My brown eyes lazily opened to meet crystal-like hazel ones.

“Hi,” I whispered, unable to contain the smile across my features. When she was with me, the pain in my stomach was almost nonexistent. I just focused on the way her beautiful lashes brushed on her soft cheeks when she blinked, or the way her cool breath pleasantly tickled my chin, making me forget about the amount of pain I really was in.

“Hey,” she whispered back, putting her hand on the right side of my head, brushing back my most likely messy hair.

I covered her hand with mine, and then I gently grabbed it and brought it down into my chest like it was a prized possession. I moved slowly, my limbs still weak.

“Did I fall asleep?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer. She smiled softly, squeezing my hand a little.

“Yeah, but that’s okay. You needed the rest,” she said, leaning forward and touching her lips to mine so lightly, I wouldn't even classify it as a kiss—it was just like we had this incessant need to be close to each other.

“How is it?” she asked carefully.

I gulped—thinking about it made me realize how much it hurt (it probably didn’t help that I had subconsciously rolled on to my left side). “It hurts, a lot,” I hissed, trying to contain a grimace I wanted to be strong, but, hell, I was shot. Pain was inevitable.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her face reflecting the pain I felt.

“You should probably sit up. It’s going to hurt,” she said.

I nodded, closing my eyes and ducking my head so it was tucking into her neck. I took a deep breath.

“Come on,” she said sweetly, and I felt the bed shift around me. She sat up carefully in order to not hurt me, and then she helped me sit up by wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I groaned, clenching my eyes at the pain.

“Jesus Christ,” I hissed once I was finally sitting up.

“I’m sorry,” she said, keeping an arm around my shoulders. She leaned over and kissed my cheek, making the pain in my stomach temporarily turn into butterflies.

“Is Tony still here?” I asked, suddenly feeling awkward. I had been so preoccupied with Bree that I never bothered to look around the room.

“Yeah, but he left to go get some food for you. His mom went home,” she said.

“And Dr. Crowly…” I began.

“She’s not here, either. I told her I was staying because, well, I just had to. And she understood, not suspecting the… underlying emotions with my reasoning,” she explained with a slight smirk.

“And what was your reasoning?” I nudged her.

“My reasoning, because…” she paused momentarily, and I couldn’t help but notice a blush creep on her cheeks. “…I wasn’t about to leave my boyfriend dying in the hospital,” she said. I rested my head on her shoulder, sighing happily at her choice of words. “But, you know…” she began quickly again. “I was a… a little traumatized and just needed to make sure you really were okay,” she started, her face falling.

“Traumatized?” I asked quietly before she could continue. She nodded.

“Vic… there was so much blood… you almost didn’t make it…” she mumbled, and, although it appeared that she was speaking lowly to hide it, I could detect a crack in her voice. “It was the scariest thing…” she delicately brought her hand up to my cheek. “It would kill me if I lost you…” she shuddered.

“I’m not going anywhere, Bree,” I said lowly, nuzzling my head further into her shoulder. If I could just close my eyes and hold her forever, I would. I felt safe, I felt sane, I felt loved when I was with her this close, and I think she felt the same way.

“You’re going to San Diego,” she whispered sadly.

“Hey,” I said softly, sitting up straight again and turning her face so we were looking each other in the eyes. “I don’t want to go two hours away from you, either, but I have to be there for Tony,” I said. “We’ll make it work,” I declared.

“You’re right,” she sighed lightly, this time leaning her head on my shoulder.

“Would it be inappropriate if I asked to have your phone number?” I smirked.

“Of course not,” she giggled. “Just in case of emergency,” she whispered jokingly, leaning up and pecking my cheek. I squeezed her hand and smiled.

We sat silently together for a few minutes, and I swear I could have fallen asleep again. But I didn’t want to—I wanted to appreciate the little time I had with her before I left for San Diego. Who knew when I would see her again?

I turned a little to face her and brought my hand up to her face, tracing her features.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

I smiled softly. “I’m going to miss you,” I answered indirectly, running my hands though her soft hair. “You’re beautiful. Have I ever told you that?”

A light blush crept onto her cheeks. She leaned forward and placed her lips on mine, as if we couldn’t bear to go twenty minutes without kissing. I just needed her to know how much she meant to me, but I was afraid that I would break her if I held her too tight. So, instead, I kissed her back passionately.

“Damn it,” she muttered.

“What is it?” I asked. I kept my mouth lightly on her jaw when she turned her head to look at her cell phone.

“Dr. Crowly,” she sighed. “She’s coming by to talk to me,” she said.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, she’ll be here any minute apparently,” she rolled her eyes.

I jutted my bottom lip out in a pout, which she reciprocated. Slowly and carefully, she slid out of the bed, sitting down in the nearby chair. I adjusted myself (painfully) so I was sitting up in the middle of the bed.

“You good?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I breathed, trying not to wince. She patted my hand, but she didn’t hold it, seeing that Dr. Crowly was now entering the room.

