Chapter 18

Tick. Tick. Tick. The only thing to mark the passage of time is the ticking of the clock. I continue to sit and watch Tyler’s chest rise and fall. Seconds pass. Then minutes, followed by hours. Nurses periodically enter the room to check on Tyler before leaving again. Eventually, I hear a knock on the door. Cole lets himself in and sets a large tray of food down next to me.

“The nurses told me that you haven’t left the room since you arrived,” he says. “I figured you might be hungry.”

“Thank you for thinking of that, but I’m not hungry,” I reply.

“You need to eat,” Cole states. “I have already watched Tyler fall apart once. I don’t want to watch him fall apart again.”

“What do you mean ‘again’?” I ask, confused.

“When you first arrived you looked terrible. Now, you look like a ghost. When Tyler wakes up and sees you, he’s going to blame himself for hurting you even more,” Cole explains.

“I look fine. I just haven’t been sleeping well,” I admit.