"tyler, she's gone."
"just... just let ruby go, okay? you're just hurting jenna even more by doing this."
"sweetheart, she's not waking up.."
it had been three weeks since ruby flatlined. the doctors managed to resuscitate her a short while after but the damage had been done. the small brain activity she'd had left was even smaller, leaving even the doctors clueless as to whether or not she'd wake up.
but tyler didnt give up. he sat right by her bed every day since then, holding her hand and talking to her as if she were already awake.
"your sisters miss you.. your brothers aren't admitting it but everyone can tell that they miss you too. god, your mom comes to see you every single day. she took the cats, so don't worry. but you're gonna wake up and we'll all be okay again. just take your time.."
but for ruby, she heard everything. it was like being asleep, completely immersed in a dream, yet hearing your ringtone going off. instead of waking you up, it simply just ends up being another part of the dream, leaving you still asleep.
"but papa, i already am awake." she tried to say back over and over again, her subconscious trying to will herself to even nudge a finger. it was agony, hearing everyone talk as though she'd died.
"tyler, we have to plan the funeral."
"what funeral? ruby's right there, breathing on her own."
"she hasn't woken up in three weeks. you haven't left for three weeks, tyler. you smell horribly and you're sleepy. you're killing yourself by doing this! she's not coming back! our little girl is a vegetable."
"vegetable? she doesn't even like vegetables. you know how big of a miracle it is to get lettuce in her?" tyler smiled, brushing her hair gently. so long as people tried to force him to forget, he just ignored them.
"I'm not going to bury the both of you, tyler!" Pete jumped in, giving tyler a bit of a shock. "i love you and you know i love ruby but she wouldn't want this. she'd want you to go out and plant a flower, go to the dance studio and take those lessons she never got to teach you. she'd want you to live.."
jenna reached over and patted his shoulder. "she's not going to wake up, babes. we... pete and i are going to go, give you a few minutes with her before the doctors come back with the papers." she looked over at pete and motioned to the door as she stood up, walking out with a shaky hand covering her mouth, muffling the quiet sobs.
pete opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but decided against it. he leaned over and kissed tyler's cheek, a sad smile on his lips when he realized that tyler hadn't even acknowledged what happened. standing up, he leaned over and kissed ruby's forehead.
"i'll see ya again one day, kiddo." he whispered before he walked out, leaving the two of them alone.
alone. all of a sudden, ruby felt alone. the dream that felt happy and beautiful went cold. she felt cold. she started to feel tyler's grip on her hand, their palms accumulating sweat by the second. she could feel the coldness of the room, smell the overly clean halls that lined the hospital.
