SN WIP: Danny in therapy fic - Part 6

[out_there]

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four and Part Five.



***

When Abby called him back that night, Dan looked at the cell phone but didn't answer. Casey shot him a curious look and asked, "Who was that?"

Dan shook his head and turned his attention back to the hospital bed. "Unknown number," he lied.

***

"Is it my imagination," Dan said as he stepped out of the bathroom, "or do hotels always put their soaps in hard-to-open wrappers?"

Casey was on his cell. He shrugged and said, "Wait a minute, I'll just get him." Casey walked over to Dan, pointing at the phone in his hand. "It's Abby. For you."

"She called you?"

"She called you," Casey replied, handing Dan his own phone. "I just answered for you. Thought it might be your mom."

"Sure." Dan stared at the phone grudgingly.

Casey took it as a sign to make himself scarce. "Look, I'm going to go for a coffee run. Pick up today's newspapers. Be back in about half an hour?"

Dan was ridiculously grateful. "Thanks."

"Do you want a muffin too?"

"Yeah." Dan waited until Casey shut the door behind him before raising the phone to his ear. "Hey."

"You're with Casey?"

"Yeah, Abby, I'm fine. Thanks for asking," Dan replied sarcastically. "And Dad's doing okay, too."

"What happened?"

Dan settled back on the bed. "The surgery seemed to go fine but there were complications afterwards. His heart rate wouldn't stabilize and he had a fever and he spent most of the time slipping in and out of consciousness. Then the hospital gave us a call this morning to say that the fever's gone down and he's in a stable condition."

"He's going to be okay?"

"Yeah. They're expecting to release him today."

"That's good news."

"No kidding. I couldn't stand another day of just standing around, listening to the machinery beeping. Nearly drove me insane yesterday."

"I'm glad he's okay."

"Me too," Dan said, stating the obvious. "I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't. I just kept staring at him, imagining him in a coffin somewhere, and thinking about all the things I never said to him. All the things I never took the time to say."

"Like what?"

"Like..." Dan trailed off, staring at Casey's tie draped over the back of the chair. "I never thanked him for teaching me how to tie a bowtie. That every time I see Casey getting someone else to fix it for him, I remember Dad helping me before the Senior Prom, telling me that a guy with class always knows how to tie his own tie."

Abby didn't say anything, so Dan continued. "I never said thank you for Little League. That I never would have become who I am, I never would have worked in sports, if not for that. I never..."

"What?" Abby asked gently.

"I never said sorry. For Sam. For being a monumental pain in ass. For acting like the entire world was all about me, for never stopping to think about how hard it must have been for Dad, running the store and all." Dan's words came out in a rush, but he didn't try to slow them down. "I never saw it from his point of view, I never thought about it."

"But you are now?"

"I've been talking to Mom. Reminiscing. Thinking about things I'd totally forgotten."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Dan took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "You know, when I was fifteen what I wanted more than anything in the world was a car. My own car. God, I never shut up about it. I spent about three months working as much as I could. I'd help Dad after school and on the weekends, and all I wanted was to buy my own car."

"And?"

"I saved and I saved, and I never got anywhere near buying my own car. Nowhere near it. I'd look in the newspapers and I'd stick ads up on the back of my door, to remind me of what I wanted, and I never got anywhere near it. Then Dad pulled me aside one afternoon and asked how much I'd saved.

***

Dan ran a hand through his hair. Mom kept saying it was too long. "About seven hundred."

His dad nodded slowly. "I know you've got your heart set on something new, but a car's a car, right?"

"What are you talking about, Dad?"

"A customer was in here today. He mentioned he was selling his daughter's car."

Dan frowned, thinking about his bank balance. Anything half decent would be way out of his price range. "How much?"

"He wants seven hundred and fifty." His dad smiled, looking pretty pleased with himself. "I'm thinking I could give you an advance on next weekend's pay."

"It's a total bomb, isn't it?"

