Hospital

The drive to the hospital felt like a long one, though it was no more than ten minutes away. The chipper radio music felt very inappropriate, considering the circumstances. When they finally arrived, they found Landon very quickly. He was stuck out in the waiting room, left drifting in his bad thoughts about what might happen until someone would eventually come to update him.

Upon spotting him, Remy ran into his arms like some cliche romance movie. Except the situation was a little bit more dire. Landon clung to Remy as if he was the only thing holding him up. And for all he knew, he was. "I'm sorry I had to leave you there. It's just--"

"I know," he softly interrupted. "You don't have to explain yourself."

They detangled themselves as Emmitt made his way over. Landon sat down, with the other two boys on either side of him, holding his hands. It was tough for all of them; they each loved Renee. But Landon had known her the longest, had been through the most with her, and he absolutely could not lose her.

They all sat there silently, waiting for any kind of news. They were each so tired but unable to even think about sleeping. They waited a full hour before a nurse came to them. He started with the most important news; Renee was alive, and she was going to be okay. They were going to keep her in the hospital for a few more days and have a therapist come in and talk to her. She was asleep at the moment and heavily sedated, but they were allowed to see her.

They walked into the room, shocked by the sight of her. She looked so thin and tired, as if this one night had taken years off her life. Landon's eyes filled with tears, which was almost a good thing because he was unable to see how weak she looked. He could only see the shape of her, so he just imagined that she was still the spirited, lively person she used to be. The person she was before everything went to hell. And the thought of how different she is now made the teardrops spill over.

When he first met her, she was so enthusiastic about life and everything it had to offer. But now, only hours ago, she tried to end that life. And it all started with what Mark did. In that moment, Landon had no remorse for what he did to him. In fact, the only thing he would have changed is how he felt during it. Knowing that he brought about all the trauma Renee went through and would continue to go through after he was long dead, he would have taken the time to enjoy Mark's last breaths, would have made his death slower so he could feel physically how Renee felt emotionally.

Landon knew that these thoughts made him sound like a psychopath, but he couldn't care as he watched Renee through blurry vision. He felt like he should go to her side, hold her hand or something, but he couldn't move his feet. Just stared at her from the foot of her bed, too overwhelmed by rage to think about his love and sorrow for her. He couldn't even move as he felt someone's hand, probably Remy's, squeeze his shoulder in a gesture meant to comfort him.

When he found that he could move again, his feet just carried him to a chair in the room. He sat down, gaze completely fixed on Renee. He didn't know how long he watched her, didn't know when Remy and Emmitt left, or if they said anything when they did, but the next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake by someone.