Chris' POV

After 12 hours on the airplane and driving I finally arrived at the hospital close to where Gwyneth lived.

The others at home in the UK of course had been kind of annoyed at me for suddenly leaving without even talking to them before, but after I explained everything on the phone while waiting on the airport they understood that I wanted to be there for Apple.
I was so lucky to have bandmates who always supported me even though I was probably mostly a threat to them recently. I never thanked them enough actually, other people probably would already have thrown me out of the band already.

I hurried inside the hospital and asked the people at the reception desk where my daughter was.

They told me the room number and I started running towards it.
I heard someone behind me shout "No running!", but I didn't care.

Anything could have happened in that time. All I worried about anymore right now was if Apple was OK.

I had tried to find out something about her state when I arrived, but the receptionists had told me that they couldn't give me any information.

I wondered if Gwyneth was going to be at Apple's room and if she was what she'd say about my sudden visit.
It was obvious on the phone that she didn't think it was necessary for me to come over, but Apple was my daughter as well.

When I finally found the room I had been told to go to I swung the door open excitedly.
I saw Apple laying in the bed apparently asleep and Gwyneth stitting next to her in a chair.

As I stepped into the room my ex-wife lifted her head in surprisement.

"Chris? What are you doing here? I told you you didn't have to worry and come all the way from the UK!"

"I know, I'm sorry, but I just couldn't let it be. I was way too worried about our girl. So do you know what's the matter with her by now? Will she be OK??"

My voice had gone kind of loud and squeaky in worry.

"Shh, don't talk that loud, she just fell asleep half an hour ago. She will be OK luckily. It turned out obviously something in her breakfast contained peanuts and she had an allergic reaction. I just don't know how this could have happened. I always watch out so well that there are no peanuts in her food and tell everyone to do the same. But the doctors said it's not that bad and she'll be as alright."

"Whaat? How did that happen? We're lucky her allergy isn't that bad... So what is going to happen now? Did the doctors give her some treatment? And will she have to stay here at the hospital for long?"

"They gave her an injection, after that she started feeling better rather quickly. She will probably be allowed to go home in one or two days. As I said, there was no need to worry."

Gwen smiled at me in a nice and understanding way, but something about her face told me it was kind of false. She probably was rather annoyed to see me. If there were some special occasions for the kids we always managed to go there together without fighting or acting awkward whatsoever, but I could tell she was still kind of confused at me leaving her after all that time. Probably she could tell that there had to be a little more behind all that than this 'conscious uncoupling' thing.

Obviously we were talking a little too loud because I suddenly saw Apple opening her eyes. We both stopped talking and turned our heads to our ill daughter.

"Hey my little girl. How are you?"

I put my hand gently on her blonde hair and and spoke in a soft voice. She seemed to be a little confused about what was happening.

"Daddy? What has happened? And since when are you here?"

We explained everything to her, why I had come over earlier than my planned visit in a few weeks, why she was at the hospital and what exactly had happened.

The next day Apple was feeling pretty well again. She was was already back to being the jolly girl she always was.
Being around my kids always made me forget my sorrows and be really happy. Sadly I often didn't get to see them in person for several weeks. But Gwyneth and me had both agreed that it was better for them to stay with her while I was spending most of my time in London recording with the guys. But as soon as we finished our time working together and took some time to work on music on our own I would come back to California to see them more often again.
But to be honest, as much as I missed them, I was also kind of glad to have some time to deal with my shit on my own. I really didn't want my children to be affected by my depressed emotional state.

After the doctors did one last check on Apple's state in the afternoon she was allowed to leave the hospital.

We all went back to Gwen's home where Moses and a few closer friends were awaiting us.

At the same time it filled me with joy to be among my children and their friends in that familiar place it also felt really awkward now that it was officially over. The same people I used to be around all the time in what used to be my everyday life as a Daddy/Singer of Coldplay. Now everything was so different and it would never be the same again.
But it was a welcome distraction from all the trouble I was dealing with to spend the evening with them.

After agreeing with my bandmates and Gwyneth I decided to stay the week in my flat in California so I could spend more time with the kids.

This way I could also fulfill my duties as a frontman and have a appearance on some american TV talk show.

At 11pm I eventually arrived at my flat. I turned my key in the hole of the front door and stepped into that dark room I hadn't seen in a while. After switching the lights on and throwing my stuff onto the wooden floor I let myself sink into the oversized bed.

I was exhausted from all the stuff that had been happening and tired from the lack of sleep the last two days.
However there was way too much stuff going around in my head to fall asleep. Things had seemed OK today, but when I thought about it I really didn't know how all of this was going to continue. There were so many questions - how I could be there for Apple and Moses, the album, my whole life - and I literally had no answers at all.
But I was too exhausted to figure anything out tonight.
So I decided to just hope that everything will sort itself out somehow at some point - there seemed to be nothing I could do to escape this anyway.