Heartless

25

I woke up to knocks on my door. What time was it? My phone read 6:57pm. I got up and went to the door opening it, "did you just wake up?" Colby said with a chuckle and kissed my head. "Yeah. I'm sorry I'll be ready in 5." I said groggily rubbing my eyes. "Take your time, there's no rush." He said as he followed me into the bedroom. He laid on my bed, playing on his phone as I got ready. "Are you okay?" He said after a couple minutes of silence. "Yeah I just have this weird feeling. Somethings off. I thought by taking a nap I would wake up feeling better, but I almost feel worse." I admitted and brushed through my hair with a brush. "Do you want to stay home?" He said sweetly. "No, maybe being around people will help." I said with a sigh and changed into a romper, with a denim jacket. "You look gorgeous." Colby said and kissed me. "Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself." I said and eyed him up and down.

We left and headed to the house. Colby held my hand the entire drive, which was comforting. He was truly the best thing to happen to me. I never wanted to take him for granted, so I really took in moments like this.

When we went inside everyone greeted us with hugs. The whole gang was here, and they were playing a game of paranoia. Colby and I sat and watched them for about an hour. Then Sam turned some music on and we all dispersed. The uneasy feeling in my stomach disappeared for a little bit.

Sam, Kat, Kevin, and I were talking, when my phone rang. "Hold on a second" I said to them and went outside.
"Hey dad!" I said happily.
"Cora.." a female voice said on the other end
"..who is this?" My head tilted
"Cora..it's Aunt Sarah." I haven't talked to her in almost a year.
"What's going on?" I said as tears built up in my eyes.
"Your father...was in an accident. He's in the hospital right now...I think you should try to get here as soon as you can." In that moment my world stopped. I fell to my knees as everything moved in slow motion.
"Colby!!" I heard Sam yell as Kat ran to my side. My phone had fallen out of my hand. Everything was numb. People were talking to me, but it was all muffled.

Horrible sobs fell from my chest as time sped up again. The music turned off and Colby was running towards me. He knelt in front of me and grabbed my face on both sides as I screamed out in agony. "What happened?!" He said with a worried expression. I couldn't get the words out. He pulled me to him and held my head to his chest as I sobbed. He rocked me back and forth, "Sh sh Hey it's okay..I got you." He said gently as everyone tried to give me space. "He...he was in a-" I started but couldn't finish. "Cora.." Colby said gently as he held me tighter. "My dad.." I said and buried my face deeper into Colby's chest. He kissed the top of my head and played with my hair in a desperate attempt to calm me down. "Someone get her some water please." He said to the group watching in horror.

It took a good hour to finally calm down enough, or at least until I was breathing normally. We had moved inside at this point, Kat handed me a cup of tea as Colby wrapped a blanket around me. I felt numb. I couldn't process what was happening. I didn't even know what was really happening.
"My dad...was in an accident." I started, then took a sip of tea to calm myself. "I don't know how bad. But I have to go back to North Carolina..as soon as humanly possible." I stared at the wall in front of me. I felt Colby pull his phone out, his voice was muffled as I zoned out. I couldn't believe what was happening. "Cora..." Colby said gently shaking me, bringing me back to reality. "I'm sorry" I mumbled. "Don't apologize, I got us flights to North Carolina, it leaves in 3 hours so we have to go okay?" He spoke gently, I continued to stare at the wall, nodding.

Colby had went upstairs to pack himself a bag really fast, Sam sat next to me. He gently rubbed my back as I stared into nothing. Colby jogged down the stairs holding a bag and some clothes in his hand. He kneeled in front of me, bringing my focus to him. "Do you want to change into these?" He said and held up the clothes in his hand. I nodded slowly, he put his hand on my cheek and gave me a sad nod, then helped me up off the couch. I shuffled to the bathroom and closed the door, hugging the clothes he gave to me. I knew in my head I should be rushing to get to my dad, but I physically couldn't move. Pain radiated through my entire body as I slid down the wall and cried once again.

The sun was setting as we watched it from our roof. "What will I do without you?" I said as I hugged my knees. "You'll be fine. I'm already so proud of you." My dad spoke as he glanced over. I was leaving for LA in the morning. "What if I don't make it. What if I fail. I don't want to disappoint you." I said hugging myself tighter. "Well I can promise you that you will never disappoint me Cora, you'll never make it, if you don't try. And I just know that everyone is going to love you." His words hung in the air as he hugged me. "Thanks dad." I said as the stars started to show themselves.

That was the last time I saw him.