FicWad

It was raining when they got back home to LA. It was dark and Hollywood’s lights were lighting up the city, making it appear bright and otherworldly than it actually was. The difference between LA and other cities was LA was hardened. It had suffered alongside its citizens and not many people could survive. Right now, she felt like she really needed to survive. If not for her, than for the baby she was carrying.
She got off the tour bus and started heading to the corner of the street to hale a cab through the heavy flow of traffic when Axl stopped her, placing his hand gently on her arm to stop her. “I-I can drop you off if you want. It’s the least I can do after how I behaved to you back there,” He offered. She shook her head, smiling a small smile.
“I’m sorry Axl but no thank you. I’ll call you when I have the baby but that’s all I can do. I’m sorry but . . . This is as far I want to carry this relationship through with,” She told him before she turned and walked across the street. Axl saw the red-light change before no one else did. It was almost like he was waiting for it to happen. Perhaps he was. Good thing he did.
“Vanessa! Watch out!” He roared over the screech of tires on rainy, wet pavement.
Only Axl saw the drunk driver speeding toward Vanessa, no sense on where to go, and at what seemed like a million miles a minute. Axl ran across the street, hooked his arm around Vanessa’s waist, and dragged her out of the way in time, but the worst had come. He had tried to cushion the blow for her as much as he could, but he slipped and she ended up falling to the pavement on her stomach hard, and blacking out whereas Axl landed on his ass a couple of feet away.
The drunk driver had smashed into a buildings brick wall on the other side of the street and blood was beginning to flow out from underneath Vanessa’s skirt, making the rain puddles turn a bloody red. Steven, Izzy, Duff and Slash came slipping and sliding across the rain puddles toward them, a look of fear flickering wildly in all their eyes. A crowd was already starting to gather around them and Slash, Duff, Izzy, and Steven had to act as security guards and hold the people back.
Axl got to his knees and crawled over to her where he flipped her over and supported her head in his lap. He thought everything was in slow motion and fear was starting to steadily trickle throughout his body when she didn’t awake when he gently shook her. His worst fear had come to life. Before he knew it, he was screaming Vanessa’s name and screaming for her to wake up, but she would not . . . wake . . . up . . .
A lone tear fell from Axl’s face and landed on Vanessa’s t-shirt. All of a sudden . . . Axl’s vision turned red . . .
“That motherfucking bastard! I’ll fucking kill his ass!” Axl roared in blind rage, standing up after gently handing Vanessa off to Izzy who also gently cradled her head in his lap. Slash and Duff were vainly holding Axl back so he wouldn’t beat the crap out of the drunk driver that was being wheeled away by an ambulance. It took all Duff and Slash’s strength in order to hold themselves back.
Another ambulance came speeding down the road toward Vanessa, Axl, Slash, Duff, Izzy, Steven and the throng of people that was growing larger by the minute.
“Axl, there’s nothing that you can do. She’ll be all right, I know she will.” Slash said bitterly. “My sister’s strong, she’ll make it, believe me . . .”
*
Vanessa awoke to see all white at first. She blinked a couple of times, allowing her vision to adjust before things started to come into focus and she saw that she was in a hospital. She had a life monitor strapped her and several IV’s sticking into her arms. She tried to turn her head but it hurt so much and she grimaced in pain.
“Here, let me help,” A voice said gently and Slash gently turned her head so that she could look at him. “Doctor said the feeling should return in a couple of minutes, if not an hour or two,”
“Slash?” She said weakly, furrowing her eyebrows in slight confusion.
“I’m so glad your okay! Mom and dad were so worried about you,” He said, smiling weakly. “They would have come barging down here from London if I didn’t manage to calm them down,”
“Slash what happened? I feel so . . . sore and-and . . . weak!” She asked and grimaced in pain again as she tried to move her arm.
“Well- you mean . . . you really can’t remember anything?” He asked her and she shook her head, smiling apologetically.
“Sorry, but not that much. I remember Axl offering to drive me home and then, Oh my God, where’s Axl?!” She said frantically, trying to sit up. Slash hurriedly jumped up from his armchair and gently pushed her back down,
“Not to fast, not to fast! The doctor said to take it slow,” he said soothingly and she nodded, taking a deep breath and eventually letting it out.
“Is he okay? Did he get hurt? Why isn’t he in here with me? Slash what happened?” She asked him. Although she might have had her calmness under control, she didn’t have her impatience. Slash had a pained look in his eyes when he spoke,
“Axl . . . is in the ICU Vanessa,” He said quietly and she gasped, her eyes growing wide in shock.
“Please don’t tell me . . .” Slash held up a hand and furiously shook his head.
“No, no, no, nothing like that! He did not get hurt by the crash. He overdosed on coke . . .” he told her heavily, and saying his words quickly, almost to soften the blow somewhat.
“H-he overdosed?” She asked him weakly and Slash nodded, another weak smile on his face.
