A/N just a shoutout to NikkiP3 for all her kind words, comments, and votes. It meant the world to me! Thank you so much!
Chapter Twelve.
Don't leave me.
Colby's POV.
I watch Macy pack her bags up as I fed Madi, rocking her slowly. Macy had to travel to Bloomingdale for a two-day conference, and Madi would be staying with Macy's parents.
"Man, I don't want you to go. I'm going to miss you two." I lightly whined, softly patting Madi's back.
"We're going to miss you too, but it's only two days. It'll be worse when your career jump starts." She reminded me.
I sighed deeply, knowing she was right. "True. It's like I've wanted this my whole life. I wanted to travel the world and never stay somewhere too long. Now, I have something to stay home for." I smiled up at her, causing her to blush.
"I'll be back before you know it, and we can have a movie night. My parents can watch Madi and we could just have a night alone. How does that sound?" She asked, smiling as she placed Madi in her swing and sat down in my lap.
"That's sounds nice." I smiled, placing a sweet kiss on her cheek.
I couldn't believe I had her now. She was my everything. Her and Madi were all I ever wanted, and maybe another baby along the way.
"Well, about five more minutes, I'll be packed and I'll have to go." She frowned, laying her head on mine, causing her hair to fall in my face.
"Noooo." I whined, holding her body close to mine.
She kissed my head, before standing up and walking to the bathroom. She walked out a minute later with her bathroom bag.
"Will you help me load this stuff?" She asked, placing Madi in her car seat.
I said nothing, just gathered up her bags and walking towards the door. She followed me out, closing the door and locking it behind her. We both headed to her car. I loaded in the bags as she loaded up Madi.
"I guess I'll see you in two days. I'll call as much as I can." She said, smiling up at me with sadness in her eyes.
"I can't wait till I can see those pretty blue eyes again." I said, kissing her forehead softly.
"Gimme a kiss. I gotta go." She smirked, standing on her tippy toes.
I took her face in my hands, rubbing our noses together slightly before pressing our lips together. I didn't go anywhere past a regular kiss, because it felt perfect the way it was. As much as it killed me, I pulled away from her slowly. I pecked her lips quickly before wrapping her up in my arms.
"Movie date when I get back. See ya later babe." She said, kissing me one more time before jumping in her Suburban and driving off.
---------
"Harder! I know you can punch that bag harder than that!" Tex yelled, as I released all my feelings into a poor sand-filled bag. I finally stopped, leaning forward, and resting my hands on my knees as I caught my breath.
"Damn, that felt good." I muttered, still working on my breathing.
"My poor bag." Tex pouted, before busting into a fit of laughter.
I joined him and walked over the weight bench.
"Spot?" I asked, sitting on the edge. He nodded and stood behind me.
"You miss her, don't you?" He asked, as I lifted the weight up over and over.
"Like crazy. That's why I'm pushing myself so hard is so I don't think about it too much. She comes back tomorrow." I said, pressing the weight several more times before placing it back on the rack with the help of Tex.
"Yeah, I could tell. What are you gonna do when you start traveling?" He asked, as he followed me to the leg press machine.
I sat down on it as he started doing push ups beside me. "I don't even wanna think about it. I just want to push myself until I can't see straight. No more talking, okay?" I snapped slightly.
I was trying not to think about the burning sensation in my heart from missing the girls. I guess he got the point, as he didn't say anything else.
----------
Macy's POV.
Finally, this conference is over and I'm heading home to my family. I hope attending this conference will help me earn my next classification. That will involve a pay raise and extra sick and vacation days.
I was finally nearing home, so I figured I'd call up Colby. It only rang twice before his sweet voice filled my ear.
"Hello beautiful." He said, his voice indicating that he was smiling, which made me smile as well.
"Hello love. How's my fabulous boyfriend doing?" I asked, chuckling at myself for using the term 'fabulous'.
"As fabulous as always. How're you, my darling?" He asked, chuckling slightly.
"I'm okay, ready to be home. It's really hard to see in all this rain," I complained, squinting to see out of the windshield but it was to no avail.
