To the Moon and Back... Remember? (Hayes Grier Fanfic)

Chapter 25: Only the Beginning

~Hayes' POV~

She laid there.

She didn't move. She didn't speak. She barely breathed.

It hurt to watch her suffer in that disgustingly white hospital bed. The slow beep of the machine on her right picked at my nerves. The drip of her medicine falling into the IV thundered in my ears. The footsteps from outside the tiny, confining room pounded against my head.

And all she did was lay there.

I slammed my fist on the matress, ceasing all sounds.

"JUST WAKE UP!" I shouted, like I hadn't already tried that and it would actually work this time.

My shoulders shook as I buried my tear streaked face into her hand.

"Please..." I whispered. "Please just wake up. I need you. To the moon and back..."

I watched her eyelids twitch and listened as the brown headed girl's body forced in a deep breath.

It wasn't the first time she had done this and so no false hope shot through me. My tears only came harder.

"Remember?"

I wanted so desperately to see the beautiful green of her eyes again, to hear her laugh.

To make things worse, nobody else was here. Our parents were still on the way back from wherever they had gone and Nash was in California.

I had never felt so alone in my entire life.

That's also why I was losing hope.

If Kamree were going to make it, wouldn't I still feel her in my heart?

Stop.

I jerked up from the chair I had pulled near the bed, sending it flying backwards.

You will not think like that.

I gave my girlfriend's forehead a gentle kiss before walking to the window to get some air. The gravity of the situation was closing in on me. At first, my mind had tried to deny it and convince me that this wasn't happening and that it was just a dream.

And really, that's what it felt like-- a dream.

But then I looked at Kamree and saw the reality of her-- the way she trembled occasionally, the unacceptable coolness of her skin, and her nasty wounds-- and I knew that it was no dream.

Turning my back to the injured girl, I leaned my head against the firm screen of the window, letting the slight breeze dive into my lungs.

I listened as Kamree's body forced in a breath and pictured the way her eyes would open.

I smiled as I thought back to everything we had been through together. We had so many memories and adventures... I didn't want to forget those.

I didn't want to lose Kamree and have her take everything I am with her. She's changed me. I'm a better man now. Every piece of me is connected to that green eyed girl and if she dies, I'm already halfway gone.

I turned on my heal and took in her battered features again, replacing them with all of the qualities I loved most about her.

The waves of her brown hair; the way her green eyes reflect the color of a forest after a storm; her contagious laugh; the calluses across her hands; her shy personality that changes instantly when she's around people she knows. And most of all, her smile and the way it lights up a room.

Everything about my girlfriend was why I stood there that day.

"I love you." I let the words tumble from my mouth, practically tripping over them as I rushed to her bed.