“Vanessa, you have to begin to understand. You were in a coma for four weeks! Axl was in complete and total panic mode the entire time. No one could get him out of it. I offered to stay with him to make sure he did nothing stupid and I left him alone for no more than five minutes, I swear; and when I came back, he was on the floor, coke on a tray beside him. We don’t know if he’s going to survive this. He sniffed up a lot of coke Vanessa, it’s a wonder he’s not dead already!” He explained.
“He loved you Vanessa. Probably more than I ever saw a man, much less him, love a woman. It was-it was almost pathetic how much he loved you. Your accident screwed him up bad. The doctors are thinking that if he makes it out of this shit, they’re putting him in a mental institution. Not just for how he tried to commit suicide, but because of his childhood as well,”
“Axl isn’t insane though! He’s misunderstood and just lost his girlfriend practically!” She told him in indignation and Slash nodded. He held up his hand again and closed his eyes for a moment while he took a breath and let it back out. He slowly opened his eyes and begin again,
“I know sis, I tried to tell them that but they wouldn’t listen to me. Goddammit sis I tried! I couldn’t move them, they stood their ground. He’s hooked to machines literally. They would need your permission in order to pull the plug. Right now they’re saying that not only his physical well-being is not only being tested right now, but his will to survive are crucial for him now. Sis he’s losing the battle all because of what his bastard stepfather did to him when he was younger. That put his will to survive in a very low rank. Before we hooked him up, he was hallucinating about his childhood, he was screaming in his sleep for his mother again. When we hooked him up, he lost the will to live completely,
“The doctors predicted that he would and I and the boys predicted it as well. Hell, everyone did. If Axl wouldn’t have saved you, you’d be dead right now,”
“Slash . . . what about my baby?” She asked him hesitantly and Slash looked away, although a small, yet weak smile was still on his face.
“Its all fine in that department. The baby’s fine, and your still pregnant, although your pregnancy’s in fragile condition to say the least. You landed pretty damn hard on your stomach,” He told her.
“I have nothing to live for anymore, except for Brandon and the baby. I only wish it was me hooked to those machines and not Axl,” She suddenly found herself sobbing.
“Vanessa quit it!” Slash said more firmly, and she jumped at his tone, but his voice was still quivery and flimsy nonetheless. “Don’t ever wish that! Axl would have never wished that you would say that. The last thing Axl would want you to do right now is panic and be sad. He wants you to live happily, with or without him, that much I know,” She stayed in silence for a moment after he said that before she finally spoke,
“Slash have to see him,”

“Absolutely not!”
“You don’t understand this, his life depends on me seeing him!” Vanessa insisted.
“No, you don’t understand your condition at the moment.” he said vehemently. “You need rest, and plenty of it. You just spent sixteen hours in the emergency room and four weeks in a coma, we never knew if you were going to wake up!”
“Please doctor, if I can’t cure Axl, I want him to know that I woke up safe and sound. He deserves to know that, if not, then he would have died in vain! If not, let me say goodbye instead,” She begged, on the verge of tears.
The doctor sighed.
“Fine, I’ll get you a wheelchair,” He sighed, finally relenting. He disappeared and returned moments later with a wheelchair. He and Slash carefully lifted her up off the bed and set her on the wheelchair.
“Let me do it, I’m her brother and Axl’s band mate, I need to see him too,” he said but the doctor looked at him skeptically.
“I know where to go and what to do jackass,” He said sarcastically before he roughly pushed past the doctor and wheeled her out of the room where he pushed her down the hall to the ICU where Axl was in. They got to his room where a big huge glass window spanned from floor to ceiling.
“He looks so . . . fake . . .”
He looked like a mannequin lying there in the hospital bed. His skin was paper white and his lips were as white as his skin was. His auburn hair did look entirely off-beat against all the white in the room. Machines were hooked to him at every angle, sticking into the large blue veins and red arteries in his arms. He was breathing shallowly and his life-line was barely beeping.
“Told you he didn’t look too good.” Slash told her quietly. “Steven, Izzy and Duff have already been here to talk to him. What he really needs is you to talk to him though,” Vanessa nodded.
“Let me do it Slash. G-go get something to eat, go get some coffee. You look like you need it,”
“Are you sure that I shouldn’t stay with you? What if something happens?” He asked her worriedly and she smiled a playfully teasing smile at him.
“There are nurses and doctors around, I’ll be fine Slash,” She told him and he smiled at her, opened the door to Axl’s room and then left when she walked in by his bed.
Up close he looked even worse. You could tell his breathing was shallow and you could tell he was in extreme pain by the way lines creased his forehead. “Hey baby . . .” she said softly.
“I’m okay if you haven’t noticed. I still have the baby and I’m perfectly fine. The doctor said that I would be out of this shithole in a few weeks. It would be really good if you could survive. I need you Axl,” She said, laughing a little. He showed no signs of her being there or waking up for that matter. She sat down in a nearby chair and then scooted up to his hospital bed.
