RILEY WAS EXHAUSTED, she had stayed up basically all night going through her mail, bills, paying rent, and cleaning up the small apartment she got when the tragedy happened. It wasn't anything new, she normally had trouble sleeping nowadays. What wasn't normal was sleeping for half the day. Somehow, she always wakes up a certain time no matter how late she stays up because she knows she has somewhere to be. The back of her mind, and her feet always ends up taking her to the hospital.
It's like her head isn't in the right place, she doesn't remember anything about her day besides sitting in a small uncomfortable chair, smelling the humid scent of tubes, cloth and sweat. The occasional beeping sounds like a lifeline to her ears as she stares at the non-moving man next to her. It was like a constant routine, her mind running in a circle like she was on one of those hamsters toys.
Wake up, brush her teeth, shower, go to the hospital, go home, clean up, and repeat.
Her world seemed to turn in a blur of black and white, it always was, but not this bad. Her world used to consist of observing, danger, and running. It wasn't ideal. Then, she got a taste of what happiness felt like, what love felt like. She got greedy and relished in too much, and got it snatched right out of her hands.
The date on her phone read: 2:56 PM, and she hurried up, and got in the shower. She wasn't late for anything, but it felt like a crime to not see him.
She didn't even bother to grab a bite to eat. She wasn't hungry a lot. She only ate when she had to, which was bad for her, and a lot of things she did in her life were bad. The only good thing in her black and white blur of a life was taken away from her so she couldn't give a shit.
She stepped in the hospital, walked straight past the working desks of nurses who gave her a wearily look. One even opened their mouth to say something but Riley quickly put a hand up, and she shut up. Riley couldn't be bothered right now, she was frustrated with herself, and honestly, everything. The only thing that didn't piss her off wasn't talk to her, touch her or even look at her.
She stopped at the water machines and grabbed a small cup, and watched as it slowly poured into the cup. Riley probably looked out of it, and she was. She just needed to see him, and she would feel whole again. Not looking at his face, or touching his cold and stiff hands made her feel empty, and hollow.
She stopped in front of 107, his room number and sighed through her teeth.
She needed to water the flowers on the desk next to his bed, there were lots. People probably sent gifts from all over the world, knowing the influence he had on them. It should've made her feel grateful, even glad. But it didn't. They didn't even know the whole reason he was stuck in a coma.
They didn't know him, what he was really like underneath his business persona. He was the sweetest, and secretly the most romantic guy she had ever met.
She slowly opened the door, trying to put on a tight smile as her eyes darted to the bed only to find it... neatly folded with no man in it.
Her face dropped and she looked desperately around the room only to land on a broad back, and dark hair. Standing up... no wires on his arms and legs, no breathing tube plastered in his face.
What?
She instinctively dropped the cup of water in her hand, her hand numbing with her astonishment. She felt for a moment that she was dreaming, still stuck in a paradies where they never even split in the first place. Her mind rubbed in her face what she lost, and what was all of her fault.
But when he turned around at the sound of the spill, his hands clasped by his front, his blue eyes wide with surprise, and a hint of confusion. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Was he really standing in front of her right now? His eyes open, his body moving and not rigid with labored breaths.
