In Another Life

200 Colby's POV

I nodded back at him, then held my fingers up. "Scouts honor" I replied, looking at Denise. She glared at both of us before walking inside T's room. "Damn, she's a ball buster," Justin said quietly, looking at the closed door. "But she loves the hell out of T." I nodded at him. "Yeah, she does. It's lucky to have her. She's a real one," I answered. This felt so weird, standing outside T's hospital room, with the guy that I had wanted to slam my fist in his face only moments earlier. I guess caring about the same person, loving her and wanting the best for her, could bring people together. I still didn't like him and I was still pissed that he was the reason that she was lying in that bed...but I couldn't put the blame solely on him. I had played a part too. I came into T's life by accident, but then I shoved myself back into a place that I wasn't sure that I deserved. I caused this rift in her relationship. I caused Justin to be so jealous and upset that he hadn't paid attention to what he was doing for just a split second. A split second that almost cost Terra her life. I felt the anger start to boil inside of me again. "Tell me what happened," I said quietly, staring at him. "Tell me how you wrecked." He just looked at me for a moment, then pursed his lips and sighed. "We had been arguing for the past couple of days because she didn't wake me up when she left to go meet you. I was jealous because I know how messed up she was the first time you left her. I know how much she loved you," he said, looking down at the floor, watching himself scuff his shoe against the linoleum. "She was texting in the car, and I asked who she was talking too. She told me Denise. Then a car pulled out in front of us, and I slammed on the brakes to keep from hitting it. Her phone flew into my lap and I saw your text. She had lied to me. So I picked it up and started reading all of the messages that had been sent between you two. I realized that she had been lying to me. She had lunch with you, and even texted you about how happy she was about her first day at work. She didn't text me. I got angry and jealous. Started driving a little crazy but I knew what I was doing. We argued, then I asked her for the truth about what had happened between you two. She told me that you two kissed." He looked back up at me, and I expected to see anger, but I didn't. Only sadness. "I blamed you. Thought that you had surprised her even, just stealing a kiss. Then she told me that she was the one who had initiated the kiss. I was so surprised, and hurt, that I just froze. I looked at her, and I think I just blanked out for a second." He sighed, and leaned back against the wall. "That's all if took. A second and then the car was in the wrong lane, spinning out of control, and we got hit. T took all the damage on her side. I had thrown my arm out to...I don't know exactly, but I wanted to save her, to help protect her. That's how my arm got broken. The air bag deployed right as I swung my arm towards her, and the air bag hit me hard, breaking my arm as it slammed it backwards." His eyes were red and glassy now. "I didn't mean for her to get hurt. If I could take it all back, I would. I love her. With everything in me. I'd rather she be with you than be in that hospital bed." A single tear rolled down his cheek and in that moment, I couldn't hate him. I couldn't hate him because I understood. I'd rather her be happy with him, for me to never have invaded her life, than for her to be in that bed. "As much as I dislike you," he continued, "I want her to be happy. If that's with you, I can't do anything about it. I just want her to wake up." Denise came out of the room then, and nodded towards him. "You can go ahead." He nodded, looked at me, then walked through the door. "How are you holding up?" I asked her, leaning back against the wall. When she looked at me, I noticed her eyes were still red and swollen. This was actually killing her. "I'm okay. I really need her to wake up, but I'm trying my best to hold it together." I held my arms out of her and she came to me, and wrapped her arms around me. We held each other for a few moments, just comforting each other. Justin came out, and she let me go. "Go say your goodbyes Colby. I'll wait for you. I'm sure Sam is still downstairs waiting for you too. Kenzie, Sarah, and Brennen left after I told them that she couldn't have anymore visitors but Brennen said to call him if you need him," she told me, wiping her eyes. I sighed, and pushed the door open to Terra's room, closing it behind me as I walked through. There she was, still lying in that damned bed, looking so beautiful and peaceful. I walked over to her, and sat down in the chair that Justin had been in, taking her hand in mine. "T, I love you so much. I never stopped loving you. I need you to wake up. To be here. If that means being with Justin, I'll accept that. I just need you here." She didn't move, her face remaining peaceful, her breathing deep and even. My heart twisted in my chest, as I stood up. "I know it might take a little while, but I know you can beat this. You're strong and everyone you love is waiting for you to come back to us. Don't make us wait too long, okay?" I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed it gently, before laying it back down by her side. "I love you always T. Remember that." There was nothing left to say, so I sighed, and headed back out to the hallway to meet Denise. 

The story doesn't end here. I post these chapters on Instagram and that's why they're so short. I will be starting a sequel to this so make sure you start reading it! I'll be making the first post in it today. Haven't decided on the name yet, but I'm going to use "In This Life" for now. Thank you Katie for the name lol. Love you guys!