She began to cry now. “Axl please wake up. You’re the only person I have right now beside Slash, the baby and Brandon. Try to remember all the good times we had. Remembered when we first met at your concert? That night, surely you remember that night. Um, oh! How about when we were dancing and making out in the rain at your house until my husband showed up and I made up some silly excuse just to be with you longer,” She said, raking her brains for more reasons to give him.
“Remember how stupid Duff was at the hotel a-and, oh Axl!” She sobbed, putting her face on his stomach. “If you don’t wake up, the only people I’ll live for is Brandon and the baby! I’m so scared Axl. You were the only person who ever understood me!” she sobbed as she took his hand. “Please don’t leave me, I need you . . . so damn much. You’re the best I’ve ever met. Axl I love you so fucking much it hurts to see you like this!
“I don’t care what your bastard stepfather did to you, its not important anymore! He’s dead and out of your life and he isn’t coming back! Please, please Axl, wake up! I love you,”
She felt her hand being squeezed gently and she slowly looked up and saw Axl looking at her. He smiled a little. “Oh Axl . . .” she sobbed as she hugged him.
“I was . . . oh I missed you!” She sobbed.
“I missed you too baby,” He told her. She could hear that he was about to cry, as he held on her to her as strongly as he could without hurting himself any further.
“Axl . . .”
They broke apart and looked in the direction of the door. A woman with long, honey blond hair and bright blue eyes was standing in the doorway to his room. She looked about to be in her 40's or 50's, much older than Axl.
“Mom . . .?”
Vanessa looked from him to his mom and back, confused.
“Thank you for waking my son up. When I heard I rushed right over,” She said cordially and Vanessa turned to look at Axl. His eyes were glued to his mother, and they were wide and fearful. He was looking like he was seeing Freddy Kruger in his dreams.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
“William you’re my son, I have a right to be worried about you!” She scolded him. Vanessa wondered who this William was until she realized that Axl couldn’t possibly be his real name.
“If you were so worried about me, then where were you when Michael was beating the shit out me when I was a little kid?” He said coolly and heavily. Vanessa realized he just hit a very sore topic with his mother, for she was looking very uneasy.
“Please William let’s talk about something else!” She begged him and he smirked.
“Don’t call me William. That’s a fucking disgrace to me and you wondered why I changed my name back to Rose,” He snapped.
“Axl-”
“No, we will talk about this now when I’m awake and not in potential danger of dying or overdosing on drugs again!” He interrupted her and she stayed silent but glared at him coldly instead.
“I went through a whole lot of shit in my whole damn life thanks to your fucking mistake and Michael’s.” he begin. She lifted her head.
“Oh . . .?”
“I married a beautiful girl and that was a complete and total bust. I started dating this hot supermodel and that was a bust too. I have a band and my band mates practically hate me now. My lover here almost died thanks to Michael,
“And how is that Michael’s fault? Hmm?”
“When he abused me, he gave me his temperament. The reason I lost Erin and Stephanie is I fallowed stupidly in Michael footsteps and beat them. The person I didn’t have the strength to beat is this girl right here. She’s my lover, my best friend, my love, Vanessa. She was expecting my child, I lost my temper and pissed her off. When we got home, she almost got hit by car because she didn’t trust me because of my attitude, and when we get out of here, we’re going to get married,” He said and she gazed at him.
“Are you serious?” She asked, giving a fluttery laugh as he nodded, his eyes still on his mother.
“Axl I’m different now, you got to believe me! Michael’s dead, we can become a family again!”
He fell back. “Goddammit, Vanessa get me a nurse please!” He muttered to her tiredly and she nodded and pressed a button on the wall near his bed. Two nurses came in, positively beaming that he was finally awake. His mother was staring glassy eyed at him and Vanessa as Slash appeared as well. He smiled when he saw Axl was awake.
“You did it sis, you finally got him to wake up!” He said joyfully, hugging her, a broad grin on his face. “How you feeling Ax man?”
“I feel like I got hit upside the head with a two-by-four,” He said as they laughed.
“I should get you back to your room before the doctor kills me,” He said to Vanessa and she nodded and kissed Axl on the forehead.
“I love you and I’m glad your awake,” She whispered and he smiled a little.
“I love you too, and thank you!” He whispered back as Slash and Vanessa walked from the room.
“Was that blonde chick his mom?” Slash asked her and Vanessa nodded.
“They had this big major fight about his step-father when he woke up,” She told him.
“That would be good for Axl I think. He needs to get a lot of things off his chest and exercise a lot of demons and his mother’s the only he can settle his differences with now that Michael’s dead. After him and his mother settle things, he will be closed to getting healed completely,” Slash told her and Vanessa grinned.
“Since when are you a shrink Dr. Saul?” he grinned and Vanessa allowed Slash to draw her to him as they walked down the hall.
“I’m not. I just give really good advice here and there,” he joked and she grinned as she hugged him.
“I love you brother,” She grinned and he grinned back too as he grabbed her and put her in a headlock where he rubbed her head. She was screeching joyfully and nurses and doctors were gathering around looking slightly perturbed by amused nonetheless.
“Oh, I love you too squirt,” he growled playfully.