I have problems falling asleep that night. The apartment is keeping me awake with all its unfamiliar noises. First, there's this weird buzz. After a thorough investigation, I find out it's my refrigerator.

Then there's this ticking noise. At first, I think there might be someone knocking against my window, but then it's just the air-conditioning. I hear doors slam, dogs bark, cars drive off. At one point I'm sure I hear someone walk through my apartment and it scares me enough to get out of bed.

"Hello?" The word bounces around in my almost empty living room. No one's there, of course. It was one of my neighbors, who likes to walk around at three o'clock in the morning.

When I finally made myself more or less familiar with all the noises, my own thoughts come and haunt me. Who send me those letters? Who sends me that heart?

Do I have to worry about that stalker Dan told me about? Or is there another fan who completely freaked out after he or she saw the pictures of us kissing?

Is it someone from my past? Maybe some weirdo gamer dude who remembered me and thought he could scare me again? Or was it Sasha, Dan's mysterious ex-girlfriend?

Now that I think of it, Dan never called me tonight.

In the end, I fall asleep, all worrying about things I can't change anyway.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The next morning I wake up because my phone is buzzing. 

"Hey, Eli." Dan's voice sounds weary.

"Is everything okay?" Of course, it isn't okay. What am I thinking?

"I'm not sure. There seem to be a lot of complications. My mum was freaking out and they gave her something to calm down." I hear him yawn. "Can you please come over?"

I quickly go over my plans for today. I almost unpacked everything last night. The only things I wanted to do today were clean the place and maybe buy some cheap second-hand furniture, like a couch and a coffee table. But that's something I can do tomorrow as well.

"Sure." I grab a piece of paper and a pen, to write quickly down directions and the room number he gives me. "Can you tell me what's wrong with your brother?"

He's silent for a couple of seconds. "I don't know exactly. They told us what it was, but I can't remember exactly what they said."

"Was it something with his heart? His brain?" I say. "Does he have a fever? Or spasms, his intesti-"

"I don't know, Eli. And I don't want you here as a doctor, I want you here as you, my girlfriend." Dan says. "Although someone who can translate all the medical mumbo jumbo they throw at us, could be really handy."

I'm quiet for a couple of seconds. "Okay, I'm on my way."

Great, it seems like I'm going to meet his family today.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It takes me an hour to get to the hospital. Dan gave me a comprehensive description of where I could find him and what room they were in. I walk through the long halls, and I'm trying to picture his family. I know he has two brothers, one older brother, one younger, but I have no clue what they look like.

Dan's brother lies in a private room, surrounded by his family. When I enter the room they all turn their heads towards me. Dan smiles when I meet his gaze.

"This is Elise."

I wave awkwardly at everyone. A blonde woman walks over to me. Her hair is pulled into a messy ponytail. Dark patches are visible underneath her eyes.

"I've heard a lot about you. I'm Yvette, Dan's mum." Before she hugs me I notice she has the same blue eyes as Dan. She's smaller than he is, but she's still taller than I am.

"I wish we would have met under different circumstances, but I'm glad you're here." Her smile is warm and genuine.

There's another man in the room, slightly older than Dan.

"Jacob, nice to meet you." It's Dan's older brother. He has the same blue eyes, but mousy brown hair.

After I talked with them, I walk over to Dan and I wrap my arms around him.

"Are you okay?" I see the dark shades under his eyes. It looks like he had as much sleep as I had this night, probably less. I don't think his face has seen a razor in a couple of days, and I scratch with my nails through the stubble.

'I'm fine," he says, but I can hear the strain in his voice.

"Where's your dad?" I ask him.

"The joy of owning a farm. You can never take a day off," he says.

Then I look at Tim, Dan's younger brother. His eyes are closed, and he's connected through several threads to the monitors surrounding his bed. He has the same blond hair as Dan and his mother, but there's something really different about him. Apparently, I'm not the only one who keeps things silent about my family.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" I ask no one in particular. I know I can check everything in his status, but I remember my promise to Dan.

"He had a severe epileptic seizure, a major one. It didn't stop." I hear the tears in Yvette's voice.

"He looks peaceful now," I say.

"Yeah, last night they finally found something that worked." Yvette takes the hand of her youngest son in hers. "It pains me to see him suffer like that."

