𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 ; zach herron

F I F T E E N

To say she didn't break down afterward would be a total lie.

She sobbed and threw the few things she had in her room at the wall. She was in such a bad state the nurses had to come in and try to subdue her.

They told her that she was safe. That she was in good hands. That everything was going to be okay.

But it wasn't.

It wasn't going to be okay because he was gone.

He was gone.

She screamed as the two nurses tried to hold her down. "ZACH! COME BACK! PLEASE!"

"You have to let him go, sweetheart," one of the nurses told her in a calming tone, but the words cut her like knives. "It's better this way."

No. It wasn't better.

Nothing was better without him.

"ZACH!" she continued screaming. "NO! ZACH!"

It was only a second later when she heard it. The voice that lifted her spirits, that brought light into her life, that made her heart stop and speed up all at the same time.

"SABRINA!"

Her stomach churned at how desperate he sounded. But what surprised her the most was that the nurses stopped holding her back. They stared at each other in astonishment as if they couldn't believe what they were hearing.

Wait, were they actually able to hear him?!

"SABRINA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

She snapped out of her stupor and ran out the door before her nurses could stop her. She dashed towards the sound of his voice, frantically calling for him. He answered back, yelling her name.

She could hear him getting closer. And closer. And closer. Until finally, she saw him.

Zach stood a few feet away from her, gazing at her with wide eyes and a crazed look on his face. She thought she must have looked the same because she was utterly puzzled to not only see him, but to see him with a patient uniform on.

"Oh my God," he breathed, stepping closer to her. He raised a shaky hand to her cheek, grazing it softly with his fingers. He let out a startled gasp as his skin met her own.

"You're real?" he choked out.

She didn't know what he was talking about, but she honestly didn't care. He was here. In front of her. And she was foolish to ever think she could have had the strength to let him go.

It wasn't until a man in a business suit, who appeared to be around his forties, came stumbling after Zach, did she finally realize the truth of the situation. The man looked like an older version of Zach, which could only mean that this man was his father.

"Son," he said gruffly and breathlessly, clearly winded from chasing after the raven haired boy. "That couldn't have been her. She's not-"

"She is," Zach insisted. "She is real, Dad." He then looked at her lovingly. "And she's standing right in front of me."

His father seemed stunned as he stared down at her. "You're Sabrina?"

She nodded, a large smile spreading across her face. She then gazed at Zach and placed her hand on his cheek, just as he did to her. Her smile grew wider as he leaned into it.

"Are you real?" she asked, trying not to get too excited at the possibility.

He grinned at her, his dimple making her heart hammer in her chest. He stepped closer to her and leaned his forehead against her own. Her breath stalled.

"Yes, Sabrina," he whispered. "I'm real."

end.