"It's in good condition." His father's smile faded. "And, more importantly, it's a car you can afford, Danny."

"Have you seen it?" Dan asked doubtfully. "It's probably rusted through."

"Give the guy a call. Tell him you're my son," his dad said, shoving a business card at Dan. "Check it out for yourself and see if it meets your high standards."

***

"I wasn't particularly gracious about it," Dan said quietly.

"Was it a good car?"

"It was great. I still had it after college."

"The full price was two thousand."

"I thought you only paid seven fifty?"

"I did." Dan shifted on the bed, sitting cross-legged. "Dad made a private arrangement with the guy, and offered to pay him the other twelve fifty, if I wanted it."

"Do you know why?"

"Mom said he was proud. He was proud of me for getting my act together. My grades were still mediocre, but I wanted something and I put the effort into getting it." Dan paused, remembering how thrilled he'd been with his first car, how much he'd loved it; how he'd gone back to only working a day a week as soon as he bought it. "I never knew."

"That he was proud, or that he paid for it?"

"Both. I spent so many years thinking he was a total hardass, thinking that he didn't understand and he didn't care."

"But he did."

Dan nodded, shifting the phone in his hand. "The lousy thing is that he was so wrong."

"About you getting your act together?"

"Yeah. Once I had the car, I saw my friends even more often. I spent more time partying than studying." Dan scratched the back of his neck and wondered how long he had before Casey came back. "There were nights when I'd get so high I didn't want to do anything. I'd just sit around watching TV and wait until I came down enough to drive home."

"How did your parents react?"

"They'd ground me, but I didn't care. I'd still go to school and drive over to my friends' places... I missed curfew so often that Dad ended up not setting one for me any more. He said there was no point waiting up for me, since I obviously had no respect for anyone."

"Did you respect your father?" Abby asked carefully.

Dan shrugged. "I don't know. I spent so much time resenting him, I don't know."

"When are you coming back to New York?"

"I have to be back for Monday night's show," Dan said, a little confused. "Why do you ask?"

"You've still got half a week down there. Maybe you should think about saying some of those things to your dad."

"Maybe not."

"Why not?"

"He'd laugh at me for it. I'm telling you now, Abby, my dad isn't a big fan of guys showing emotions. He wouldn't appreciate it."

"Maybe he would."

"He'd think I was a shmuck," Dan said dismissively.

"I don't think so."

"You don't know my dad."

"No. But if you never talk to him," Abby replied firmly, "if you never tell him this stuff, you won't know him either."

"I know him well enough."

"Just think about it, Dan."

Dan sighed and admitted defeat. "I'll think about it." Dan glanced at the clock. Casey would be back in a few minutes. "So is that all?"

"You still haven't told me why Casey's there."

Dan fought the urge to sigh again. "He came down yesterday."

"You two are talking again?"

Dan frowned at nothing in particular. "Why do you ask questions when you already know the answer?"

"I'm trying to encourage you to talk about it."

"It doesn't seem to be working."

"How did he get down there?"

"Didn't ask. Don't care."

"Dan," Abby said reprovingly.

"He came down yesterday afternoon, okay? I'd already spent a couple of hours standing around Dan's bedside, so I really didn't ask how Casey got there."

"What happened?"

"He just showed up. I was standing there, and he walks through the door, smiling at me."

***

"Hey, Danny," Casey said, walking into the room.

Dan stood there in shock for a second, wondering if he was seeing things. "Hey."

Casey shot him a relieved grin. "I'm glad I finally found the right room. This place is a maze."

"About Monday morning," Dan blurted out quickly. "I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me."

Casey shook his head and rested an arm on Dan's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. It's not important right now." Leaning closer, Casey added, "Are you going to be okay? You look like you haven't seen sunlight in a while."

Dan's grin felt rusty, and his laugh wavered. "I've, um, been here for a while. Dad came in first thing this morning. I've been here ever since."

