The Art of Forgiveness
A/N: Hope you like it. Like some authors say, Colby is just so fun to beat up.
David's Point of View
I knew I was in the hospital before I opened my eyes; the antiseptic smell tipped me off. I did a quick body assessment before I opened my eyes. If the damage was bad, I would try to go back to sleep. My legs and feet seemed to be intact. The only thing that wasn't right was the throbbing in my forehead, but it was bearable. I slowly opened my eyes, feeling the lovely drugs moving me in slow motion. Don was sitting at the small table scribbling furiously on some papers that were scattered all over the place. I just looked at him for a while and let him notice me because I was sure my voice wouldn't sound so great.
He took a few minutes to realize I was looking at him, but when he finally did he smiled. I had never seen Don looking so horribly. His hair was, as usual, combed to absolute perfection but his face betrayed him. Impossibly dark circles resided under bloodshot eyes. His skin seemed to be pulled tighter over his face and his eyebrows seemed to be pulled down in an eternal scowl. "It's nice to see someone awake." The words took me by surprise.
"Colby…" I closed my eyes, picturing the horrible scene of the crime. Hardly ironic when I thought about it, really. "How long has it been?"
"The accident was only on Monday… today is Wednesday. You broke two ribs and had a major concussion. The doctor said you wouldn't be awake until tomorrow." His voice faded at the end and his eyes closed momentarily.
"And Colby?" I shuddered at the name. The things I had said, or maybe even hadn't said.
"Megan's with him right now…" The sink in Don's face was so clear. It put a lump in my throat. I kept my eyes firmly on his, forcing myself to ask.
"How bad is it?" I swallowed, trying unsuccessfully to remove the lump. The scene ran through my mind: Colby's face as he turned to look at me the last time, the headlights shining over his turned shoulders. I closed my eyes and willed the memory to leave my mind, though I knew it would be there forever.
"His whole left side was crushed. He broke his arm in three places, he broke four ribs, has a concussion, and a cut from the metal that came through the door where he lost a lot of blood. He's… in a coma."
I took in a sharp breath of air, resulting in a hollow aching in my chest. I knew it wasn't my fault, but I couldn't help but feel responsible. I closed my eyes and wished I would have driven. But I only put Colby behind the wheel because he was such a good driver. He avoided these kinds of things…
"The guy that ran the light, the truck driver… The police department has him in custody. He had quite some load of marijuana in his truck bed. Kind of an idiot to run a light with that in the back." Don laughed a shaky laugh and sighed. "Come on, man. It's not your fault. You have to understand that there is nothing that you did to cause and there was nothing you could've done to prevent it."
Sure, it was easy for him to say. He hadn't been there in those last moments. He hadn't been the one to make that look come onto Colby's face. I cleared my dry throat. At least I hadn't been ventilated. Although I was pretty sure Colby would be.
Megan's Point of View
I wanted to trade with Don when he called to tell me David was awake. Sitting with Colby was getting to be too much. He had that little mask tied around his face. The ventilator was keeping him alive. He was still getting transfusions two days later. But Don said I didn't want to trade. David was being thickheaded. It wasn't even his fault obviously. But the David I knew would find some reason that it would be.
I never wanted to see Colby like that ever again. The big Colby I knew looked miniscule in the hospital bed with huge, purple-brown bruises covering the whole left side of his face. A large cast covered his arm, which made a lump under the blanket. I could only imagine the scar he would get from metal that broke through the side of the door and into his stomach. He still had two more surgeries to go to repair his arm and re-do the bone set of his skull. But they couldn't do that until he was awake.
(A/N: couldn't help but add a flashback)
I left David once he was loaded into the ambulance. He was going to be okay. I had to walk around a few cars parked at the scene, but then I saw the unit. It was completely crushed on the left side and upside-down. There was a huge almost monster truck parked a few feet away, with just a few scratches on the grate in front of the engine. I gasped when I realized I recognized the person they were trying to get out of the driver's side.
Don was a few steps behind me, talking to a guard about the closed off intersection. Of course they closed it off. The accident was right in the middle between the lights and they couldn't move it until they had Colby. And who knows how long that would take. Don came up and stood next to me. As soon as he took it in, his face mimicked mine: mouth wide open, eyes in disbelief.
We gave each other a glance and ran to the mangled car. They were just cutting the last hinge of the door. But when they pulled it out, there was a good chance I might have thrown up. It was stuck but only slightly and when it was off, a door sized hole was imbedded in Colby. It must have taken up half of his torso. Don rubbed his hand through his hair like he always did when he was stressed. I felt like that was a minor gesture because I was much more than stressed. The EMS helped lift Colby onto a stretcher and they carried him off to a waiting ambulance. He didn't open his eyes the whole time.
I heard a small knock on the door. "Come in." My voice sounded like I was being strangled. It was just Don. He looked about as bad as I felt.
"We need to trade. I need to get out of there. David's asleep and…" he slowed to stop when he took in Colby. He stared for a moment and then turned away. He looked at me. "Don't cry, Megan. He'll be fine."
I was crying? It was strange not to notice until he pointed it out. I got up out of the chair next to Colby's bed and gently released my grasp on his hand. "It's gonna be alright." Don's voice reassured me only slightly. He didn't really sound like he meant it.