Taming Pierce

34

☆
T A T I A
34 | don't leave me

Days bleed into nights. Nights to dawns.

It has been a week since Reece slipped into a coma. The more seconds tick by, the more my hopes die.

Why won't he wake up? Is this the end? The end of us?

Ryan and Lizzie have been on the watch constantly. They got a private room in the hospital itself while I am staying with Mom who was allowed to come back to our home. She has tried to be there for me as I cried my heart out in her arms. She hasn't been able to completely sympathize with the situation. Yet, she made sure to comfort me in every way possible when I told her all about Reece.

I haven't heard a word from Casteel. He has disappeared. Mom says he has gone on a killing spree.

Wherever he is, I hope he suffers the same. I pray someday someone takes from him what he loves the most.

I find Lizzie leaning against the wall outside of Reece's cabin when I walk in on the eighth day. Ryan doesn't allow me to stay here for long so I have to come back every day after having sleepless nights.

Lizzie looks downtrodden but blinks away the blankness in her eyes when I walk to her.

"Can I go in?" I ask, peeking to see inside the room.

My feet freeze when I spot Ryan sitting by the side of Reece's bed, holding his brother's hand.

"Of course you can," Lizzie says with a soft smile. "It's just Ryan inside."

"Uh...maybe not then."

I come to lean beside her, folding my jacket over my arms.

"Tia, don't let him walk all over you. He's being a dick only because he loves Reece too much." Lizzie squeezes my shoulder gently, her expression carrying genuine pity. "It's his guilt talking, just like yours."

Ryan hasn't been the least welcoming of my being here. He even tried to get me banned from the place before he realized that it was Casteel's hospital so no one could prevent my coming here. He had half a mind to shift Reece back to LA but the doctors said it would harm his condition which made him drop the idea quickly.

"He's right in not wanting to see me anywhere near Reece," I murmur, staring at my black shoes against the plain white tiles of the floor. "I get that feeling."

Lizzie pushes me off the wall, shoving me with both hands towards the room. She has been the only one who understands what I am going through. I have been the reason for numerous fights between her and Ryan in the last few days. But no matter what, Lizzie didn't leave Ryan alone once.

I know it hurts for her to be away from her daughter but she made it clear to Ryan that she won't leave him alone at any cost.

The love she has for him is the kind I feel for Reece. She understands Ryan better than he does himself. I wish I could show Reece my share of love too.

"Just go, okay? He won't say anything."

She releases me once I dare to push the door open, stepping foot inside the room. Ryan doesn't seem to notice me or he probably thinks I am Lizzie with his back to me so he doesn't say anything.

I keep at the door, the sight of Reece hooked to the bed with so many machines all around him causing my sobs to build up again. I latch myself to the door, letting tears stream down my cheeks as I stare at his comatose state in the bed.

He is barely a faded reflection of what he once was. The sickly color of his skin which is too pale makes the tattoos look prominent and out of place. I miss seeing the color of his pupils, the way they used to dilate when he looked at me. I long to see him up, cracking jokes and giving me false promises about being my savior.