," he instantly said and sat up straight. "el?" he went forward to her as her eyes fluttered and slowly opened.

she stared at him. "mike,"

he smiled and leaned forward as she tried to sit. instantly, he went to help her and abby went to call the nurse as mike placed a pillow behind her to support her.

she blinked slowly and looked at him. "what.." she looked around the room as mike waited for her to continue.

"why are you here?" she asked quietly as he blinked. "what do you mean? of course i'm here,"

her eyes closed tiredly before they opened and mike could see she was out of it.

she froze for a second, looking at him in fear. "did you.. did you see?"

"what?" he asked in pure confusion.

"you saw, didn't you?" her voice cracked. "i'm sorry. i didn't mean for you to see. and you're here, it means you saw everything." she said, her arms going to tug her sleeves down further as an instinct.

he watched as she did so. "el, what are you talking about?"

"oh my god, did i miss any tests," her voice cracked. "i made a mistake— it was just the heat of the moment. i'm so stupid— i just—" tears began to stream down her face as she sobbed. "i'm so sorry,"

tests. did she miss tests.

no, there's no way.

"you didn't see me fall right? you didn't see? you weren't supposed to. they were, but not you,"

"you weren't supposed to see me jump, i'm so sorry. i'm so sorry," she cried, "and you're here. you know. you've seen my scars," she sobbed and covered her face. "i'm so sorry,"

"honey, sweetheart," he leaned forward and removed her hands from her face. "it's okay. it's okay. just take a deep breath for me. deep breath in and out,"

she whimpered, her chest shaking as she tried to breathe properly.

"i didn't get in," she confessed to him quickly with a gasp. "harvard didn't want me. i am a failure. i'm a complete failure,"