Even After All This Time (Tayley)

Chapter 12: Will you be there to help me through?

*Josh's POV*

Beep-beep-beep. 

That's the only sound that could be heard in the room. I was alone, with Zac. The rest of my family was on a schedule so that someone was always in the room with him, but I've been with him since we got to the hospital.

"Josh, Mom wants you" Jonathan said as he walked into the room. 

"Tell her to come in here then" I said, keeping my eyes on Zac's monitors.

"No, she wants you to walk with her to the cafeteria. You need to eat" Jonathan pressed.

"And what if he wakes up then? I won't be here to see him." I said, turning to him. 

There was a silence that hung in the room. Both of us knew why, what if Zac died while I was gone. The doctors said that Zac might not survive the rest of the day.

"If he wakes, I'll make them page you over the loud speaker. Now go get Mom." Jonathan said, pulling me up from the chair at Zac's feet.

I got up and walked out of the room, taking one last look at my best friend.

*Hayley's POV*

Josh's mom had called me only a few hours ago to let me know the news about Zac. She said the reason she didn't tell me earlier was so that the family could have some private time alone. Josh probably told her to do so.

I grabbed my phone and purse off the coffee table in the living room before leaving my house.

I got in my car and drove to Taylor's house to pick him up on my way to the hospital. 

"Hey T." I said, a frown on my face.

"Hey" He said quietly, depression radiating off of him.

Those were the only words that were spoken in the twenty minute drive to the hospital. The car was full of silence, giving both of us time to think. Too much time.

I reached the light outside of the hospital, and dropped my right arm to the armrest. Taylor slowly moved his hand to mine, lacing our fingers together. I squeezed his hand, and he turned to smile slightly at me. I was thankful for Taylor, he was that something to help me deal with what happened to Zac.

When I heard what happened to Zac, I kept blaming myself for it, since he ran away from my apartment, but Taylor helped me cope with it. He told me that it was nobody's fault except the two guys that beat him up.

When we got into a parking spot we had to let go of each other's hand. Sadly. 

 While we were walking through the parking lot, my phone buzzed, scaring me.

Go to the cafeteria

It was a text from Jonathan, the youngest of the Farro brothers.

"Jonathan said for us to go visit Josh first in the cafeteria."

Taylor nodded and bumped into me.

"Ow, what was that for?" I whined.

Taylor bumped into me, laughing, then grabbed my hand. I laced my fingers with his, squeezing hard.

"Wait. Hold on a sec." I said, stopping in my tracks.

"What? What's wrong?" Taylor asked concerned.

I looked up at him, then standing on tip toes, I gave Taylor a peck on the lips.

He looked at me and smiled, his eyes lingering on my face. He pulled me into him and kissed me passionately. We stayed locked in embrace for what seemed like forever. We pulled back slightly, both out of breath. My heart beat recklously in my chest, and my cheeks were bright red. I was speechless, all I could do was giggle. 

We made our way to the cafeteria, where Josh and Mrs. Farro sat at one of the otherwise deserted tables. 

"Hey Josh," I said quietly coming up behind him. He stood up and hugged me, squeezing tight.

"Thank you for coming" He mumbled into my hair.

"Of course" I said into his chest, trying to pull away. He let me go, and sat back down.

"I'm going to go back up to the room." Mrs. Farro said, standing up. We all nodded, as I sat in her seat and Taylor sat next to me.

"How's he doing?" Taylor asked, filling the silence.

Josh just shook his head exasperated. "Not good. The doctor said he might not make it" 

I started crying then, shaking violently. Hearing that one of my best friends could die at any moment broke my heart.

Taylor pulled me towards him, comforting me. The shaking stopped, helping me calm down.

Josh cleared his throat loudly, making me pull away from Taylor. 

"D-D-Do you want to see him?" Josh asked sheepishly.

Taylor and I nodded, standing up.

We made our way to Zac's room silently. Taylor and I following Josh slowly.

As Josh opened the door, all I could do was gasp. Zac had many tubes connected to him, and multiple machines were in the room. There was a steady beep of his heart coming from the biggest of the machines next to his bed. Jonathan stood looking out the window, while Mrs. Farro looked up at us from the chair at Zac's side.

There were a few extra chairs in the one corner of the room, so Josh moved them closer to Zac's bed for the three of us to sit on. We sat in silence for almost two hours, just listening to the sound of Zac's heart monitor. It felt peaceful, with a tad awkwardness. 

Taylor cleared his throat, then stood up stretching. I looked up at him and nodded. He nodded back.

"I think we're gonna go now," I said slowly, standing up. "I promised my dad I'd visit him when we got back from the tour." 

Josh looked up and nodded. "I'll walk you two out." He stood up and followed us out of the room.

When we reached the door, Josh pulled me aside. "Thank you for coming. Really means a lot." 

I nodded, and forced a small smile. "You're welcome. I'm sorry for what happened." Part of me was apologizing for what happened to Zac, and another part of me, a small part, was apologizing for what happened in the UK.

He nodded slightly, while Taylor and I walked out the door. I looked back towards the door where Josh still stood. He waved, and I waved back.

*Taylor's POV*

We got to the car after finally getting out of the hospitial. Seeing my best friend laying on bed with a machine keeping him alive made me want to scream. I had to be strong, both for Hayley and the Farro's, but also for me. If I started to cry or scream, I don't think I would be able to stop.

"Do you think you can drive?" Hayley asked, dangling the keys from her hand. 

"Sure" I said, grabbing them and heading to the drivers side of the car.

Hayley got in the passenger seat, put her seatbelt on, and started crying.

Silently, I pulled her close to me, Kissing the top of her head, and started rubbing her back. She unbuckled her seatbelt, and pulled my face down to hers. She kissed me passionately, and I returned her kiss with forced. We both needed each other in that moment. 

"Will you be there to help me through?" Hayley whispered, gasping for breath.

"Always" I breathed.

*Author's Note*

I just wanna thank everyone for 1.5K reads. *hugsss* also, this chapter(minus the note) is 1234 words, just thought that was cool. Please vote and comment! Love you guys <3