A/N: And another chapter for you people. I'm thinking three more chapters in this story, before I start in on the next section of the trilogy. I'm going to stick with this theme I have of having The Frey songs as titles and I decided on Heartbeat, well for the moment anyway. It's kind of a tie between that one and Look Over You. I have to completely decided on a plot before I can decided, but I do know there will be a third, and maybe a fourth enrty to my Wilbur and Kolbie story; or as my friend calls it The How to Save a Life Trilogy, maybe Saga. Anyways, I'm rambling. So I'll stop and let you read.

DISCLAIMER: After this: I don't own Meet the Robionsons.

Now Kolbie understood how Wilbur felt when she was in the hospital last year. The waiting was painful. Listening to the doctors say things that she didn't understand was painful. Watching little lines on a monitor was painful. The smell of the hospital was painful. Everything about this hospital was painful. Acknowledging that everything was painful was painful. There was so much pain coursing through her veins that she was surprised that she hadn't had a panic attack yet.

"You should go home," Cornelius said from behind her. She turned her grey eyes to her future father-in-law and sighed. "He'll be okay," he told her. He reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. Kolbie placed her hand on top of his and sighed. "You can stay with Franny," Cornelius continued. "She doesn't blame you for this. It was him trying to protect you. She doesn't blame you."

Kolbie shook her head and drew circles on the back of his hand with her thumb. "I wanna be here when he wakes up," she said softly.

Cornelius chuckled. "You're a lot like him. He wanted to be here when you woke up, too." He rubbed her shoulder and smiled. "Well, I'll leave you two here alone. Call us when he wakes up." Kolbie nodded and Cornelius exited the room.

Kolbie laid her head on the bed and sighed. She then looked up at the white tiled ceiling and sighed. "God," she muttered. "I know we don't talk much," she started poorly. "In fact, the last time that we talked was when my father assaulted me the very first time, and I was livid when we spoke. I hated you for letting that happen to me. How could you allow that to happen to a girl that never did anything bad? I swore that I'd never talk to you again, because I was sure that you didn't exist. But then I met Wilbur Author Robinson. I guess you blessed the broken road that led me straight to him. He's been the light of my life since I met him. He's been my best friend and confidant. He's made me believe that you exist again." She paused and looked down at Wilbur and then up and the ceiling. "I swear, I'll do anything if you bring him back to me. Please, I'll do anything. I'll go to church and be a bible thumper. Well, no, you're God, I can't lie to you. I won't go to church, I find it boring. But I'll read the bible, twice a week. Well once a week, I'm a college student gimmie a break. I'll never take anything for granted again. I just want him back. He's my best friend, and I'll never find anyone else as understanding as him. He gets me. So please? And I think that you own me for all of those years of pain that I went through. Or not," she said quickly. "Just give him back." Kolbie rolled her eyes and sighed. "Maybe, I would have done better off without praying. I don't think that helped you too much." She squeezed his hand.

"Hey," her voice said from the doorframe. "I brought some school stuff for you."

"Thanks, Jackie," the raven-haired girl said from her spot in the chair by the window. It had been two days, since Wilbur was shot and he hadn't come to yet. The doctors said that his body was just reacting differently to the anesthesia that they used and that his body wasn't processing the counter to the anesthesia properly. That or he was brain dead. "What's up?" she asked as she patted the arm of the chair.

"Your professors hope that he's doing well and say that you can have the time that you need to make up this work, so long as it's done by the end of the quarter," Jackie said. "I don't want to intrude, K. I was just bringing by your stuff. I can take it to your apartment if you'd like," Jackie offered as she started to back out of the room.

"You don't have to go," Kolbie said. She'd been dying for someone to come and visit her and talk with her. All of the visitor in the room had some to see Wilbur and see if he was okay. Granted, he was the one that had been shot. It was just so boring without him to talk to.

"No, I think that I should," Jackie admitted. She turned to leave and then stopped. "He'll be okay," she said to Kolbie. "Okay, K? He'll be good as new for the wedding." Kolbie's breath caught in her throat. "Oh, Kolbie, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"No, no, it's fine," Kolbie said, not wanting her to leave.

"Well, I have to go," Jackie said quietly. "Don't worry, K."

Things were fuzzy around him. His brown eyes blinked rapidly as he tried to get the things he was seeing into focus. There was a white, a lot of white, making it nearly impossible for him to look at anything for too long. There was an analog clock on the wall that read 3:45. He blinked again and there was a blue blur in his vision. A woman in scrubs. A nurse, he guessed. Was he in a hospital? He tried to think of what happened to land him here, but he couldn't. He remembered kissing the girl he loved and running into his house, her close behind. He remember that the gun. He remembered his hands on her. He remembered the gun firing. He remembered darkness. Had he been shot? The pain in his abdominal region said yes. He groaned, what he thought was inwardly, but was outwardly. The nurse in blue scrubs looked startled but smiled at the waking boys.

"She'll be glad to see that you've come to," the nurse said.

And glad she was.

"Wilbur!" she half exclaimed, half sobbed. She dropped her bag on the floor and ran into his arms.

He'd been sitting flicking through the channels on the television when she walked in. She'd been gone for a little over thirty minutes and in that time he'd been cleared to get up and shower, which he did. He felt as if he'd been out for weeks, but the doctors confirmed that it had only been two days. He'd also order some food from the cafeteria; however, if he remembered correctly Kolbie said the food was far from gourmet. However, the doctors demanded that he eat something. After all of that excitement, that his body wasn't used to, he was left alone to relax and wait.

"Hey," he muttered into her dark hair after she'd slid to a stop in his arm. The girl climbed into the bed with him and settled against his chest. Her body shook slightly as soft sobs racked her body. She hadn't cried like that since that last time she was in a hospital. He stroked her hair and muttered his usual, "Everything's okay," into her ear until she stopped. He tilted her chin up and kissed her softly. "Hey," he said to her softly. He was going to continue with his usual soothing, but when he saw the dark circles under her eyes he sighed and changed the course of his words. "You haven't been sleeping, have you?" he questioned. She looked away and shook her head. He sighed and pulled her closer. "Sleep now?" he told her but an upward inflection caught in his voice. She shook her head. "I'll be here when you get up," he assured. "The doctors aren't letting me go anywhere."

Silently, Kolbie settled against his chest and sighed. "You don't smell like you," she stated after a moment.

"You didn't either, when you were here," he said running his fingers through her dark locks. "Sleep." She started to rebut, but he silenced her. "Sleep now, talk later."