Gone Too Far (SamandColby)

Chapter 16: Fallout

They were driving back to the house and Colby was having a crisis.

"I should have stayed with him..." Colby muttered.  When Stas glanced at him in the passenger seat, his whole posture was tight.  There were lines of exhaustion on his face, deep bags under his eyes... but he was still thinking of Sam.

But really, that shouldn't have surprised her.  When she had started hanging out with the three of them, Katrina had warned her that the guys had an almost unhealthily codependent relationship.  Fortunately, it was mutual, so there were rarely issues with it between them, but Katrina had expressed that the both of them would worry about the other to the detriment of their own mental or physical wellbeing sometimes.

She was seeing that now.

When Katrina and Stas had gotten back to Sam's hospital room, the boys had seemed tired.  She wasn't sure what they had discussed while they were out of the room, but she hoped it had been a good conversation.  She was worried for them, knowing with a detail she wished she didn't about what had transpired between them.

How much had Sam known?  What else had happened?  She was afraid to ask.

"Kat's with him," She tried to reassure Colby.  She lifted one hand from the wheel and reached for his hand.  She couldn't help but internally cringe at the bruises she could see black and blue around his wrists.

What had the demon done to him? Was this all from being chained over that Bench she'd found him on?  She felt like maybe it hadn't.  But that wasn't her place to ask.

They were close, but she felt sometimes there was still a wall up between them.  She hadn't yet been let in on the same level of intimacy that he shared with Sam and Kat.  And that was okay, much as she wished he would share what was going on in his head now.

But she didn't ask.  Colby would share when and if he wanted to.  And she never wanted to force it. "It'll be good for you to get a shower and some sleep," She continued, squeezing his hand.

Colby shook his head, but still flipped his hand to grip hers back. Some part of her heart warned.  "But I..." He hesitated.  "Just feels like I shouldn't be leaving him.  He just... he just had fucking open heart surgery..."

"Kat's still with him, and she's gonna take care of him," Stas assured Colby.  "You just had surgery too, you know."

She watched him glance at his ankle.  "I mean... I guess..." He said faintly.  She could almost watch him minimize his own injuries internally in real time.  He leaned his head back against the headrest.  "I just... It's Sam."

"They'll be okay," Stas promised, squeezing his hand again.  "We're gonna take care of you, okay?"

Colby's face still showed his reluctance, but he managed to give her a faint smile.  "Yeah, okay."  He said quietly.  "But if anything changes with him..."

"We can go back," Stas promised.  "And Kat will let us know."

Colby nodded faintly.  She watched him take a deep breath, closing his eyes.  The next question caught her off guard.  "You really think the demon's gone?" He asked, and there was an uncharacteristic vulnerability in his voice.

Stas felt her heart skip a beat.  That was a possibility she hadn't even allowed herself to entertain.  John had said it had gone.  Sam had almost fucking died.  The possibility that all of that might have been for naught...

"John said it was gone, right?" She said.  "He said it was gone, and Sam... he's been acting normal, right?"

Colby nodded.  "He did, and he has."  He squeezed Stas' hand.  "I'm just... I still..." He hesitated.  "What if it isn't really?  What if it comes back?"