Then the doctor, a neurologist, enters the room. He shakes Yvette's hand and with a nod, he acknowledges our presence. He starts to talk rapidly. I listen carefully to what he has to say. Apparently they gave Tim a new anticonvulsant. 

The most important thing is that they want to keep him a couple of days here for observation and then he can go home. When he's finished the doctor looks expectantly around.

"Will everything be okay?" Yvette's voice is filled with hope.

"As long as he takes his medication regularly, it will be fine. Sadly we can't predict if he will get a major seizure again, but there's always the possibility that it will happen again. We have to discuss further treatment, but I don't think today is the right time." And with those words, he leaves the room.

Now that the imminent danger is gone, Yvette is a little less tense. Tim is still unconscious and he probably will be the rest of the day. They sedated him, so he will get some rest.

Our presence isn't really needed anymore and an exhausted Dan and I are leaving and going to my place after we promised to come back tomorrow.

We get some horrible hospital coffee from one of the machines in the hall. Dan's awkwardly quiet as we walk through the hallway.

"You never told me you had a brother with Down's Syndrome," I say.

"Yeah, well, it's not something you drop casually in a conversation. 'How was your day? O by the way, my brother has Down's Syndrome.'" He stares at his feet, while he searches his pockets for coins.

"I'm not accusing you of anything. I feel like an incompetent girlfriend actually, all infatuated with my own life."

"Don't worry, it's not something I talk about easily." Dan looks at the menu before he makes his choice. "I don't want the press to know about my brother, I don't want them to chase him down and make a news item out of him."

The machine fills the styrofoam cup with some brownish fluid that could be coffee or very strong tea.

"You know, when I was young I was jealous of him." He's quiet for a couple of seconds. "My parents were always busy with him, taking him to the hospital, therapists, and special activities. Sometimes it felt like they had forgotten about Jake and me. Now I know there's nothing to be jealous of, but back then..."

I lay my hand on his arm. I don't know what to say and I just nod to encourage him.

"I joined a lot of extracurricular activities and that's how I found out I loved acting. Being someone else for a while, forget about everything at home. And I was good at it." A smile curls around his lips. "Or at least better than the rest. It felt good, you know, people finally noticing me."

We walk through the empty hallways, sipping our horrible coffee.

"I'm really worried about him. About his future. What if my parents can't take care of him anymore, where will he go? Will he stay with Jake and me or does he need to go to an institution?"

We use an emergency exit to leave the hospital. Now I know why he has that habit; it's mostly to avoid the prying eyes of the public and possible journalists.

"My mother scared me last night. She was so upset. No one could calm her down. Normally Jake is a master in reassuring her. I don't know how she reacts if Tim dies because of some complication." He puts on his sunglasses as we walk to my small car. "I think none of us slept last night."

Dan folds his long body in the passenger seat next to me. I never had problems with my small car, but seeing him almost hugging his knees, makes me smile.

"What?" His piercing blue eyes look at me, a grin lies around his mouth.

"Nothing..." I keep my eyes on the road.

"I was worried about you as well." His head rests against the window.

"You shouldn't. Everything went fine, I don't have that much stuff. We had all my belongings up in my apartment within an hour," I say.

"I wasn't worried about moving your furniture, but about you. Those letters..."

I want to say he shouldn't worry about it, but the words get stuck in my throat. "It's just paper."

"What if it doesn't stay by threats on paper? I mean, someone sent you a bloody heart." From the corner of my eye, I can see his hands form fists. A flash of light distracts me, but I can't find its source. It must have been a sunbeam, reflecting on a window.

"Then they first have to find me." I quickly turn to him, to give him a reassuring wink. "Try to rest a bit."

"Maybe you're right, but I wish I could keep you somewhere safe until I got the people tracked down that sent you those letters and lock them away."

He is quiet for a while, and when I check on him I see his head rest against the window, his eyes closed and his steady breathing tells me that he finally fell asleep.

With a smile on my face, I drive us home safely.

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Thank you for reading this story. Please vote/comment if you liked it or if you have a question. First nights in new houses are always a bit awkward and especially when you're on your own after receiving several threats. I wanted to give you a little bit of background story of Dan and I hope you liked it.