Always the Opposites {Brollins}

[ Chapter 45 ]

Colby was lucky enough to slow Rebecca's fall somewhat, and he immediately yelled for someone to alert an ambulance while he sat on the floor and brought her shaking body into his lap, cradling her head.

He could feel her heart racing against his chest, as he rocked her back and forth in hopes of comforting them both. To say his anxiety was going through the roof was an understatement. But he knew this time he had to be her rock.

Medics arrived while Rebecca was still in the midst of her episode, and they loaded her onto a stretcher. Colby ultimately made the decision to go with her, taking Riley along.

The little girl stared at a passed-out Rebecca, scared, especially when she witnessed the medic poking and prodding her. "She'll be okay, Ri."

"How do you know?" The little girl almost broke down into tears, "I don't want her to leave us like Sarah did."

"Your mom chose to leave us. Rebecca loves you." He hugged Riley, "It's all gonna be fine, I promise."

"Why can't she just be my mom?" The little girl asked innocently, and Colby smiled halfheartedly.

"Sometimes life likes to be a little funny." He shrugged, hugging Riley tighter and partially turning her away from Rebecca so she didn't have to continue to see medics testing her.

As they were being driven to the hospital, Colby's future with Rebecca flashed before his eyes, like it had many times before ever since the incident. He was upset they were having troubles of course, but he was angrier with himself more than anything.

Since Riley, he let the one good thing he had go, without putting up too much of a fight. He wanted to respect her wishes, but he knew he could've pushed harder. He saw her slipping out of his grasp, in every thought about his future he had.

It was consuming him and keeping him awake at night. His life was bleak without her, and he cursed himself for not setting things in stone with their relationship before any of this had a chance to happen. He knew if he hadn't been so stupid, a lot of what Rebecca was dealing with now wouldn't be happening.

When they arrived, the medics got Rebecca situated in her room as they began to run more tests. Colby and Riley watched from the sidelines after he alerted her friends, and the nurses told him luckily it was nothing more than a seizure.

It was the same as her original diagnosis, and the medicine seemed to do some good for her, but sometimes nothing can counteract the thoughts running through the human mind.

Through the tests, they found out Rebecca was missing sleep and exhausted, very dehydrated, and overall way too overwhelmed to last as long as she did without a seizure. Her pulse was still way too fast, and her vitals were all over the place, even an hour after the fact.

He didn't want to leave her alone, and Riley ended up falling asleep in his arms, so when he saw Pamela, Ashley, and Mercedes enter in a rush, he knew she'd be in good hands. The little voice in his head was even still, bouncing between whether he should leave or not.

Colby didn't want her to see him and get riled up all over again, but he didn't want to seem like he didn't care and just fled the scene.

"How is she?" Pamela questioned before walking to her side.

"She's uh, not the best." Colby stood up, carrying Riley, "It was... a seizure."

Pamela's eyes widened as she slowly looked at him in shock before Ashley spoke up. "A seizure? Out of nowhere? How does that make any sense at all?"

"That doesn't seem right. Is there a reason why?" Mercedes shook her head, before noticing the looks between Pamela and Colby. "What's going on?"

"This isn't the first time this has happened..." Pamela looked at the girls wearily with tears of guilt and worry in her eyes, as she gently held Rebecca's cold hand.

"About three years ago, Rebecca and I were trying to get through our very first set of university exams." Pamela looked down at Rebecca, "We were both stressed and overloaded. When she came by, and we started studying one random day, it happened."

"Why didn't she tell us?" Ashley questioned, staring at her sedate friend.

"She wanted to write it off as a one-time thing. But one day, I caught her with a bottle of pills in her bag." Colby explained, not wanting Pamela to be solely to blame for the secrecy. "Becky told me she was prescribed them after the first episode. But she didn't want you to worry."

The girls took their time processing everything, exchanging glances and thinking to themselves before Colby ultimately made his decision. "I'll uh, let you guys have some time with her alone. I gotta get this little one to bed anyways."

Pamela watched him gesture to a fast asleep Riley, "What?! No, you have to be here when she wakes up."

"I don't want to... trigger her and make her go through another episode." He spoke softly, suddenly feeling choked up. "It's better off if I leave."

"You didn't cause this, Colby." Mercedes placed her hand on his shoulder, and he nodded.

He gently passed Riley over to a reluctant Mercedes before walking over to the bedside table and fumbling around with a pen and sticky note. He moved to her ear and whispered as he placed her hand in his.

"I'm sorry." He kissed her forehead and stepped back, taking in as much as he could, knowing this could possibly be the last time he got the chance to say anything more to her.

Colby held Riley to his chest and watched Rebecca for a few more seconds, feeling emptier the closer to the exit he got. "I'm sorry."