texts // joshler

-37-

My heart sank. Every thought in my head left my mind and my body became cold. I ruined Tyler's life. He's never going to fully recover when he wakes up. If he wakes up.

"Mr. Dun," Officer Wentz called to me. I looked up at him, awaiting whatever he had to say. I didn't care what happened to me, I just wanted Tyler to be okay.

"Well, I'm going to keep this short Mr. Dun. You were under the influence when driving and that's you're first offense, you're second is underage drinking. There's a few other very minor ones as well but at this rate you can go to juvenile detention for anywhere up to 5 years or if you pay the fine, you'll get off with just community service." The officer stood there and stared blankly at me as I processed what he just said.

Honestly, I deserved jail time. It's my fault Tyler is in a coma because I shouldn't have been driving. I shouldn't have even been drinking, really. But I needed to be there if Tyler woke up.

"Can I think about it," I asked. The officer nodded and handed his card to my parents before exiting.

"Joshua William Dun! What were you thinking," my mom shrieked. "That boy almost died! Heck, he might still die! Not only did you endanger your life, you endangered his life, too. I'm so disappointed in you." She finished scolding briefly while my dad stared at me in disapproval.

"I-I'm," I choked out, the lump in my throat making it difficult to speak.

"I don't want to hear it," my dad interrupted. He grabbed my mom's hand and they both left me in the dim hospital room, alone.

And that night I could hardly sleep. All of my guilt and all of my grief tore through my mind and relentlessly attacked every bit of my being, leaving me weak and helpless. I needed Tyler, but I've been such a bad thing for him so did he need me?