Fearless

10

Colby drove down the road as I look out the window, I was trying desperately to enjoy the outside world but there was a fear I had never had before. I was tensely holding onto my seatbelt, as anxiety bubbled in my chest. I was scared of being hit again. I was scared of my life turning upside down completely again. I was afraid of everyone else on the road. I heaved in a breath as my hand flew to my chest, I could feel myself starting to panic as cars zoomed passed us, "hey, it's okay." Colby said quietly but kept his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road, "I just...I..." I sobbed out as I hyperventilated, "I'm gonna pull over," he said quietly but I shook my head, "n-no...it's okay I'm okay," I said through my tears, "talk to me, what's going on." He said with pain in his voice.

"I just...I haven't been in a car since...and..it's just scary. I trust you though..I just..I'm scared." I said and wiped the wetness off of my face. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, just breathe, you're okay." I nodded and gripped the handle above my head. "What would make you more comfortable, me grabbing your hand or me keeping my hands on the wheel?" He asked calmly as I looked down at my lap, rubbing at my belly anxiously. "Hands on wheel." I whispered and focused on tracing a figure 8 on my belly. I could do this. I have been in a car hundreds of thousands of times and have only been hit once. It was going to be okay. Colby was paying attention. The music was even off which he never did. We were almost home anyways, we were going to be okay.

Once he parked the car he turned to me and grabbed my hand, "are you okay??" He asked as I brought my hand down from the handle above me, "yeah I'm okay. It was just a lot." I admitted and he smiled slightly. "I know, we will work through that though. together." He said and brushed my hair from my face, "together." I repeated and nodded once.

Colby got out of the car and ran around to help me out. I still had a hard time walking since my whole body was sore and I had some damage on my hip bones from the seatbelt being so low. My injuries were pretty extensive considering we flipped 4 times, and then slammed into the guard rail, not to mention I got slammed into again. I had cracked and broken multiple ribs, I had a concussion, I had a lot of bruises and cuts all over my body still, and I needed to get stitches on my head just in front of my hairline since glass got pretty deep in there. I was honestly afraid for the roommates to see me like this. I was also pretty excited to see them though, I never really had a chance to call them while I was in the hospital since they really were careful about who I talked to since the seizure.

Colby helped me out of the car and we slowly made our way inside, his arm securely around my waist. We slowly made our way to the front door, "you ready?" He asked and I nodded, smiling slightly. He kissed my head then unlocked the door. We walked into the foyer and Colby smirked at me, "watch." He whispered, "hey guys! We're home!" He boomed through the house. I immediately heard Kat scream, then doors slamming open. You could hear dozens of footsteps rushing towards us. "CORA!" Kat yelled and ran up to me, she attacked me with a hug causing me to hiss in pain, "easy Kat." Colby chuckled out as I wrapped my arms around her. I didn't care how badly it hurt to hug her, I missed her so much.

"Katrina stop hogging her!" Sam said with a laugh, but Kat didn't move, she just clung onto me as she cried, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I got us into that accident I'm sorry you were hurting so bad I-" I sniffled, "Kat, shut up." I said and pushed away so I could look at her, "it's not your fault. I'm fine. The baby's fine, you're fine. We are all fine." She nodded then hugged me again quickly before passing me along to Sam. "Hey Cora, I'm so glad you're okay." He said quietly as he held me. We stood that way for a minute before we pulled away. When we did I could see a tear drop down onto his cheek, "aw Sam!" I said and pouted my lip. "I'm just...I'm glad you're alive." He said then hugged me.

They passed me around for a little while, just taking turns hugging me. I was feeling a lot of pain after a while but I didn't want into say anything. I just wanted to be around everyone again.

"You hungry?" Devyn said as Colby wrapped his arm around me again. I leaned into him to relieve some of the pain that standing was bringing me. "Yeah, starving." I said quietly. Colby squeezed my hip gently causing me to look up at him. The look on his face was full of concern. He knew I was hurting. I bit my lip and felt my eyes watering.

"Okay yeah, um how about we make some pancakes, you guys go relax for a little bit." Devyn said catching the hint that something was wrong. "Thanks Dev." I said quietly as Colby led me to the couch. As soon as I sat down I realized how much pain I was actually in because my head was throbbing and my arms were shaking. "Hey, easy baby." Colby said gently and wrapped his arms around me as I hid in his chest. Frustration was boiling up as hot tears streamed down my cheeks.

"Tell me what's going on." He said quietly and brushed my hair with his fingers. "I-I just want to get back to normal. I'm sick of being in so much pain." I sobbed out as he rubbed my back. "I know...shhhh I know." He whispered as I heard someone coming into the room,

"is she okay?" Sam asked sweetly and sat on the other end of the couch. "She's just in pain and it's frustrating her." Colby said as he played with my hair some more. "Cora, don't be afraid to tell us when you hit your limit, you just got out of the hospital. We understand that your body can't take too much at once." Sam said as Colby just held me. I haven't really gotten to be in his arms in almost two weeks, so that alone was comforting.

"I know...I just wanted to be around you guys. I missed everyone so much and being in this much pain makes me want to go hide under the covers and sleep, but that's all I have done for a week. I..I missed you guys so much." Sam smiled, "we missed you too Cora, more than you know."