Bring Me Back To 5SOS {Book 2}

36- 5 Months

Michael's POV

I hovered in the doorway to Maya's room at the hospital before sitting next to her.

She'd been in a coma for a month now with no sign of waking up. Her oncologist adjusted her medication. The tumor shrank a bit, but she was still very weak.

I held her hand in mine and studied her face. She looked pale, almost too pale. She lost weight, too. I began to worry that she'd die before she even woke up.

"It's been a month, Maya. We're all waiting for you to wake up. Just keep fighting. I know you can do it." I braced myself before speaking again. "But if it becomes too much if you can't hold any longer, you can let go. We'll be okay."

It hurt this morning when I planned the speech in my head. It hurt as I thought about it on the drive over. And it tore me apart to finally say it out loud.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, biting my lip until I tasted blood. I couldn't break down, because if I did, I didn't think I'd ever pick myself up again. I was so scared to lose my daughter again.

One of the doctors on Maya's case peeked her head into the room.

"Mr. Clifford, may I speak to you for a second?" She asked.

I stood up and went out to the hallway. I fiddled with the bracelets on my wrist. They were from the fans and one was from Maya. On a piece of leather, she engraved the day I adopted her. It hadn't left my wrist since the day of the crash.

"As you know, we are unaware of when Maya will wake up. If her condition doesn't improve within the next five months, we will have to look at our options," she said.

"Look at our options. What do you mean?" I asked.

"The only reason your daughter is still alive is because of the machine. If she is still the way she is now, we will take her off it. She either pulls through on her own or not at all."

"So what you're saying is if she doesn't wake up, you're going to let her die? People live off those machines for years. Why can't you just give her as long as she needs to wake up?"

"I'm sorry, but it isn't my decision. That is for her primary physician and oncologist to decide but look at her. Her body is weak from all the stress and the medication. She could die at any moment, even with the machine. It's what's best for her," she said and patted my shoulder.

"What's best is not taking away my daughter's only chance to live," I said angrily and went back to Maya's room.

I rubbed my hands over my face before sitting back down. I looked at the heart monitor, watching the green lines going up and down.

"Five months, Maya. That's how long you have to wake up. If not, it's over."

*~*

I drove back to the house and went inside. The guys and Maya's friends were in the living room. The only one that looked up was Thomas.

"Any news?" He asked.

He'd been spending a lot of time here after school. If he wasn't here, he was at the hospital.

"Yeah, and it's not good," I said. "She has five months to wake up. If she doesn't, then they're going to take her off life support."

Leila let out a sob and covered her face with her hands. Thomas wrapped his arms around her.

Ashton threw his phone at the wall and ran upstairs.

"I'll go check on him," Luke said and followed him.

I turned to Calum. He sat on the couch not saying a word, staring straight ahead.

"Mate, you okay?" I asked.

He stood up and went to the door. He slipped on his jacket and took the car keys out of his pocket.

"Where are you going?"

"To find the bastard who did this," he said and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Calum's POV

I pulled up to the local bar about ten minutes down the road. I asked around and found out that the car belonged to a thirty-five-year-old man named William. He came to this place often.

I ignored the weird looks people gave me as I angrily marched inside. I walked up to the bar and called over one of the workers.

"I'm looking for Will," I said.

He pointed to a far corner where a man sat alone. My blood boiled at the sight of him.

I walked up to Will and grabbed him by his collar. I shoved him against the wall, and his head rolled to the side.

"What the hell?" He said, intoxicated before seven o'clock at night.

I punched him in the face and kneed him in the gut. He fell to the floor, and I kicked his ribs over and over.

"You're the one who hit them! You're the reason she's in a coma! She's dying and it's all your fault!" I shouted.

No one did anything to acknowledge what was going on. I shoved him into a seat and punched him once more, making sure to break his nose.

"That was for Maya."