Britta was sitting on the left side of the bed. She had almost fallen asleep multiple times, but she needed to stay awake.
Jeff was on the couch asleep. He knew he couldn't do anything but he didn't want to leave either.
Troy was sitting next to his best friend. He didn't know what to say. What do you say when something like this happens.
Abed was sitting in the chair next to the bed. He was holding her hand but that didn't mean she was there. He and Annie were happy. They had been married for three years and together for five. He loved her. So how did this happen?
"Abed?" he heard a familiar voice say, but he knew he couldn't be that voice. The voice he had been wanting to hear for a week. When everyone was gone he would sit here with her and ask her to talk. She never talked.
"Abed. What's happening?" He still didn't answer the voice. Troy, Britta and Jeff would hear him and they would think he was crazy. Well, more crazy than they already thought he was.
"Britta? What happened?" no answer.
"Troy? Can you hear me?" still no answer.
"Jeff?"
"They can't hear you." Abed finally said. Who cares if they think I'm crazy he thought.
"Why can't they hear me?" she asked him.
"Because you're not really here." Abed said in an exhausted tone.
"Why are you the only one that can see me or talk to me?" she said in a light tone of voice.
"Normally I would say that this was actually happening and I would try to convince the others. Troy would go along with it because he cares about me and wants it to be real. Britta would try to tell me it was my sub-conscience or something like that. Jeff would eventually give a speech about how we all see our friends and loved ones in everyday life even when they're not there, or something like that. But the truth is, this isn't real, you're not really here. This is my imagination. I'm imagining you here, standing beside me because it's like you're favourite movie with Mark Ruffalo and it would make you happy. I'm still trying to make you happy even when you're not here." Abed spoke with no emotion in his voice and no indication on his face but inside he was hurting. He wanted this to be real, 5 percent of him thought it could be real, but he knew, he just knew this wasn't real.
"But Abed, I am here." she tried to hold his left hand but she slipped right through. "See it is like the movie. I can't touch you." She was trying to convince him. It wasn't working.
Abed was getting frustrated. Not with Annie, never Annie, but with himself for still imagining. "No it's not. This isn't a movie. You can't touch me because this isn't real. We were in a car accident last week, that's real. You were driving and Roxanne came on the radio and I turned it up because it reminded me of when I asked you to move in with me the first time. We were singing so loudly and we were so happy. You were laughing, your laugh was so beautiful. It's one of my favourite sounds. Then that drunk driver came out of nowhere and hit your side of the car." Abed finished and he looked over at the real Annie. Lying perfectly still, with monitors beeping all around her. It was hopeless, he couldn't do anything to stop it. He couldn't change the past, as much as he wanted to. He's been trying, every day for the last week, but nothing has changed. He wishes he really did make a time machine so he could warn himself not to let Annie drive. If she wasn't driving they wouldn't have turned left at Maine street. He would have turned earlier on Chapel street and they would have avoided the drunk driver.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know how to process this situation. I know how movie and tv show characters handle this. They cry and weep and throw things and yell, but that's not me. You would want me to be me. You loved the characters that I played but you always loved me more. I don't know if I can still use empathy without you. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. We were supposed to be together forever. Have a family. Watch every episode of Inspector Spacetime. Go to the premiere of my movie and be there when Troy creates Dance Pants 2. Without you none of this happens. No-one gets the ending that was planned. This wasn't in the script. I don't know what I'm supposed to do Annie, what am I supposed to do?" When Abed looked up at the imagined Annie, he was out of breath and hyperventilating.
"You're supposed to be a…" before she could finish Troy broke through to Abed. Annie, who was standing next to him faded away, to reveal Troy who looked worried for his friend.
"Abed. Hey man. It's ok. Let's go outside for some fresh air and maybe go home and get changed and take a shower." Troy said panicking that his best friend was going to break down.
Abed nodded but didn't say anything. He hadn't spoken to anyone since the night, when he called Troy. Troy managed to get Abed outside and into the car. Abed still wouldn't say anything but, he knew Troy was right. He needed to go home and Britta and Jeff were with her so if anything happened they would tell him and she would be with family.
Once they got to the front door Abed paused. He wouldn't move, he didn't want to open the door. He knew what was on the other side and he didn't think he could handle it.
Troy used his spare key to open the door and gently nudged Abed inside. As soon as they walked inside a little boy, who will be two years old next week, ran up to Abed and hugged his leg. He shouted with joy "Daddy!"
Abed looked down at the little boy. A perfect mixture of him and Annie. The boy tilted his head like his father did. Abed just looked at him. Staring into his eyes. The boy kept talking to him but Abed couldn't hear it. He thought he heard something about mommy, but he couldn't be sure.
"Harry, why don't you show uncle Troy the tower you've been building." Shirley said when she saw that Abed wasn't responding to his questions.
Troy grabbed Harry and put him over his shoulder. The boy laughed. "Let's see what you've been building little man." he said with a huge grin on his face.
Abed didn't move from his spot. Once Troy had taken Harry into the other room Shirley moved Abed up the stairs into his bedroom. She sat him down on the bed and took out some clothes for him to change into. She walked him to the bathroom and told him to take a shower and get changed and that she'll stay as long as he needs her. He nodded, he wasn't sure if she was referring to him or to Harry, but wither way it was appreciated.
Abed got in the shower and let the water run down his back. He remembered the day Annie told him she was pregnant. She was so happy and he was too. When she went into labour Abed knew what to do. They had already planned the trip from their house to the hospital. It took 10 minutes, 5 if Annie let Abed speed. They were at the hospital and the baby was out in 2 hours. Annie was holding him against her chest and crying. Abed knew they were happy tears, he didn't need to ask with Annie anymore. Abed looked down at the little boy that had his complexion but Annie's eyes. Annie asked him what they should call him. Abed knew Annie wouldn't want a name from tv or from a movie but he hoped she would like what he chose. "Harrison." he said looking down at him. Harrison grabbed a hold of Abed's finger and blinked his eyes open. Annie smiled "Harrison. I love it." Annie said and when Abed turned to look at her, she kissed his lips, the way she always did when she wanted him to know that she was proud of him and that she loved him.
The water had run cold so he turned the water off and got out of the shower. he looked at himself in the mirror and realised he had been crying. He quickly wiped his eyes and put on the clothes Shirley had given him and walked back down the stairs and into the living room where he heard voices.
Abed stood in the arch way of the room and looked at his son playing with his best friend. "This is what you're supposed to do now Abed." he heard Annie's voice in his head and smiled.
He walked over to the boy and took the block out of his hand that he was trying desperately to place on top of the tower. When Abed placed the block on top the boy clapped and smiled at his dad. Abed looked at him and smiled. "What kind of tower is this kid?" Abed said to Harry in his best Han Solo voice, with a smirk. The boy's face lit up and he started to tell him about the land the tower was from and the people that lived there. Abed looked at his eyes, the ones that are exactly like his mother's and thought that maybe he could do this without Annie. Maybe he would be able to get through life because he had apart of her with him, forever.