I Am Nothing Without You By My Side 2/?
Title: I Am Nothing Without You By My Side 2/?
Author: saar_fantasy
Pairing: Michael Phelps/Ryan Lochte
Rating: PG-13 (to be safe)
Warnings: major character in a coma, flashbacks to happy-and not so happy-times
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the people used in this fic. The words and the plot are mine.
Summary: Michael doesn't leave Ryan's bedside.
After Debbie had called Ike, she and Steven were on their way to the hospital, informing Ryan's sisters and brothers so they could get to the hospital as well.
There was one other passenger in the oldest Lochte's car. A passenger who sadly couldn't join them inside the hospital. It was Ryan's dog; Carter.
Ryan's parents met up with Debbie first, who then led them to Ryan's room, where Michael was still sitting, but now holding Ryan's hand in his.
Ike gasped, clasping her hand in front of her mouth, before all but running towards the bed. Steve wasa little slower and clamped a hand on Michael's shoulder, before sitting down next to his wife.
"I'm so sorry," Michael whispered, making both Ike and Steve look up at him in surprise.
"This isn't your fault, Michael." Steve said and Ike nodded.
"You couldn't have known that his plane would crash." She said, then looked back down at her son, carding her hand though his hair, much like Michael had done before.
Michael felt his mother's presence right behind him and leaned back a little, feeling his mother's hands coming to rest on his shoulders.
"I'm still sorry." He didn't get a response, which he didn't expect to get either, so he looked up at his mother. "Does Greg know?"
Debbie nodded, "I called him as well. He's gonna come by as soon as he can."
"What about the others? Cullen and Nate and Allie..."
"I thought it would be better if you contacted them. By the way, Whitney and Hilary have both texted me to ask how you're holding up."
Michael shrugged, looking down at his and Ryan's hand, their fingers laced together.
"I'll be fine." the 'as soon as Ryan wakes up' wasn't added, but it didn't have to. Debbie squeezed his shoulders. "I'll send them a group text. But...I don't want to leave him."
Ike looked up at him again and smiled sadly. "I don't think it will do any trouble to this machine. Go ahead and text them."
Michael gave a small, but grateful smile, then fumbled with his phone because he wasn't used to text one-handedly. That's what you get when you don't want to let go of your unconscious boyfriend's hand.
'Ryan was on the plane that crashed near Jacksonville. He's in the hospital in a coma.'
It's short and to the point, just like it's supposed to be, and sends into a group text to all the swimmers he and Ryan are closest to.
He doesn't have to wait long for replies, Cullen sending him that he's on his way and Allison that she'll be there as soon as she can. Matt and Nathan tell him to stay strong, Conor and Ricky don't know what to say except that're gonna try and visit as well. They were all the same messages, really.
He just wished it didn't have to be this way. That Ryan would be sitting next to him now, playing the goofball that he is most of the time, instead of lying so lifeless on that tupid hospital bed.
~~++~~
Ryan's brothers and sisters turn up one at a time and even then Ryan's parents leave the room because the doctor said it was better for Ryan to not have to much of a ruckus around him right now. Michael refused to leave the room, which they all understood, so someone had to give; in this case Ran's parents and Debbie.
Cullen turns up pretty soon, looking awfully upset when he sees one of his best friends so lifeless, while Ryan is usually so full of life. It scares the crap out of him.
Allison gives him the biggest bear hug she has ever given him, then talks about things they can do when Ryan wakes up. When, not if. Because she's sure he's gonna wake up soon.
Michael doesn't dare to go up in her enthusiasm too much, but he does smile gratefully at her.
After a while, everyone's gone except Michael, Debbie and Ryan's parents. It's getting close to when visiting hour ends, but Michael is adamant about staying the night. The nurses bring a coth into the room and a spare pillow and blanket, so Michael can unfold it and sleep on it once everyone else is gone.
There's one more problem, though... One of the nurses enters the room to inform them that there's a dog inside a car who's barking up the whole neighborhood and if it's possible that the dog is of one of them.
Ike and Steve apologize and Steve says he'll go and shut him up, but Michael has another idea.
"Can I bring him in?"
"I'm sorry, mr. Phelps," the nurse answers, "Dogs are not allowed in here."
"But I know Carter. He won't shut up until he's seen his boss. He knows something'swrong. Dogs can feel things like that."
The nurse looks around the room, searching for help, but all the parents do is shrug.
"Fine," the nurse finally relents. "Most visitors have already left. Just make sure he keeps quiet."
"Thank you." Michael says, then leans down towards Ryan and kisses his forehead. "I'll be right back."
Steve gives him the carkeys and then Michael is hurrying out of the hospital, towards the car. It isn't hard to find at all with Carter's constant barking.
