fantastic_torch | The Arms Hotel, Suite 621 - AKA Universal Hospital

If crying miserably wasn't enough, Johnny didn't think his day could get much worse.

Unfortunately (and for the best) his mind was not veering towards southern belles. But then, had it ever?

K-Mart	Dahlia had come as soon as she'd heard the news. How could she ever not come to be of assistance in her long-lost sister's traumatic hour of need? She breezed into the room, a vision of Southern femininity in a pale blue sun dress with matching hat and heels. "Oh no," she gasped, moving gracefully to Savannah's bedside.
Johnny	This was all he needed. K-Mart fluff. Johnny stared at her, unwilling to welcome her yet. Women were fickle and she was at the top of his list of women to avoid. Instead, he stood, hands planted low on narrow, superhero clad hips.
K-Mart	"Oh, sweetheart," Dahlia murmured, reaching out to brush a lock of her beloved sister's hair back from her face. "How long have you been like this? How could I not have known, not have sensed it?" She looked up at Johnny. "When did this... happen?" She knew her sister would never forgive her for being cruel to Johnny in such a vulnerable situation, so also as a good sister should, Dahlia was doing her best to behave in the way she had been raised.
Johnny	"She's in a coma, if you haven't noticed," he said. "She can't answer you." And the shame he felt in saying that nearly crushed him. It took a considerable effort to keep his emotions in check. Damn, if he'd let K-Mart get to him.
K-Mart	"They say coma patients can hear what's going on around them," Dahlia said mildly, giving him a tearful smile as she took a seat. "And she is my sister, my best friend. If anything, she can at least hear me."
Johnny	"I'm not leaving her side," he stated and his tone implied that he didn't need to hear her rattling off to her comatose sister about anything and everthying. Wasn't it obvious that he was hurting enough here?
K-Mart	"I wouldn't expect you to," Dahlia replied. "You're her husband, after all." She smoothed the skirt of her dress over her legs and turned to Savannah, reaching out to take one of her sister's hands in both of hers. "There must be something I can do for her."
Johnny	There was a constrained effort on his part to not roll his eyes at her and shuffle her and her layers of skirts, out the door. "There was nothing you could do for her before, what makes you think you can do anything now?"
K-Mart	"The fact that if I don't hope there's something I can do, then I have to face the fact that I might very well lose my sister before I've ever truly gotten to know her as my sister!" Tears welled in her eyes; she ignored them.
Johnny	Tears welled in his eyes; he ignored them. "You've known long enough. I'm the one that comforted her when she found out about you and you... you took your sweet time in coming to see her. You abandoned us when we needed you. For... for some jackass wearing a fancy coat." Dramatic weary sigh. "Why don't you come back when the visit will be worth it."
K-Mart	"You two had each other to rely on," she said. "She had you to support her and be her rock. I had nobody. So of course I left with the first person who would have me. You'll be happy to know that didn't work out, I'm sure." She looked away for a moment before looking back at him with a weary steel in every fiber of her being, a steel she had inherited from her mother. "I came home because I knew Savannah would help me. She might hate me, but she would still do something to help me because that's just the woman she is. I came back to the one person who would never abandon me."
Johnny	His eyes narrowed. "Did he hurt you? Because so help me if that bastard touched one hair upon your head..." Yes, because Johnny might not want her here right now, but he'd be damned if he let anyone else feel the same way about her. It made total sense. Johnny logic was sound.
K-Mart	Dahlia hesitated. "He hit me, a couple times," she admitted. "Of course, I hit him back every time... not very Southern ladylike of me, I know. Mama would be so ashamed." That totally depended on which mama you were talking about.
Johnny	Johnny seemed confused but masked the perplexion by focusing on the first part of her statement. "When Savannah wakes up, he's a dead man." Wait. Given the situation he was currently in, that sounded too much like a threat.
K-Mart	But it was a threat that Dahlia was happy to hear. It meant that for at least a couple of seconds Johnny didn't completely hate her. "Just... let me stay for a little while?" she asked softly. "Let me stay with the one person who's always been there for me."
Johnny	His hesitation was briefly lived. What kind of man would he be if he turned her away? Thus he nodded. Once. Anything he might have said was disrupted by the ~~housekeeping staff~~ nurse. She checked Savannah's vitals while he looked anxiously on. A small shake of her head had his worst fears punching him in the gut. He looked at K-Mart with such anguish in his eyes, that a camera close-up showed well the tiny flecks of green that began to shine as his eyes filled with tears.
K-Mart	Dahlia spent several seconds caught up in her own turmoil, until the ~~housekeeping staff~~ nurse came in. She held her breath as the woman checked Savannah's vitals, a breath that she kept holding as Johnny looked at her. She saw the tears in her handsome brother-in-law's eyes and stood instantly, rounding the bed and wrapping her arms around him to pull him into a hug. There were some things that made even their animosity be put aside for a little bit at a time. It was what Savannah would want, after all.
Johnny	Desperately needing the comfort, it was easy to put aside past differences and hold K-Mart, giving as much as recieving. This nightmare had to end soon.