Compelled (a Hat Films Fanfic)

Explanations

        Her eyes flickered open; bright green irises shone with recognition as her gaze fell on me. "Ross?" she asked quietly.

        I grabbed her hand. "Yeah, I'm here. It's okay," I told her.

        "Where am I?" she asked, finally noticing the coma ward and the numerous machines around her.

        I sighed. The sound of her voice was angelic, and I was elated that I could finally hear what she sounded like. "We're at the hospital. You had an accident and was in a coma, but your back now," I said, giving her a reassuring smile.

        "Ross?" she asked, and I bent my head closer so I could hear.

        "Mm?" I asked, and then she was pulling me closer with her hand around my neck.

        "I love you," she said simply, pressing her lips against mine softly...

        "Ross!" Trott repeated, snapping me out of my daydream.

        "What?" I asked. "Oh yeah, that's fine," I added quickly, not actually knowing what he asked me.

        "Really?" Smith asked. "Cause last week you were against using the extra donations for new monitors," he said apprehensively, "You wanted to get new mics." He took a bite of his sandwich and continued to look at me, waiting for a response.

        "Oh, yeah, we need better microphones," I stuttered, embarrassed.

        "Ross are you okay?" Trott asked delicately.

        "Yeah," I sighed, "Sorry I was just thinking about Amanda."

        "What's the deal with her?" Trott asked me, "Is she gonna live or what?"

        I flinched at the blunt nature of his question. I didn't want to even consider her death an option, even though it was a very possible reality. "No one knows," I shrugged, trying to keep casual but feeling my heart race as I spoke. "Though, the nurse says her having no friends or family around to comfort her hurts her chances of survival," I told them.

        "How?" Smith asked incredulously.

        "They can hear you when you talk..." I said quietly, realizing how weird that sounded.

        "It's not your responsibility though," Smith said rudely. I shot him a look and he shrunk down, apologizing.

        "I just," I said, not knowing what to say. "If I can keep her from dying, then I'm going to, right?" I asked, looking for moral approval from them.

        Smith got a look on his face that signified that he was thinking, an uncommon phenomenon. "What'd you say her last name was?" he asked.

        "Romeo," I told him.

        He squinted at some point in the distance. "That sounds really familar..." he trailed.

        "Yeah, it does," Trott agreed.

        I ignored them, not seeing where they were going with this. While we were on the subject of this mystery comatose girl, I wanted to get something out of the way. "So anyway," I started, "I was thinking, since Sips won't be here this afternoon and we already recorded a lot today..." I said. Trott and Smith both gave me confused looks, so I continued. "I was thinking I was gonna go see Amanda again this afternoon."

        They looked at each other, and then back at me with pity in their eyes. "I don't think that's the best idea..." Trott said, "this week is extremely busy for us, we still have the filthy animals video to edit and that huge chunk of Skyblock and..." he listed off our responsibilities.

        "I could bring my laptop and do some editing while I'm there!" I suggested quickly before they said no. I really wanted to see her, even if it meant I had to work over there instead of in the office.

        They must have heard the desperation in my voice. "Well, as long as your working..." Smith said, looking towards Trott for approval.

        I jumped up, stuffing the last few crisps in my mouth before throwing away my garbage in the bin and running out. "Thanks guys!" I called as I left the room. I didn't wait for their response as I pulled out my car keys and left Yogtowers.

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"I don't know if you know what Minecraft is, but it's our main content," I told Amanda as I edited in the death counter and challenge completed animation. "We play Skyblock with Sips, he's a Canadian who's also part of the Yogscast. He's visiting for the week so were trying to record as much as we can with him," I continued. I proceeded to talk more about Skyblock and what it was and the different types of challenges. I didn't know if she could hear me, but  I hoped I wasn't boring her. I didn't have much else to talk about.

        I heard footsteps approaching and I looked up to see a nurse walking towards us. She was the same one that I had talked to this morning, and she was holding some type of liquid bag. "Alright Amanda," she said, "I just need to change your IV bag," she told the patient. I watched her as she worked, not understanding any of the complicated things she was doing with all the machines.

        "So what's your name sweetie?" she asked, continuing to work.

        "Uh, Ross...Ross Hornby," I told her.

        "She your friend? Sister? Girlfriend?" she asked, looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

        I wondered if I should lie, but this nurse seemed trust worthy and down to earth. "I don't know anything about her, I just saw her get hit," I said.

        "You wouldn't know with the way you look at her," she said, finishing her tasks and giving me a small smile.

        We were quiet for a moment as I looked down at Amanda. "Do you really think she can hear us?" I asked after a while.

        "Honey, working here," she motioned around the room, "You see a lot of tragedy." I lowered my eyes, not wanting to hear it. "But," she added, "you also see a lot of miracles." She looked down at Amanda, "She may be dying, but she's the strongest person I've seen in a long time. She has control over if she wakes up or not, and a nice man like yourself, keeping her company? It will make it much easier to stay." She reached over and placed a hand on my shoulder, "stay hopeful and she will too."

        The nurse left with the empty IV bags after that, and I returned to my laptop screen. Every so often I'd look over at Amanda, wondering what her story was. Where was she from? What did she like to do? What were her dreams an aspirations? Would she wake up?

        Another thing that bothered me that night was what the nurse said. Was there any truth to it or was I wasting my time?

A/N sorry this chapter was late and short, it was kinda hard to write because it was basically filler between the second and fourth chapter, and I was having trouble connecting ideas and themes. I want to say thanks for the veiws and votes, it really means so much to me that you guys are enjoying it. I appreciate the support, it helps me keep going. Happy reading.