CASTAWAY ⚓ R.C, J.M

F I V E

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H O S P I T A L    G A R D E N

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The Pogues and Mr Routledge all sat around Harley's hospital bed. Originally, they had been watching the clock in the waiting room anxiously, once Mr Routledge had parked up the truck and got them all inside. The doctors had informed him that since the seizure didn't exceed five minutes and she had begun to come around slightly in the ambulance, her condition wasn't critical. They had taken her for an MRI scan and carried out multiple checks to rule out bleeding from the brain or brain swelling.

It had been ten minutes since they had brought a sleeping Harley back into her room. They weren't as anxious as before, knowing that she was okay, but it didn't stop them from worrying. Especially John B, this being the third time he was front and centre of Harley being in harm's way.

A low groan came from Harley. She shifted and murmured something. Her eyes fluttered then screwed shut.

Everybody moved to the edge of their seats in anticipation of her waking up.

"Remember she's going to be a bit groggy."

"She'll remember us, right?" John B looked to his dad for assurance. He already knew what the doctors had said.

"Hopefully."

"This is my fault. I shouldn't have pushed to get her memory back."

Kiara smiled sadly. "You were just trying to help. We all were."

Harley swallowed down the dry lump in her throat and eased open her eyes. The first person she saw through her blurry, fading haze was John B. She tried to say his name whilst blinking away the haze.

"Hey," John B smiled. He wanted her to stay awake so he kept talking. "How are you feeling?"

She tried to reach for her head in response, but Mr Routledge stopped her so that she wouldn't rip out her IV. She inhaled deeply and tried to sit up.

"Hey, stay laying down," Mr Routledge said lowly. "Stay laying down for a bit."

"I think I fell. But I'm okay."

"You did more than fall, Harley. You need to rest for a little bit."

Harley looked forward and saw JJ at the bottom of the bed beside Pope. They had her worried now. One of her hands went to her wrist and started rubbing over her skin.

"What happened?"

All eyes went to Mr Routledge. He fixed his glasses and cleared his throat. "You had a seizure."

"A seizure? I couldn't have. I've never had a seizure before."

Everyone looked at her surprised, until she herself began to look confused. They had thought she remembered something about herself.

"Why would I have a seizure?"

A smiling man waltzed in just in time. He had cropped, sandy hair and olive eyes behind thick rimmed glasses. He wore a bright smile as he fixed his white overcoat. "I can answer that for you."

"Please do," JJ muttered very, very loudly. John B sent him a look to cut it out. He could see the anxiety written all over Harley's face.

"When you first came to the hospital, we told you that you suffered a head injury. You had hit the front of your head and fractured the back off your head. That caused a little swelling of the brain. At the time we were happy with how it went down. That's classed as a traumatic brain injury and so that caused you to have an early post-traumatic seizure."