XPLR | Colby Brock

Chapter Two

Before I could process that the ceiling was collapsing, a strong hand wound around my stomach and yanked me backwards, the falling debris missing me by centimetres. I screamed as I fell into a room with the stranger that had possibly just saved my life, squeezing my eyes tightly shut and burying my head into the stranger's t-shirt as their hand held the back my head, keeping me close to them to protect me from any of the falling concrete.
"Keep your head down!" The stranger yelled, his voice demanding and panicked. The loud noise of the material clattering onto the wooden floorboards was deafening. The floorboards outside of the room fell through, the snapping and clattering of all the concrete and wood taking over the entire hospital, echoing as it hit the ground two floors below us. The grey dust rose from the newly made hole in the floor, the stranger loosening their grip on me as it had been silent for a couple minutes now. 

I sat up, my mouth open in shock as I stared at the doorway. 
"Are you okay?" The stranger stood up, his voice swayed as he tried to keep himself calm and started dusting the dust from his clothes. I turned to look at the stranger, ready to thank him for practically saving my life, but my breath caught in my throat as I locked on his crystal blue eyes as they scanned over my body, checking if I was hurt. I coughed slightly, shivering and stood up, feeling a sharp pain shoot down my calf. I stumbled forward, the stranger jerking forward to steady me before I went back on the floor. "Sit. You've got a bit of wood in your leg, I'll have to get it out so it hurts less." He said, taking his hoodie off and quickly handed it to me before helping me sit back on the ground. I smiled softly and pulled the black hoodie over my head. "I'm Colby, by the way."

As I sat, I heard a bunch of footsteps and loud, concerned voices coming towards us, making me jump slightly.
"Colby!"
"You good, brother?!"
"Answer us, dude!"
"Rosalie!"
My head shot up as I heard Emelie's voice break as she shouted for me, my heart shattering at the sound.
"We're okay!" Colby called back and we saw a group of people come around the corner and run towards us. I scanned the group for my best friends, my eyes quickly landing on them. Emelie was sobbing whilst Xavier tried to comfort her, his arms wrapped around her tightly as she held onto him. 
"Em, I'm okay, just got a some fucking wood stuck in my goddamn leg." I let out a nervous chuckle as I spoke, noticing that all eyes were on me. I swallowed, keeping my eyes glued to Emelie. Colby and the other guys were having a conversation that I was too zoned out to focus on. 
"I thought you died!" She cried, pointing her finger at me. "You're not allowed to do that shit, you scared the fuck out of us." She let out a watery laugh and I blew her a kiss with a small smile. I was alive, thanks to Sam.

Emelie turned to look at the other group, panic expressed all over her face as she pointed to the most obvious problem. The massive hole in the floor between us all.
"We got two options. We find something for them to climb across, or they jump." A tall man dressed in red patterned jeans, a black shirt with long fishnet sleeves and long-ish black hair shrugged at the group. I watched as the blonde started laughing nervously whilst the man with the braids just looked at the tall one with utter disbelief. Xavier smacked his palm lightly against his forehead and Emelie just looked downright confused.
"If it wasn't obvious, can y'all go and find something long and thick enough to put over this big ass hole whilst I clean up the blood?" Colby asked as he turned back to me, looking at me intensely with those cerulean eyes. The others went off back down the corridor to see if they could find something Colby and I could make our way across. I shivered at the thought of shimmying my way across that deep hole, thinking about all sorts of shit that could be down there.

"I've gotta pull out the bit of wood and it's gonna sting like a bitch." He explained as he straightened my leg, red liquid now on the wooden floor. I cringed at the thought, pressing my lips into a thin line as I nodded. "Hold my flannel if you could, I'm going to need it once the wood is out of your leg. Grab tightly onto it if it hurts." He instructed, sliding his green flannel off his arms and placing it in my lap. I reached for it and held the piece of cloth tightly in my fist.
"You got this, Rosalie. Take a deep breath." I did as he said and took a deep breath, closing my eyes tightly. I could feel him getting hold of the wood, my skin on fire as he finally got a grip.

Without warning, Colby yanked the wood out of my flesh, the pain so unbearable that the world around me faded into stars.