Chapter Text
Ryland Grace was currently sitting in a hospital somewhere in Los Angeles. The lights were too bright, the noises and smell too overwhelming. It had been 3 hours since he got the call.
The call that brought his world to a halt.
“An accident” they said.
Colt had been in an accident. A stunt gone horribly wrong.
The doctors hadn’t told him much. Colt’s back had been broken— shattered. Someone mentioned the possibility of paralysis. The words by themselves made sense, but together they formed an incomprehensible language. Ryland’s brain was failing. It was rejecting the facts being told to him.
Colt wasn’t actually injured or in a hospital. The of them had talked that morning. They had made plans for the weekend. Colt was dragging him to karaoke, where he was finally going to introduce him to —
“Ryland?” A quiet voice dragged Ryland from the paradox in his mind. A blonde woman was standing a few feet from him, visibly distressed.
“That’s me.” He said weakly. “And you are..?”
“Jody Moreno. I’m Colt’s… I’m a friend of your brother.”
Ryland’s heart stopped. Jody. The woman his brother had been fawning over for months now. Who Colt was planning on finally introducing at karaoke.
“Oh.”
A heavy silence filled the space between them. This isn’t how they were supposed to meet, and yet here they were. Two souls wrapped in agonizing anticipation. Waiting for the knowledge on if a cherished companion would be okay.
Ryland pat the seat next to him in silent invitation.
“Colt’s alive.” Ryland finally spoke. “He’s still in surgery.”
Jody took a shaky breath. This close Ryland could clearly see her tear stained cheeks and swollen eyes.
“Thank you.”
The waiting was painfully slow. No more attempts at conversation took place between the two blondes. Both drowning within the confines of their minds. What if’s plaguing the thick silence.
“Ryland Grace” A doctor called. The pair jumped to their feet as the doctor made her approach.
“Your brother is out of surgery. We’ve moved him to a recovery room for continued monitoring.”
“Will he be okay?”
“Can we see him?”
The doctor pressed her lips into a thin line and took a deep breath.
“That,” she started, “is a complicated question Mr.Grace”
The doctor gestured for them to follow while she explained more about Colt’s condition.
Ryland’s head was spinning as he listened. Colt had avoided paralysis by some miracle. The current prognosis was tentatively positive for a full recovery. They would be able to tell more once Colt was awake and aware. There would need to be more surgeries and many months of intense therapy for him to properly recover.
Ryland was already planning how he could move his life around to best help Colt. He didn’t have much in savings but he’d figure something out, he had to. Colt would do the same for him.
The doctor came to a stop outside a closed door.
“Before you go in I want to warn you that it’s not pretty. If you need to step out or need assistance please let us know.”
The pair gave their thanks before turning the door. Ryland grabbed the handle, then hesitated. If he opened this door then it all became real. No more convincing himself Colt wasn’t here, that he was fine. Jody lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.
With shaking arms, Grace pushed down on the handle and opened the door.
The air was instantly filled with the steady beeping of machines. The lights in the room seemed to bright and dim at the same time. It all felt wrong.
The figure laying in that bed couldn’t be Colt. He looked small, weak; nothing like his twin. The man was pale, covered in wires with a mask strapped across in face to help him breathe. It was uncanny. Gone was his brother’s normal smug look, replaced with a slack blank slate. Colt was a presence you couldn’t ignore; the figure before him was an echo of that.
Grace let out a sob. His knees became weak. He couldn’t breathe as he stumbled to his twin’s side. Collapsing into the chair at Colt’s bedside, Grace reached a trembling arm out to hold his brother’s hand. Jody took Colt’s other hand with tears streaming down her face.
Neither of them spoke except to quietly mutter things to the man in the bed. Too soon a quiet knock filled the room. A nurse gently informed them that they would need to leave for the night but they could come back in the morning. Ryland pulled Jody into a tight embrace. The two exchanged numbers and said soft goodbyes before parting ways for the night.
Grace found a cheap hotel close to the hospital and booked the room for a week. He kept replaying the phone-call in his mind over and over. The emotions of the day won and Grace began to sob. As he lay in the bed, he knew sleep would not come.