Mirror Man

A Strange Day!

Danny had not wanted to let go, to part from the man he'd only just got to know, but with a promise to come and visit again, followed again by the few seconds of incessant rapid beeping of the monitor he had finally let go.

Placing the warm hand gently back on the bed he'd said a quiet goodbye and left the dimly lit room, leaving John and Rachel to say their farewells and speak quickly to the new doctor on shift as he checked Marks notes.

Closing the door behind him Danny sank sideways into a hard plastic chair, that somehow was placed conveniently just to the side of the door, head spinning as pain, thirst, hunger and the reality of seeing mirror man in the flesh made him queasy.

"Danny, Danny are you alright?", as he slumped forward a hand on his shoulder pushed him back up, eyes half closed he recognised John, his concerned eyes searching Dannys face for an answer.

To one side he vaguely heard Rachel close the door and drop to crouching at his side, placing a hand on his forehead.

"He's hot", Rachels quiet tone barely reached his ears as the headache pounded fiercely.

"I'll get him some water", Johns face swam as his vision distorted then cleared.

"Rest your head" Rachel whispered as she pulled another hard plastic chair seemingly from nowhere, placing it beside him, sitting herself down then leaning in to pull his head to her, resting it on her shoulder.

"Here, drink this", the cold edge of a plastic cup grazed his lips as he reached up, grabbing the cup and downing the icy contents in one go, a sudden unimaginable thirst ravaging his body.

A second cup appeared before him, then a third, each one greedily consumed, by the fourth cup his head was clearing and his stomach was growling fiercely, reaching into his pocket he took out his medication, popped the required dose out into his palm and downed the tablets in one go.

"How do you feel now?", raising his head Danny registered the voice of the woman who he had been resting on, pulling away sharply with embarrassment.

"Oh god, I'm so so sorry, I didn't mean to.......sorry", he panicked at the thought that he'd slouched on the body of a woman he'd only known for a few hours, and that he'd made such a spectacle of himself, right outside the room where her son lay in a coma.

"It's okay, it's alright" Rachel pulled him back down as he attempted to stand shakily.

A loud gutteral growl filled the corridor as his stomach churned and grumbled, the toast that had filled a hole a few hours earlier had long since been digested leaving him hungrier than ever.

John reappeared offering Danny a hand to pull himself up with, "come on, we're taking you to lunch", the man set his lips in a firm line as Danny began to object, "no arguments Danny, you nearly passed out just now, and you're injured, it's the least we can do".

Silent tears rolled down the pale face, settling into the tatty scruff around his chin, the feeling of being cared for suddenly overwhelming his senses as Rachel once again took his arm, guiding him slowly along the corridor, John following.

Seated back in the car, securely clicking the seatbelt clip into its base Danny sighed, head tipping back against the headrest he began to doze.

A sharp jingle made him jump, his phone, where had he put his phone?, he then remembered as he dug into his jacket pocket the text he'd had that morning, the text he'd never answered, the one he hadn't even read, so preoccupied with the mirror man.

Hinny: Where the bloody hell are you?, I've been trying to get hold of you all day, are you alright?.

Danny grimaced slightly, causing his head to thump gently, he really didn't want to have to explain his strange day to his best friend over text, he didn't have the mental capacity at that time to engage in complicated explanations.