Colton's POV

My hands shake as I step through the hospital doors. It's extremely cold and the walls are all very white. It's slightly crowded and there's about four people at the front counter. So there's about four people in my way.

I push through them all and the lady at the front desk gives me a weird look. "Excuse me sir, you can't just cut the people in line," she says.

"Sutter," I say, ignoring her statement, "Camryn Sutter. She was just in an accident, please tell me she's here," I practically beg. I can hear the people behind me complain about me but I don't give a shit.

The lady eyes me up and down, then begins typing on her computer. "Yes, she was rushed into surgery as soon as she got here. Her parents are in the waiting room on the third floor," she says. I thank her quickly and rush to the elevator.

These hospital elevators are much larger than normal ones and I'm trapped in one with over 12 people. After a short ride to the third floor I push through the crowd to exit the elevator. There's another front desk and I'm about to ask the lady where the waiting room is, but I spot it myself. I quickly walk over to it and immediately see Camryn's parents.

Her mom is leaning on her dad's shoulder and I can't tell if she's crying, but he looks worried. My stomach turns. There's another couple in the room, but they're watching the tv.

I fake a cough and they all turn to me. "Colton?" her mom says, "What are you doing here?" She wipes her eyes and stands up, her husband doing the same.

"I was, um, worried... about Camryn." I'm not the best at telling people what I feel, but I know I have to try.

"Thank you," her mom chokes up. She steps forward and gives me a hug. I hesitate at first, but her affection is comforting. I hug her back and I can feel her crying again. She pulls away and turns back to her husband.

"How is she?" I ask quietly.

"It's, uh, pretty bad," her dad struggles. "She um, was rushed into surgery. We're just waiting for the doctors to tell us if she's okay."

"I'd like to wait with you, if you don't mind," I say.

"No, of course," her mom says. We all sit down in the waiting room chairs.

I grow more and more anxious by the minute. I need to know how she's doing. She has to be okay. I can't bare the thought of her not being okay. The longer I sit here, the more time I have to hate myself.

I check the time and it's 3:45 in the morning. It's getting later and later and still no news. After counting the 456 tiles on the ceiling, I check the time, another hour has passed. I look over at Cam's parents and her mom is asleep on her dad's shoulder. The other couple left a few hours ago after the doctor told them the lady's mother's foot surgery was a success.

I'm about to start pacing the room when a tall middle aged doctor walks in. I quickly stand from my seat and he eyes me up and down.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sutter," he says, looking past me. Her dad wakes up her mom and they both stand to meet the doctor.

"How's my daughter? How's Camryn?" Her mother asks worriedly.

"We can discuss your daughter's condition on the way to see her," he says, looking at me again. "Right this way," he says.

I start to follow, but the doctor stops me. "Family only," he says and I want to punch him in the face. Camryn's mom gives me a sympathetic look, but then continues to follow the doctor. I understand, I just don't like it.

I wait for what seems like another four fucking hours but it was probably only one. I turned my phone off around midnight because my dad wouldn't stop calling. It's sad that I'd rather be in a hospital than at home.

"Colton, is it?" I look up from the floor and see a nurse standing at the door.

"That's me," I say, standing up.

"Miss Sutter is allowed visitors now. Her mother asked me to inform you," she says. She points me in the direction of her room and I run to it. I've been waiting too long to find what's happening. I need to see her. I need her to talk to me.

I finally reach her room and the door is closed. I look through the glass window and see Camryn on the hospital bed, asleep. Her parents are sitting on either side of her and a nurse is walking towards the door.

I step out of the way to let her out. I let the door close behind her. I'm not sure I want to go in yet. I know this is what I've been waiting for, but now I'm scared. I call the nurse that just walked out.

"Um, excuse me," I call out. She turns around and gives me a smile.

"What can I help you with sweetie?" she asks. She is a short woman, maybe in her fifties with a name tag that says 'Anne'.

"How is she?" I ask, nodding my head towards Camryn's door. Her smile fades away.

She walks back towards me and looks at Cam through the window. "She was in critical condition when she got here, but the doctors were able to stabilize her," she sighs.