Casey raised an eyebrow at him, and did a good impersonation of a mother hen. "But you've been eating?"

Dan shot a guilty look over to the waste basket, to the plastic cups and shiny wrappers lying inside. "Well, the three C's."

"Coffee, candy and coke?" Casey knew him well.

"Yeah."

Casey grimaced. "Dan, you're not a college kid. You can't survive on that stuff. You need a decent meal."

Dan looked over at the bed, at the pale skin and blinking equipment. "I'm not leaving, Casey. I can't. I... I just can't."

"You are," Casey replied firmly. "You are leaving this room, and eating something hot and filling. You will be gone for at least thirty minutes." Then Casey looked over at him and his tone softened. "If you want, I'll stay here. I can give you a call if anything changes."

"No." Dan shook his head vehemently. "Just... come with me." Casey smiled, and nodded. Casey led him out the door with a hand against his back, and Dan was grateful for the quiet.

***

"That was it? He forgave you just like that?" Abby sounded doubtful. "You didn't talk about it?"

"For Monday morning? Yeah." Dan shrugged. "I mean, I haven't brought it up since, and Casey seems fine about it."

"Hmm."

"Wait a minute." Dan looked over as Casey stuck his head around the hotel door. "Hey, Casey."

"Hey," Casey said, newspapers in hand. He realized Dan was still on the phone and pulled a face. "I'm going to read these down in the lobby. Do you want to meet me down there when you're done?"

Dan nodded and Casey closed the door again. "Where were we?" he asked Abby.

"You were telling me about Casey coming down."

"Oh, yeah. Anyway, I followed him out. I thought he was taking me to the hospital cafeteria but it turned out he just got lost on his way to the elevators."

***

"I was sure it was here," Casey muttered as they walked into the wide room. The hospital cafeteria was fairly desolate. There was nothing heart-warming about the cheap plastic tables or the hard chairs. Dan felt like he'd already spent too long sitting there.

But Casey didn't stop there. He turned around and steered Dan through corridors, stopping at the elevators. "I think you missed the turn," Dan said, but the joke fell flat.

"You hate eating in the CSC cafeteria," Casey replied. Dan didn't point out that it was probably the QVN cafeteria now. Admittedly, he hadn't been down there in a while, but he was fairly sure it would have changed hands too. "I don't want to hear your complaints against hospital food. Besides, a bit of sunshine could do you good."

"Yeah, all I need is a little ray of sunshine and I'll be right as rain."

Casey looked at him, one of those careful glances that meant he was worried, that meant that he wished he could make Dan stop aching. It was ridiculously comforting. "Can't hurt."

"Unless I get sunburn." Dan smirked, and pressed for the elevator.

"There is that." Casey grinned at him as they got on. As he pressed for the ground floor, Casey added, "Do you think sunburn's likely? In the middle of fall? At ten to five?"

The elevator moved in a sickening lurch downwards. It made Dan feel slightly ill. "It's possible."

"But is it likely?"

"Probably not," Dan admitted as they got out. He followed Casey outside, perfectly willing to let Casey lead him. "Where are we headed?"

"I'm sure I saw an Italian place on the corner." Casey shrugged. "Or maybe French. But it looked nice."

"Okay," Dan said slowly.

The place turned out to be Italian. And it did look nice, with red cotton tablecloths and candles sitting in wicker-covered wine bottles. As they sat down, Dan did the familiar patting of his pockets, trying to find his wallet. His pockets were empty. "Casey, I have no idea where my wallet is." He sounded a little panicked.

Casey just handed him a menu. "It's not a problem."

Dan tapped his fingers against the laminated menu, trying to remember where he could have left it. In the hotel, maybe. Or back in the hospital. He must have had it there. He could remember getting change for the candy machine. "I really don't--"

Casey interrupted him, "It's not a problem. Now order something, Danny."

Dan nodded and looked at the menu. He didn't feel at all hungry. "Just get me whatever you're getting."

"Do you want a drink?"