As soon as Carter sees Michael, his tail starts wagging and his barks stop. Michael opens the door and gets attacked by two paws on his shoulder and a tongue in his face. Michael has to laugh, something he hasn't done yet for the whole day.
"Easy boy," Michael says, taking hold of the doberman's leach. "I'm gonna take you to Ryan, but you've got to be very quiet, ok?"
Carter gives one bark, Michael takes it as a yes. He locks the car again, then takes, a very quiet, Carter into the hospital.
The closer they get to Ryan's room, the more restless Carter becomes. Michael can tell by the way he walks with his tail between his legs and his ears flat against his head.
Once they enter the room, Carter trails slowly behind Michael, who's leading him towards the bed. Once there, Michael takes Ryan's hand. "There's someone here who would like to say hello, Ry." he says and then holds Ryan's hand in front of Carter's nose, who first sniffs at it, then gives it a tentative look and licks it.
When Ryan doesn't even wiggle his fingers, Carter whines and nudges at his boss' hand, but it doesn't move. Michael pats his head instead.
"I'm sorry, boy. Ryan won't be able to play with you for a while."
Carter whines again, laying his head down on Michael's lap, still looking at Ryan's hand. Michael felt like Carter was just as sad as he was, seeing Ryan like that.
"We should go." Steven says quietly, laying one hand on his wife's shoulder, the other one on his oldest son's arm. "We'll see you tomorrow, Ry."
Ike bend down, kissing her son's forehead. "Ti amo, hijo." She clasped his hand in hers, squeezing it tightly before straightening up, wiping at her eyes with one hand, while the other searched out her husband's hand. "Take care of him, Michael."
Michael nods, kissing Ike's cheek and shaking Steven's hand, before leading Carter away from Ryan's side.
"Come on, boy. It's time to go." Carter hesitates, so Michael puts on his leash that he found in the trunk of the car and hands it to Steven.
Carter struggles just a little bit, before following Lochte senior out of the room. Ike looks back one more time before she closes the door.
Then it was just Michael and an unconscious Ryan.
Michael takes the coth and pushes it as close to the hospital bed as he can. He fluffs up his pillow, takes the sleeping bag they gave him and lies down on the make shift bed.
He lifts his arm, grabbing Ryan's hand and pulls on it, so his arm is dangling over the bed and holds on to the hand.
He falls asleep like that, clutching at Ryan's hand like it's a lifeline.
He doesn't notice the small twitch of Ryan's fingers in the middle of the night...
Author: saar_fantasy
Pairing: Michael Phelps/Ryan Lochte
Rating: PG-13 (to be safe)
Warnings: major character in a coma, flashbacks to happy-and not so happy-times
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the people used in this fic. The words and the plot are mine.
Summary: Michael doesn't leave Ryan's bedside.
After Debbie had called Ike, she and Steven were on their way to the hospital, informing Ryan's sisters and brothers so they could get to the hospital as well.
There was one other passenger in the oldest Lochte's car. A passenger who sadly couldn't join them inside the hospital. It was Ryan's dog; Carter.
Ryan's parents met up with Debbie first, who then led them to Ryan's room, where Michael was still sitting, but now holding Ryan's hand in his.
Ike gasped, clasping her hand in front of her mouth, before all but running towards the bed. Steve wasa little slower and clamped a hand on Michael's shoulder, before sitting down next to his wife.
"I'm so sorry," Michael whispered, making both Ike and Steve look up at him in surprise.
"This isn't your fault, Michael." Steve said and Ike nodded.
"You couldn't have known that his plane would crash." She said, then looked back down at her son, carding her hand though his hair, much like Michael had done before.
Michael felt his mother's presence right behind him and leaned back a little, feeling his mother's hands coming to rest on his shoulders.
"I'm still sorry." He didn't get a response, which he didn't expect to get either, so he looked up at his mother. "Does Greg know?"
Debbie nodded, "I called him as well. He's gonna come by as soon as he can."
"What about the others? Cullen and Nate and Allie..."
"I thought it would be better if you contacted them. By the way, Whitney and Hilary have both texted me to ask how you're holding up."
Michael shrugged, looking down at his and Ryan's hand, their fingers laced together.
"I'll be fine." the 'as soon as Ryan wakes up' wasn't added, but it didn't have to. Debbie squeezed his shoulders. "I'll send them a group text. But...I don't want to leave him."
Ike looked up at him again and smiled sadly. "I don't think it will do any trouble to this machine. Go ahead and text them."
Michael gave a small, but grateful smile, then fumbled with his phone because he wasn't used to text one-handedly. That's what you get when you don't want to let go of your unconscious boyfriend's hand.
'Ryan was on the plane that crashed near Jacksonville. He's in the hospital in a coma.'