"Do you know when she'll be up?"

"It's tough to say, sweetie," she's sighs, taking a step closer to me. "She's suffering a concussion and the doctors did what they needed, now, it's a waiting game."

I'm not sure what to do with this information. Is there a chance she won't wake up? That can't be possible, she needs to wake up.

She doesn't deserve this. She didn't belong out there on the road. What the hell happened out there?

"Do you know what happened?" I ask Anne.

"Drunk driver," she says quietly and my heart stops. "Bastard made it out with a few bruises." She looks up at me after saying that as if she want supposed to. She reaches up and pats me on the shoulder and then walks away.

A drunk driver. A fucking drunk driver. Camryn is so fucking against drunk driving and I know this by the way she yelled at me that night. I knew it was a stupid thing to do and I haven't even had a drink since that night. She hated the fact that I put myself and others in danger but I was fine and she wasn't.

It isn't fair. It's not even her fault and she's in worse condition than the jackass that caused this. I should find him and beat the shit out of him, but I wouldn't dare to leave Camryn right now.

I take a deep breath and find every ounce of bravery in my body and use it to help me open the door. I reach for the knob and pull it open. Her parents both turn their heads quickly and then relax when they see me.

I don't acknowledge them, even though I probably should, I just walk to the foot of the hospital bed.

Camryn looks so peaceful, so calm. Her eyes are shut gently but there are prominent bruises around them. She's covered in tubes and needles are pricking her all over. She has a cannula helping her breath and I can see her chest gently rising and falling. She's going to wake up. I know it.

I need to talk to her. I need her to know how I feel about her, but how can I do that with her parents in the room? I want to ask them to give me a minute, but something tells me that's not right. I glance at Camryn's mother and she looks back at me with glossy eyes. She's been crying some more. I look at her, then back at Camryn, then back at her.

It finally clicks in her head and she stands up from her seat. "David, why don't we go get something to eat from the cafeteria?" she asks her husband. He looks like he's about to protest,but then he looks at me and agrees.

After they both leave the room, I take a seat in the chair her mom was sitting in and scoot it closer to Camryn. I stare at her for a few moments before reaching for her hand. Some device is covering her finger, to track something important, I assume. I rub circles on the back of her hand with my thumb.

I think this is the most affectionate contact I've had with her besides our kiss and it makes my insides turn. Our kiss. She caught me completely off guard and despite the actions that took place earlier that night, it was the best night of my life. Why did I have to be so cruel.

I can feel an unwelcome emotion peeking through my hard wall of complete bullshit and my eyes begin to water. I know my time alone with her is limited so I begin to talk.

"Hi, Camryn," I whisper. "I don't really know if you can hear me or not, but I wanted to say I'm sorry. Sorry for being such a dick to you and trying to fight the feelings I have for you. I'm an idiot and I'm sorry, it just scared me, you know?" I take a deep breath and try to continue. I've never expressed my feelings like this before.

"I didn't know it was possible for someone to want me like you want me. I didn't know it was possible for me to want someone like I want you. The fear of screwing it up scared me so much, I thought I might as well not even try with you. I thought that if I pushed you away, we'd both be better off, but I was wrong. I just can't stay away from you, Camryn. I tried, but I can't. I don't know why I avoided you this week. I guess it just goes back to me being scared. I've told you things about myself I've never told anyone, and that terrifies me. I thought it'd terrify you too." I stop and wait as if expecting a reaction, but one never comes.

"I now know what I want, and that's you. On my way here, I thought "What if I'm too late," and that thought hurt more than anything I've ever felt before. I know that I'm a coward for saying this to you now, and I'd be more than happy to repeat myself once you wake up, ecstatic even. That's why I need you to open your eyes Camryn, so I can tell you how much I need you."

I squeeze her hand softly and stare at her eyelids, waiting for them to flicker open. But they don't.

Her parents walk in a few moments later and I stand up from the chair.

"You don't have to go, Colton," her mom says to me.

"I wasn't going to," I reply as I make my way to an empty chair near the door. I sit and patiently wait for Camryn to come back to me.