"Do I look like I need one?"

"Actually," Casey said, placing the menu down on the table, "you do."

"I don't." That stopped the conversation. Dan toyed with his napkin, unfolding it and refolding it as Casey got the waiter's attention and ordered. Their menus got bundled away and Dan was left staring at the bright red tablecloth, wondering if he'd see the same scarlet if he closed his eyes.

"What happened?"

He felt his shoulders hunch against Casey's question. "What?"

"To your father," Casey explained.

"I thought Natalie...?"

"She told me he had surgery scheduled today. Then I called your mom, and she told me where to find you." Casey kept his voice slow and gentle. "What's going on with him?"

Dan shrugged. "You'd have to ask someone with medical training."

"Give me the layman's version," Casey replied, resting his forearms on the table. "Pretend I am a very simple man."

"You are a very simple man." The banter felt rusty, but Casey still grinned.

"Then you shouldn't have a problem."

Dan crossed his arms in front of him, bending over them as if it made it easier to say this stuff. "It started about three months ago. Dad's angina started playing up, and the chest pains got--" He looked up to see Casey trying not smirk. "What?"

"Your dad has *angina*?" Casey asked, obviously a little close to sniggers.

"He has mild angina, Casey. Laugh it up." Casey's lips started twitching, and Dan found himself starting to smile. "He's had it for years. Amused the hell out of me in high school."

"I can see why." Casey took a long swallow of water and almost wiped the grin off his face. "So, it started playing up?"

"The chest pains got worse, and Dad being Dad, he didn't mention it to anyone. He just did the tough guy act and didn't mention it to anyone. I mean, heaven forbid he could have seen the doctor. Got this seen to before it flared up," Dan paused and took a deep breath, waiting for the anger to fade.

"So they could have prevented it?"

"Probably. Upped the anti-clotting medication, or something. It would have made a big difference."

"So what happened?"

Dan shrugged. "He had a heart attack."

"Danny?"

"It was just him and Mom in the house, and he doubled over, blaming it on the angina. Then he collapsed. Mom freaked and called the hospital." Dan sucked in a deep breath through his nose, trying not to imagine the scene. He'd already had his mom tell it to him too many times. "Apparently, it was touch and go for a while. Then they did whatever they do, shot him full of painkiller and some clot-busting medication, and kept him in for observation."

"Clot-busting?" Casey wondered aloud.

Dan almost grinned. "The doctors told me about it in detail, but I just keep imagining it as the Arnold Swarzenegger of medicines, going through Dad's veins with guns firing, shooting the blood clots to smithereens."

Casey laughed. "It's better than him trying to run for Congress."

"I thought so."

"So when did this happen? And when did you find out about it?"

"Mom called everyone from the hospital, let everyone know. It happened about three weeks ago."

Casey didn't say Dan should have told him. He didn't ask why. He just said, "What's happened since then?"

"Tests, scans. Poking and prodding him until he swore, probably. They found out that he hadn't been suffering from severe angina pains. He'd been having minor heart attacks. Technically, minor 'myocardial infarctions'," Dan repeated carefully, "which were his body's way of warning him."

"Okay."

"Then there were more tests, and finding out just how damaged his arteries were, and the doctors suggesting bypass surgery. Which, technically, he should be recovering from now, except his heart rate's erratic and way above normal, and if it doesn't level out over the next day or so, he may need to go back into surgery for a pacemaker."

Casey nodded. Then the pasta came, and Dan was happy to spend the rest of the meal in silence.

***

"So you told him about your dad?"

"Yeah," Dan replied.

"But you didn't talk about Monday morning?"

"No."

"You didn't talk about it later?"

"No."

"Really?"

Dan rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see him. "What part of no don't you understand, Abby?"

"The part that sounds really unbelievable," Abby replied.

"Whatever," Dan said, standing up. "I'm meeting the family at the hospital so I have to go now."

"Do you want to give me a call tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"And do you want to tell me what Casey really said about Monday morning?"

