Don't Leave Me Hanging

Distance Means Nothing

I took a seat beside Hugo's stall, pulling my phone out to see a text from Dan,

I'll call you soon, but good luck at the show! Xoxo

I smiled a bit, we both were in St. Louis tonight, but Dan had a gig and I was stuck at the show. I honestly didn't really mind it, but it was finally hitting me that I really missed him. I set my phone down just in time for Ashleigh to not see the text. I still haven't told her about that night, but I'm sure she's going to find out one way or another.

"Grand Prix schooling opens in about five minutes," Ashleigh mentioned, putting her helmet on before going in to get her horse ready.

Nodding, I got up and did the same, tacking Hugo up and leading him outside of his stall. I got on Hugo and led him down the hall and into the warm up arena, which was flooded by dozens of riders. We worked around the other riders and horses, calling out a jump or two before turning around and taking another, stopping once I was pretty happy with how he was acting (which was perfect, like usual).

Ashleigh and I were sat at one end of the arena, watching a few Grand Prix riders go before me, this also allowed time for me to memorize/visualize the course and path I'd be taking for the ideal time.

"In the ring now is Other People's Heartache and Mia Foster from Toronto, Canada," Called the announcer when I stepped into the arena.

I quickly drew the course with my finger before setting off when I heard the 45-second buzzer. We took the first fence easily, my eyes set on the second one which was a tight rollback away.

The 14 jump course proved easy for Hugo and me, going clear and qualifying for the jump-off, which included four other riders.

Come time for our round, I was a bit surprised to find Hugo worked up. He kept tossing his head as we cantered towards the first jump, and so much so that I had to circle and recollect him. We thankfully made it clear over the first fence, but I got a bit too cocky and began pushing him for a fast time on the clock, ignoring his bad behavior.

We landed the sixth fence and turned tightly to the seventh, but my breath hitched when he tripped up around the corner and found a horrible spot to take off for the next fence. All I remember is flying forward and then everything went black.

Dans P.O.V.

We had just finished our gig when I got a call from Ashleigh, "Dan, you have to come to the hospital, Mia's hurt."

"I'm on my way," I told her before hanging up and rushing towards the exit of the venue. I feeling of guilt washed over me, I had told Mia not to go this show since I had a bad feeling about it ever since she fell off of London.

"Dan! Where the hell are you going?" Called Kyle from behind me.

I quickly turned around before pointing towards the door, "Mia's hurt."

He glared at me like I was forgetting something, which I was, "The roads are iced over, you literally can't go anywhere."

Hearing that only made me want to get there quicker, I turned back around and rushed out the door only to nearly slip from all the ice, "Shit!" I called before getting my balance. Kyle soon appeared from the door and joined me, he pulled out his phone and called a Uber.

~~~

Mia's P.O.V.

I tried opening my eyes up, but the sudden change of lighting caused me to close them shut again, which was then greeted by a pounding headache, "Can you turn off the lights?" I asked softly, hoping someone would hear me since I had no clue if I was alone.

My request was fulfilled and I opened my eyes to see a nurse leaving and a familiar face replacing her place.

"How are you feeling?" Dan asked, pulling up a chair and sitting beside my bedside.

I shrugged, in all honestly, I felt like absolute shit, my head was ragging and a sudden pain in my back was rising but I didn't want Dan to worry about me, "I'm alright."

Dan gave me a weak smile, "That's good," He said, taking one of my hands and holding it tightly.

"Dan, what happened?" I asked, glancing at him and noticing he's barely slept by the dark circles around his eyes.

His eyebrows drew together as a concerned look filled his eyes, "Do you not remember anything?"

I shrugged, "I remember everything right before I blacked out. How did I...?" I asked.

"Ashleigh said Hugo found a really bad spot and took off too early," Dan said softly. "But forget about that, get some rest, okay? We'll talk later."

I nodded, giving him a smile before he leaned over and placed a kiss on my cheek. I couldn't help but blush a bit, which I think he noticed, but Dan left, shutting the door quietly behind him before I quickly fell back asleep.

When I did wake up, I found Dan talking to who I assumed was my doctor. Thankfully, my headache subsided and was only bothering me a bit. It wasn't long before they both walked into my room, Dan giving me a smile when he saw me awake.

The doctor asked a few questions about how I was feeling and I explained to him what was hurting and where. He told me it was normal and that the headache and light sensitivity was normal since I had a mild concussion, which was no surprise to me.

"Your fiancée here," He began, which caught my attention because last time I remember I wasn't engaged, "He tells me you have anxiety?" The doctor asked and I nodded which let him continue, "You might have a few panic attacks as your memory returns from the fall, but that's all normal and they should go away."

The second he said that I knew they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, for the past couple of weeks my panic attacks were back and worse than normal. I had some idea of where it was coming from and it was the fact that I moved. The past couple months have been really hard on me, I haven't really been happy with anything and at this point, I just wanted to go home. And that was in London.

The doctor explained that I could fly back home tomorrow, but I had to go with someone, and I immediately got some ideas. Dan was flying back to London tomorrow, while Ashleigh had already left to Toronto with the horses, basically leaving me no other choice.

After the doctor left, Dan sat beside me, his cheeks a little red at the fact that he mentioned that Dan was my 'fiancée', "It was my only excuse to get into your room."

I grinned at him, "That's okay," I said, thinking about mentioning to him that I wanted to stay with him.

"Do you want me to look for flights back to Toronto?" Dan asked, taking my hand once again.

I shook my head, "I've been meaning to tell you something," I began, getting his attention right away, "I kind of hate it in Toronto."

"What do you mean?" He asked, his eyebrows drawing together, "I thought you liked it there?"

"I do! Don't get me wrong, but I just want to go back home, back to London with all my friends and especially you," I said softly.

Dan chuckled a bit which only had me worried, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He asked, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I was afraid that you'd tell Ashleigh, she's having the time of her life while I'm suffering from the worst nostalgia in my life," I explained.

He smiled at me, "I won't tell her, but I'll start looking for tickets back to London for you."

~~~

:) Hope you guys liked that chapter, I thought it was pretty cute!

Also, just and FYI that my next chapter will probably be my last in the book. Such a bitter sweet ending for me

- Lots of love, Vanina