Casey had found the routine that fit his needs, the time off work helping him do so. He would work, go home, visit Gabby for a couple hours, go back home, and repeat. On his days off, it was hanging with the guys for a few hours, visiting Gabby, and then going back home. It wasn't ideal, however, for what it was worth, it worked.
Doubting himself, was a different story, and that came back around when he visited the hospital only to see Antonio and Gabby's parents. His breath caught in his throat, not wanting to meet her parents this way, not wanting to tell them it was his fault she was like this, connected to so many machines and tubes.
"Matt," Antonio said, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him, blocking Casey from getting inside. "How are you?"
"Fine. What's going on?" he asked, not sure why all of them were there or why they were all crying. They'd visited her on their own several times, but never when Casey was there and never with Antonio. He took a deep breath, steadying himself, calming himself.
"Casey, it's been three months. Kendra says there's been no change. We decided it's time," Antonio told him. His breath caught in his throat yet again as tears welled in his eyes. He wasn't ready, and he didn't know if he even had a say in the decision.
"You-You can't do that! I can't let her go!" he told Antonio, almost begging with him to change his mind. "I have the right to say!"
"We talked to her lawyer. You're not the one who gets to make the decision. We know that you want to keep her alive, that you're not ready, but she's a living corpse, Casey. Life is about quality, not quantity, and to keep her alive is nothing more than giving yourself more time to not have to say goodbye, just postponing it." He couldn't believe what he was hearing, that for one, he had no say in the matter, and two, they were giving up after such a short amount of time. He couldn't, didn't want to, believe it. Even though the disbelief was strong, he nodded, walking into the room with Antonio. Kendra stood there, waiting until she was told to disconnect.
Everyone in the room was crying, her parents hugging each other. Antonio had a hand on Casey's shoulder as he held Gabby's hand, kissing it softly. Kendra took out the IV, took off the heart monitor, and disconnected the ventilator, taking it out entirely. Casey's thoughts stopped in that moment, knowing that she was gone. Tears flowed down his cheeks, sobs rising in his throat.
"Casey," Antonio said, a tone of disbelief in his voice. "Look." When Casey looked up, Gabby was looking at him, small smile.
"Gabby! You're alive," he said, stunned in disbelief as well. For the first time in weeks since everything happened. "I love you. We can pull through this," he said, still smiling as he stood and kissed her gently. "We can get through anything."