"How far are you from the exit?" Colby asked concerned, crunching on some type of food to distract himself.
"About five miles or so. Not too much longer," I replied, trying to focus on the road which was getting more and more difficult now.
But then, all of the sudden, I hydroplaned. My car turned sideways, and though I tried to correct it, it was too late. I had lost control.
"Oh shit!" I screamed in horror, quickly bracing myself for the impact that I knew was about to come.
As the car started to roll at an incredibly fast pace, all I could think about was Madi. My beautiful daughter. I started to panic, my heart beating fast in my chest. I had to be okay for her. She needed me. I couldn't die. Not now. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. After what felt like an eternity, the car finally stopped rolling, forcefully landing on its side. My leg was trapped and with all the power I had left in me, I tried to free it, but the harder I pulled, the worse the pain got. I reached down slowly and felt blood, making me feel sick and dizzy. I felt myself getting sleepy now, but I knew for sure that I wasn't asleep. I was dying. Madi wasn't going to have a mother anymore. My parents wouldn't have a daughter. Colby wouldn't have a girlfriend. Colby. I'd never told him I loved him. I knew that I did, and I knew I should have told him, but I haven't. I was going to die and he'd never know how much I loved him. I just hoped he would stay in Madi's life.
"I'm sorry..." I whispered through my tears before the darkness eventually took over.
----------
Colby's POV.
"Macy. MACY!!" I screamed into the phone, my heart collapsing in my chest.
I quickly dialed 911, giving them her location as close as I could figure. I quickly grabbed my keys, wallet, and rain jacket, then ran out the door.
Once I sped off, I called Dallas. "Hey Colbs-" she started to speak, but I cut her off.
"Dallas, Macy's been in a car wreck. I was on the phone with her and she screamed, then the line went dead. I'm on my way to her now. God, Dal, I cannot lose her. What I am gonna do?" I asked, my voice cracking as tears streamed down my face.
"Oh my god. Okay, I'll call her parents. You just get to her, Colby. She's a tough girl, she'll be okay. I love you, Colby, stay strong for my girl." She said quickly, then the line cut.
I sped down the highway, trying to get to her as fast as I could. But nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, could have prepared me for what I saw when I got there.
----------
As I pulled up to the crash scene, my stomach dropped. My heart shattered into a thousand pieces that I'd never find again. Her Suburban was destroyed. It had obviously rolled several times and crashed into a guard rail. The closer I walked, the more my faith and confidence diminished. I jumped out of my car and into the pouring rain. There was no way she survived. I approached the nearest paramedic and gently tapped on his shoulder.
"May I help you?" He said, looking at me with a serious face.
"That's my girlfriend. Please, tell me she's alive." I asked, my voice cracking.
I never thought in a million years I'd be asking someone that question. His face turned into a saddened, pain expression.
"Barely. We aren't sure if she'll make it to the hospital." He said, his voice full of remorse. "Can I see her? It may be the last time I see her alive." I begged.
He thought for a second, before turning around and walking towards the stretcher. I followed close on his heels. As soon I saw her, my heart stopped beating. My lungs collapsed, I couldn't breathe. She didn't even look like my Macy. Her face was battered and bruised, she had cuts all up her arms, and her leg was bent in an awkward position. I took her cold hand into mine, and raised it slowly to my lips, placing a feather soft kiss to it. Tears steadily streamed down my face with no chance of stopping.
"We're loading her up. You can follow us there." The same paramedic said, looking at me expectingly.
I kissed her hand once more and ran to my car, quickly taking off after the ambulance. I was going to lose her. The best thing that ever happened to me was being torn away from me. I had barely had her a month, and now she was gone. Who was going to watch after Madi? I'm sure her parents would, but I wanted to help. Madi was all I had left of Macy. I couldn't lose Madi, too, my heart couldn't take it.
I turned the stereo on as Macy's favorite band, Alter Bridge, blasted through the speakers as I continued towards the hospital.
......
As I walked into the front entrance, her parents stood there waiting. When they saw me, they quickly rushed over.