“Hello, Vic, I hope you are feeling well,” she smiled politely, and I nodded, smiling back. Dr. Crowly looked nervous to be here, as if it was obvious how I disliked her. Well, she was no longer Bree’s boss, too, so that was probably awkward—with me officially released from the mental hospital and Bree no longer at an internship there, Dr. Crowly lacked authority over us.

“I was going to talk to Bree privately, but I actually think this involves you, Vic,” she nodded at me, and Bree and I both raised our eyebrows at her to continue.

“Candace is being taken to a different institution tomorrow,” she began, and I narrowed my eyes at Dr. Crowly. She glanced nervously at me, to Bree, the wall, and then back to me.

“The police aren’t charging her because of her state of mind,” she began, and I nodded.

“I understand,” I said honestly—I expected that, and, truthfully, I didn’t want Candace to go to jail. She clearly needed a lot of help, and rotting behind bars was not the way she was going to get it. Even though what she did was bad (and excruciating), she deserved a second chance. I, at least, believed that she deserved an opportunity to get help.

“Yes, well, um, I have a question for you,” she said.

“Yes?”

“Candace wants to apologize,” she began. “How would you feel if someone brought her in and—”

Before Dr. Crowly could finish her question—and before I could process what she was asking—Bree angrily interrupted her.

“Wait a second, were you seriously going to ask me this without Vic knowing?” she asked.

“Er, yes, I guess I was. But then I realized that I should—”

“Yes,” I spoke up.

“Yes, what?” Dr. Crowly asked, confused.

“I-I don’t like the idea of seeing her, but I think it would be good if I did. I don’t want her to be torn up over this forever, preventing her from being able to get better,” I explained quietly. Bree smiled softly at me, and Dr. Crowly nodded.

“Okay. You’ll be completely safe, so don’t worry. She’ll be guarded and—”

“Just do what you gotta do,” I muttered. Dr. Crowly nodded and left the room, clearly uncomfortable with the tension in the room.

“Are you sure about this, Vic?” Bree asked carefully. I nodded.

“I just really don’t like Dr. Crowly,” I muttered again.

Bree laughed quietly, agreeing. “But about seeing Candace? You aren’t afraid or anything?” she asked.

“I’m not afraid,” I shook my head.

“I am,” Bree whispered. My eyebrows knitted and I reached out for her hand.

“Don’t be,” I murmured. I suddenly wished that, in this moment, I could be stronger for her.

“She lost all control. She thought that you were Tyler… who know when she will break like that again?”

“Who is Tyler?” I asked curiously.

Bree shook her head. “Let’s just say her childhood was, um, tainted,” she grimaced.

“I guess there’s always a reason behind insanity,” I mumbled, but I think she heard me, and she slowly nodded in agreement.

Bree suddenly turn her head, looking out the small window of the hospital room. “She’s already here,” she said. I could almost hear her grit her teeth, her teeth crunching together angrily.

I looked, as well, seeing a flash of pink through the window. I shivered.

“Damn, I hate Dr. Crowly,” we said at the same time. At this, we smiled at each other.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” I sighed, my breath shaking a little in nervousness. I hadn’t realized how much this occurrence had affected me until I was literally staring the cause in the face.

Bree gave the window a thumbs up, and I held my breath as a mass of people entered the room. First entered two police officers, then a nurse who looked like she came from the institution, and then Candace. Her pastel pink hair was brushed neatly behind her shoulders, and her bangs rested straight across her forehead. Her skin was chillingly paler than what I remembered, and her eyes were piercing. I shivered again.

“I did that?” she slowly tilted her head to the side and raised her right arm, pointing to me in the bed. I gulped uncomfortably. I knew it was irrational to feel guilty, but the fact that I was just lying here with her standing in front of me, pain and regret clearly expressed on her face, made it feel like I was just rubbing in the fact that she hurt me while she was having a mentally unstable moment. It was like they were serving me up on a silver platter, saying ‘Hey Candace, here’s one of your victims. Do you feel good about yourself, now?’ It just didn’t feel right.

So, I forced my self to smile at her. “Hi, Candace,” I said.

“Hi, Vic,” she said. I saw her glance nervously at Bree—who was sitting tense next to me. I saw everything in Bree’s eyes: I knew that she was currently replaying the events in her head, that when she saw Candace, she saw the evil, scary, wild Candace who slapped me and pulled a gun on me.

“Hi, Bree,” she said quietly. Bree’s position relaxed—bringing herself back to reality—and she smiled back at Candace.

“I’m so sorry,” Candace croaked, and I saw a crystal tear fall from her eye.

I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t about to tell her that it was okay—it wasn’t okay, and I didn’t want to implant it in her mind that it was okay to pull stunts like this. I also wasn’t going to tell her that “everything was going to be okay”, because that didn’t really end well for me last time I tried to say that to her.

“I’m okay, don’t worry,” I finally said—that seemed right. Candace nodded slowly.

“I-I thought he was there… that’s why I had my cousin bring me the gun… she believed me… we thought he was still trying to k-kill me,” Candace stuttered.

“You don’t have to explain yourself, Candace, okay?” I said softly. She nodded, sniffled, and closed her eyes.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she continued.

“I know you didn’t,” I said.

“I only meant to hurt myself,” she said.