"Goodbye, Abby."

***

Comments

[laylee.livejournal.com]

I think I missed something somewhere along the line. Never mind, I'll catch up.

Great installment. I like the way your playing it out gradually. Keeps us wondering what's going to happen next!

[out-there.livejournal.com]

I think I missed something somewhere along the line. Never mind, I'll catch up.

Why do you say that? I'm writing it in weird blotches, so it could be me not writing something.

Great installment. I like the way your playing it out gradually. Keeps us wondering what's going to happen next!

Thank you! *beams* I love the therapy episodes because of that slow pay-off, but honestly, I'm not sure how much longer I can make it work. I want Dan and his Dad to be resolved before Dan and Casey, but... eh. Jacob's annoyingly hard to work with.

[laylee.livejournal.com]

Why do you say that?

Don't panic. It's me not you. I'm so caught up with study at the moment I'm forgetting what I've read and what I haven't. If it doesn't pertain to knowledge management I don't think my brain wants to know!

[out-there.livejournal.com]

*stops panicking*

[laylee.livejournal.com]

*pets Annie*

[dzurlady.livejournal.com]

Ooo! More Abby!fic! You're certainly doing your best to entertain me today! (And what a lovely best it is).

I was freaked when I started reading this and Casey was there, because I thought I'd missed something, but then I realised it was just you being sneaky with the plot. :)

Actually, this seems like a good place to point out that there's a love/hate relationship going on here (or should I say a squee!/no! it can't finish there! relationship?). This fic is really good, and has such a strong plot. And then you keep leaving us with cliffhanger endings! ::wibbles:: I want to find out what happened with Casey, dammit. (I'm onto you. Don't think I'm not onto your sneaky plan to leave us in suspense...)

Also? I love Abby so much!
Dan rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see him. "What part of no don't you understand, Abby?"
"The part that sounds really unbelievable," Abby replied.
She's a smart cookie.

[laylee.livejournal.com]

(I'm onto you. Don't think I'm not onto your sneaky plan to leave us in suspense...)

Yes, I'm very much with you on this. It has to be finished otherwise I'll be...well, I'll be cross, that's what I'll be.

[out-there.livejournal.com]

It has to be finished otherwise I'll be...well, I'll be cross, that's what I'll be.

Hee! Okay, I'll be very careful. I can't have lovely feedbackers cranky with me, especially not when they also lent me their copy of Threesome.

[laylee.livejournal.com]

Exactly *g*

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Ooo! More Abby!fic! You're certainly doing your best to entertain me today! (And what a lovely best it is).

*beams* *bows*

I was freaked when I started reading this and Casey was there, because I thought I'd missed something, but then I realised it was just you being sneaky with the plot. :)

Oh, good. I was wondering if that'd be too sudden and jerk readers out of the story, but I'm glad it made sense.

(or should I say a squee!/no! it can't finish there! relationship?).

Hee!

This fic is really good, and has such a strong plot. And then you keep leaving us with cliffhanger endings! ::wibbles:: I want to find out what happened with Casey, dammit. (I'm onto you. Don't think I'm not onto your sneaky plan to leave us in suspense...)

*laughs evilly*
*gives herself a coughing fit*

Okay, well, it's more because it's being written in tiny little sections. Hopefully, the payoff will be worth it. *crosses fingers*

Also? I love Abby so much!...She's a smart cookie.

Indeed. Dan seems to undersestimate her far too often.

[celli]

And the plot thickens...

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Mwahahahaaa!

Sorry, I always have an urge to laugh evilly and twirl my patented villians' moustache when people say that.

[snoopypez.livejournal.com]

Gah. More pain! More tears!

At least the angina lightened it up. ;P

[out-there.livejournal.com]

At least the angina lightened it up.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that was funny. My beta asked if there was something "funny" about angina, and I thought that it's one of those things that you're either purile enough to find naughty and funny, or you're not.