I was completely stunned. I didn't realize how much Mere must mean to Dylan. I figured he wouldn't want to talk to me, but I still called him to apologize. As I expected, I was sent straight to voicemail.

"Hey, Dyl," I said when I heard a beep. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. It's just... I can't help, but feel like she's going to wake up. It's just so surreal. And you're right. I'm not laying in the hospital bed. She is. But I can still be happy that she's alive and well now

We'll have to deal with the future later. Right now, I'm just focusing on the present, so I guess we have different points of view on the situation, but... She'll come back. You and I both know that she'll do her hardest to come back."

I hung up the phone and grabbed Mere's hand again. I sighed.

Jesus, this was getting hectic, I thought.

It was only a couple of hours since I had first received the phone call that Meredith was in the hospital, and I already felt drained.

I slumped over, laying my head down on Mere's bed. My heavy eyelids slowly closed. "Goodnight, Mere," I murmured, yawning. I smiled at her and finally fell asleep.

Sunlight broke through the windows, hitting my eyes and waking me up. I shook my head and leaned back in the chair, recalling what had happened last night. I rubbed my eyes and let the surrounding focus.

There were people in here.

"Guys, hey!" I said, standing up.

Before me were Walker, Lauren, Jaime, Eric, Jade, Nick Gage, Mark, Clark, Denise, and even Joey. I scanned the room again and noticed Dylan by the door, far away from anyone else.

Everyone smiled weakly at me. Denise hugged me. I groaned from being stiff and hugged her back.

"Thank you for being here, Brian," she whispered.

"Hey, I wanted to be here," I replied into her hair.

Denise pulled away and wiped tears away from her face.

I frowned and looked at the group, who was also teary-eyed.

"Guys, the doc says that Mere should be okay. She's responding well to everything, and..." I took a shaky breath, feeling my own tears forming in my eyes. "And she should wake up soon."

"Nah, she will wake up. She still hasn't killed me for eating that last brownie, remember?" Walker said, in a successful attempt to make everyone laugh.

"Yeah, and we still need to go to try that new restaurant downtown," Jaime pointed out.

Soon, everyone in the room blurted out things that they hadn't accomplished with Mere, laughing at the fond memories. Well, everyone except one.

I looked at Dylan, unsure if I should point this out to the group, but Denise touched my shoulder and shook her head no.

"He's not exactly being positive about this situation. He barely acknowledged us when he walked in. And he hasn't moved from that spot since he got there," Denise explained, glancing worriedly at the man by the door.

He was right last night. He did look like he was dying inside. His red, puffy face was wet from his recent cycle of tears and he didn't look up from the tiled floor at all. He was almost like a statue.

I frowned at Denise. She knew what I was going to do.

"Alright, fine," she sighed, taking a step away from me. "Try your best."

I nodded and walked towards Dylan. When I reached him, I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into a hug before I could change my mind. After a second, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug.

Then he started to cry.

Full on wailing, more like. His tears were starting to stain my shirt, and I didn't mind. As long as he wasn't holding his emotions inside anymore.

"It's okay, buddy. She'll be okay. She'll be okay," I repeated over and over into his ear as he cried.

The others were starting to stare, taking in the scene before them. I didn't car, though. Dylan was breaking and that was the first step into making him be okay again.

I had cracked the man who couldn't be moved.