It's short and to the point, just like it's supposed to be, and sends into a group text to all the swimmers he and Ryan are closest to.
He doesn't have to wait long for replies, Cullen sending him that he's on his way and Allison that she'll be there as soon as she can. Matt and Nathan tell him to stay strong, Conor and Ricky don't know what to say except that're gonna try and visit as well. They were all the same messages, really.
He just wished it didn't have to be this way. That Ryan would be sitting next to him now, playing the goofball that he is most of the time, instead of lying so lifeless on that tupid hospital bed.
~~++~~
Ryan's brothers and sisters turn up one at a time and even then Ryan's parents leave the room because the doctor said it was better for Ryan to not have to much of a ruckus around him right now. Michael refused to leave the room, which they all understood, so someone had to give; in this case Ran's parents and Debbie.
Cullen turns up pretty soon, looking awfully upset when he sees one of his best friends so lifeless, while Ryan is usually so full of life. It scares the crap out of him.
Allison gives him the biggest bear hug she has ever given him, then talks about things they can do when Ryan wakes up. When, not if. Because she's sure he's gonna wake up soon.
Michael doesn't dare to go up in her enthusiasm too much, but he does smile gratefully at her.
After a while, everyone's gone except Michael, Debbie and Ryan's parents. It's getting close to when visiting hour ends, but Michael is adamant about staying the night. The nurses bring a coth into the room and a spare pillow and blanket, so Michael can unfold it and sleep on it once everyone else is gone.
There's one more problem, though... One of the nurses enters the room to inform them that there's a dog inside a car who's barking up the whole neighborhood and if it's possible that the dog is of one of them.
Ike and Steve apologize and Steve says he'll go and shut him up, but Michael has another idea.
"Can I bring him in?"
"I'm sorry, mr. Phelps," the nurse answers, "Dogs are not allowed in here."
"But I know Carter. He won't shut up until he's seen his boss. He knows something'swrong. Dogs can feel things like that."
The nurse looks around the room, searching for help, but all the parents do is shrug.
"Fine," the nurse finally relents. "Most visitors have already left. Just make sure he keeps quiet."
"Thank you." Michael says, then leans down towards Ryan and kisses his forehead. "I'll be right back."
Steve gives him the carkeys and then Michael is hurrying out of the hospital, towards the car. It isn't hard to find at all with Carter's constant barking.
As soon as Carter sees Michael, his tail starts wagging and his barks stop. Michael opens the door and gets attacked by two paws on his shoulder and a tongue in his face. Michael has to laugh, something he hasn't done yet for the whole day.
"Easy boy," Michael says, taking hold of the doberman's leach. "I'm gonna take you to Ryan, but you've got to be very quiet, ok?"
Carter gives one bark, Michael takes it as a yes. He locks the car again, then takes, a very quiet, Carter into the hospital.
The closer they get to Ryan's room, the more restless Carter becomes. Michael can tell by the way he walks with his tail between his legs and his ears flat against his head.
Once they enter the room, Carter trails slowly behind Michael, who's leading him towards the bed. Once there, Michael takes Ryan's hand. "There's someone here who would like to say hello, Ry." he says and then holds Ryan's hand in front of Carter's nose, who first sniffs at it, then gives it a tentative look and licks it.
When Ryan doesn't even wiggle his fingers, Carter whines and nudges at his boss' hand, but it doesn't move. Michael pats his head instead.
"I'm sorry, boy. Ryan won't be able to play with you for a while."
Carter whines again, laying his head down on Michael's lap, still looking at Ryan's hand. Michael felt like Carter was just as sad as he was, seeing Ryan like that.
"We should go." Steven says quietly, laying one hand on his wife's shoulder, the other one on his oldest son's arm. "We'll see you tomorrow, Ry."
Ike bend down, kissing her son's forehead. "Ti amo, hijo." She clasped his hand in hers, squeezing it tightly before straightening up, wiping at her eyes with one hand, while the other searched out her husband's hand. "Take care of him, Michael."
Michael nods, kissing Ike's cheek and shaking Steven's hand, before leading Carter away from Ryan's side.
"Come on, boy. It's time to go." Carter hesitates, so Michael puts on his leash that he found in the trunk of the car and hands it to Steven.
Carter struggles just a little bit, before following Lochte senior out of the room. Ike looks back one more time before she closes the door.
Then it was just Michael and an unconscious Ryan.
Michael takes the coth and pushes it as close to the hospital bed as he can. He fluffs up his pillow, takes the sleeping bag they gave him and lies down on the make shift bed.
He lifts his arm, grabbing Ryan's hand and pulls on it, so his arm is dangling over the bed and holds on to the hand.
He falls asleep like that, clutching at Ryan's hand like it's a lifeline.
He doesn't notice the small twitch of Ryan's fingers in the middle of the night...