"What did they say?" Shelley asked quickly, placing her hand on my shoulder.
"They weren't sure she'd make it here." I replied softly, as the tears starting falling once again.
Her parents broke into sobs, clinging to each other. I left them alone and walked over to Madi's car seat. I took the sleeping child out and cradled her to my chest as I cried.
Soon, Dallas and Tex arrived. Dallas hugged Macy's parents before rushing to me.
"It's not good, Dal, they don't think she'll make it." I whispered, still clutching Madi as if she'd leave me too.
"Have faith, baby boy, you have to be strong for Madi. She needs you." Dallas said, as she sat on one side of me and Tex sat on the other.
"Family of Macy Buchanan?" A nurse called out.
We all jumped up and followed her to a smaller waiting room. A doctor was waiting on us.
"Please, have a seat." He said softly. We all sat down and looked up at him expectingly. "She's alive. How? God only knows. She's probably going to be out for a few days until her body calms down from the shock. Until then, it's touch and go. Just stay optimistic." He explained as we all let out the breath we've been holding in for hours.
He explained more of her condition. She'd be on crutches for at least eight weeks, and she's be extremely sore from all the trauma, but she was most likely going to make a full recovery.
"Can we see her?" I spoke up after he finished.
"Two at a time." He said.
I looked at her parents, nodding my head as they followed the doctor. I sat back down as Madi woke up, sobbing softly.
"Here, lemme take her. She just needs some Aunt Dal." Dallas smiled, slowly taking her out of my arms and walking away with her.
"You okay, man?" Tex asked, looking at me expectantly.
"I'm trying to stay positive, but I saw her. I saw how beaten up she was. I can't live without her. I haven't even told her I loved her. God, I should've told her. I love her so fucking much. I wish it was me. I'd take away everything, all the pain and trauma. Just so she'd be okay. I wish it was me." I sighed deeply, as the tears once again started welling up.
"You're gonna get that chance to tell her, I believe it." Tex replied, doing his best to keep me positive.
"Colby, you and Dal wanna go back?" Ms. Shelley asked.
I nodded quickly, and Dallas gave Madi to Tex as we both rushed to the door. Once we walked in, it was like the shock was happening all over again. Dal's sobs soon filled the room with noise. I cradled her head to my chest as we both let out the tears.
"Gah, I just didn't think she'd look so different. She doesn't even look like Macy." She mumbled through the tears.
"Yeah." Was all I could mutter out.
Dal pulled out of my arms, carefully sitting on the edge of the bed, and took Macy's hand into her own.
"You listen to me, Macy Lyn Buchanan. You're gonna come out of this with nothing but a couple broken bones. You're so fucking tough. I know you'll get out of this. You gotta hang in there. Madilyn needs you, we all need you. Come back to us, baby girl." She said, kissing Macy's hand and sobbing her eyes out.
I took her hand and led her out. We walked back into the lobby to see a nurse talking to Macy parents. Dallas threw herself into Tex's arms, sobbing violently. I kept my composer as the nurse explained that they were moving Macy to ICU and that one person could be staying the night with her.
"I'll stay. Madi needs the two of you. I'll keep you updated, I promise. Take her home and get her away from here." I said, placing my hand on Shelley's shoulder.
She nodded slowly, hugging me as tight as she could. We all said our goodbyes as they all left. Tex headed back to Dallas' to get her some clothes as she was staying with Harold, Shelley, and Madi for tonight. They got Macy settled into her room, gave me a blanket and pillow, and left for the time being. I pulled the chair close to her bed. I took her barely warm hand in mine as I looked over her. I kissed feather soft kisses repeatedly to her hand.
"I am so sorry this happened to you. I'd take away everything if I could. I love you so much Macy. I wish I would've told you sooner, but I have faith I'll get to tell you. I swear, I'll tell you so much you will get sick of it. I will scream it to the world. You are mine, and I am yours. Forever. I love you so much." I murmured. I repeated myself until I finally fell asleep, my hand never leaving hers.