“What do you mean?” I whispered. She shook her head.

“I wasn’t going to use that gun against anyone. I wasn’t going to use it to protect myself from… him… I was just going to end everything myself,” she said. “It seemed so much easier. A bullet to the head,” she whispered dreamily. I gulped. “I just got carried away. And I thought he was there, so I figured I’d go ahead and get him while I had the chance. I should have just killed myself before—”

“No, Candace, don't say that,” I interjected. “You don’t want to do that,” I said.

“Why not? Look at what I’ve done!” she whispered loudly, as if she couldn’t bear to hear her own voice break.

“I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s okay. I’m okay, it is okay, I understand. I hope you understand that,” I said. “I’d rather you shoot me than you kill yourself,” I said truthfully.

“What if you died?” she challenged.

“Well… that would have sucked, then…” I frowned. “…And I would take that back that statement,” I cracked a smile, and she smiled back, sniffling again.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For what?” I asked.

“For being a good friend, even though I hurt you,” she said.

I nodded slowly. “It’s going to be hard, Candace, but you’ll get better,” I said.

“How do you know for sure?” her lip quivered.

“I don’t. But I believe in you, okay? Just do everything they tell you to do, and try and forget about your past. It won’t be easy, I know that, but you’ll be okay,” I said. Her face twisted slightly at my words, like she couldn’t bring herself to believe them.

She nodded and stared at me. I stared back at her, telling her over and over with my eyes that it was oaky, that I forgave her, that she could move on with her recovery. The last thing I wanted was for what happened to me to hold back on her chance to live life.

I had forgotten that there were other people in the room until one of those people cleared their throats. “Candace, we need to go,” a nurse spoke up. I squinted at her in slight annoyance. Candace sighed.

“You make me feel safe, which was why I was looking for you. My episode just got out of control, but you make me feel safe,” she admitted shyly.

“I don’t want you to be scared, Candace,” I said, masking the awkwardness I felt with a quiet smile.

“I’m going to get better, now,” she said, backing away slowly.

“Good luck,” I said meaningfully.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “And I’m so sorry about what I did, killing an innocent woman and almost killing you. It sounds so pathetic and meaningless to say just sorry to such a serious thing… I really shoulder just go to jail… that poor woman… I need to die,” she rambled, and as her words got quieter and quieter as she carried on my eyes widened more and more.

“Don’t think like that, Candace. It was all an accident, and it wasn’t really your fault. You can’t control it; I know how it feels to not be able to control yourself,” I said. I closed my eyes and sighed before reopening them. I didn’t really know what else to say. I was no therapist, and I had no way of knowing what was running through Candace’s mind. Yes, killing the nurse was terrible… and if she wasn’t extremely mentally ill she would be incarcerated no doubt. But she was extremely mentally ill, and she needed help.

A lot of help.

Candace’s mouth twitched in a half frown, half smile—her emotions conflicting.

She laughed bitterly and shook her head. “I can’t be forgiven for a lot of things, but thanks for forgiving me,” she said, and I responded with a clear nod—I did forgive her, but I didn’t know where to go from there. Saying “you’re welcome” didn’t feel quite right, though.

“I have to go now. Thanks for letting me apologize,” she said. “I owe you a lot,” she added.

“No, I don’t want you carrying on thinking that you owe me anything, because you don’t. Just get better, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered as she turned to leave. “Bye, Vic,” she said as the officers and guards led her out of the room.

“Bye, Candace,” I murmured.

The room completely cleared out—no more police officers, no more nurses, no more doctors, no more Dr. Crowly, and no more pink—leaving me alone with Bree once again.

“You did good,” Bree patted my arm with a sweet smile.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Only if you are,” she inched herself closer, laying her head down on my shoulder.

“I am,” I said.

“Good,” she said, tracing my arm with her fingertips.

“Are you in pain?”

“Not really,” I said. Only because you’re close next to me, I thought to myself.

She sighed lightly into my arm. “I’m just so proud of you,” she said.

Her hand slid down my arm until she laced her fingers through mine, and I squeezed her hand gratefully. “I’m so glad I have you,” I murmured, turning my head so I could kiss the top of hers. I lingered a little, taking in the comforting scent of her hair.

She giggled a little.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, smiling only because she sounded happy.

“We’re so touchy-feely,” she said, squeezing my hand.

I grinned, agreeing with the statement. I guess I just didn’t know how else to express how much she mattered to me; and I haven’t felt this much in the longest time.

“Is this a problem?” I nudged her.

“Nope, not at all,” she laughed lightly, nuzzling her head into my shoulder. I smiled, not minding at all how close we were. I could cuddle with her all day and be satisfied—it was almost pathetic how little I cared about real life when I was with her.

“I’m just enjoying being close to you while I have the chance,” I murmured. She nodded, understanding what I meant. “You’re like my own personal ray of sunshine, lighting up my dark world. I’m just trying to soak up as much of you as I can.”

Notes

*I have nothing to say here except that I feel like I should say something but sometimes I truly don't know what to put in this section but I feel like I need to say something because I dislike just posting chapters without a note so voila a note*