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As I clutched my stomach, Noel said, "No, don’t come You said Colton’s still upset He needs you I’ll be okay Just talking to you helps Hearing your voice"

After pausing to listen to a question, he sighed wearily "She’s a co and blames herself, and fuck…I don’t knohat to do for her What if she ends up a nineteen-year-oldbecause of this? I just hold her as she cries herself to sleep, and I try not to lose it myself in front of her But God, Aspen He was s I said to him were--"

He hissed out a breath "I know, but I still feel like shit I was such a dick I treated hi bothloved her, and I was too mad and felt too betrayed to even see that I can’t…I just--"

When his voice broke, tears spilled down my cheeks I hurried around the corner His red wet eyes widened when they saw ed him His ar about me"

He buried his face in ed and cried, and he finally ended his call with his wife Time passed, I have no idea how much Seconds, hours, minutes It all seemed to be sucked into so It was just a crazy, awful drea to wake up any time now I’d open led and his palh the s and he’d crack open his eyes to send ," he’d say "I guess you decided to stick around another day, huh?"

But then Noel pulled away fro his face, and I was still in a hospital, where I hadn’t seen Oren in six hours, not since he’d looked up fro go of my hand

A shudder of horror passed throughif I’d ever look into those vivacious hazel eyes again

Noel sent rief "I totally didn’t mean to fall apart on you like that"

I squeezed his ar about hi to make it"

Pain passed over Noel’s face, but he washed it aith another sad sreement made, rapped our ar rooical scrubs had arrived Oren’s parents had reappeared, too

"Here she is" Pick motioned to me when I entered the room

The doctor turned, took , "Mrs Tenning, I’eon orked on your husband When Oren canificant dae to the left frontal and parietal bone, which probably occurred when he crashed into the log and boulder he was trapped against until they found hi to death, it’s also what caused the e There was so much trauma to the head and spinal cord"

Was? Why did he keep saying was like everything was all past tense? Like Oren was past tense

"Other than the brain injury, he has a dislocated shoulder, fractured leg, and significant, perh ere able to save the daulped and pressedtoItan eye and ear, that ht? His heart was still beating?

"So he’s alive?" I rasped the words, almost afraid to voice them

The doctor hesitated I have no idea why he hesitated If Oren’s eye and ear had made it, then the rest of hiave a so and chase it with, "We had to put hiive the brain time to heal"

"Oh my God" Brenda covered her mouth with her hands and turned to Phil, where he iathered her into his arh my ears But Oren was in a coly, lively, foul jerk I’d ever met, and they’d shut down his brain?