Rags to Riches

Chapter 35: Don't Forget

I sat in the hospital waiting room for seven hours so far. Theo was rushed to the hospital right after he passed out. I wasn't allowed to ride in the ambulance with him, but Oliver was. I guess I am just thankful he had someone with him in the first place, even if it couldn't be me. All I could do was follow the ambulance and get a brief glimpse of him as he was rolled into the emergency room. Oliver later told me his heart had stopped and I swear the moment those words came out of his mouth, my heart stopped as well. I guess I never realized that I actually fell for Theo the first night we kissed. It was the kind of love that creeps its way inside you and situates itself before announcing its presence.

So here I was, sitting. Waiting. Praying, even though I wasn't a religious person. Usually Kat was the religious one. I glance over at Erin, who was asleep and curled up in a hospital chair. I didn't understand why she was staying with us in the first place. Maybe because Oliver decided to stay until Theo woke up. If he would wake up. Last I heard he was unresponsive.

"Teagan," Oliver's deep voice catches my attention. I look up and see he was handing me a cup of coffee. "I figured you could use a 'pick me up."

I smile as I carefully take it from his hands. "Thanks." I say softly. "Hospital coffee, huh?"

"I'm not complaining," Oliver shrugs as he sits next Erin.

We sit in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't exactly awkward, because in order for things to be awkward the situation has to be up-lifting. When your boyfriend is in the hospital because he took a bullet for you? Nothing can make the situation awkward.

"He'll be alright, Teagan." Oliver says confidently. He surprises me by speaking. "He's strong. Now that he has something to live for, he'll pull through."

"But what if he doesn't?" I ask softly. "What if he doesn't pull through? What if he dies just because I was too scared to move? I won't... I won't be able to move on." My voice shakes. "He deserves so much more than me. " Then I look up at Oliver. What I was about to say wasn't my place, but I needed to know why. Why Oliver would put his little brother through what he did. "How could you blame him for your mother? It wasn't his fault. He was so isolated and alone..."

Oliver sighs and sets down his coffee beside him on the ground. "I was a child. My father blamed him so then I did too. I didn't know what to believe because I didn't understand. I regret the way I treated him everyday of my life. It wasn't until too late I realized how horribly wrong I had been. That's also why I wasn't too surprised when he wanted to throw me in jail. I didn't blame him either." Oliver then looks over at a sleeping Erin. "I also was prepared to go. For her. But then I found out from his friends he met this girl." Oliver smiles as he directs his attention toward me. "I keep track of Theodore through his friends, because he would never talk to me on his own. He doesn't like me very much. He met you and he became a completely different person, but all for the better. He basically raised himself."

"He changed me too, you know." I say as I stare down at my untouched coffee. "I used to be so afraid... Of everything. So afraid I never bothered to try. But he showed me that I was more than just a sidekick to my much hotter friend." I laugh sadly. "Figures she would go out with a billionaire."

"Teagan, I want you to know something." Oliver says seriously. "At first I was using Erin, I won't deny that. I even told her this. But when she threatened to walk away I couldn't handle it. I haven't felt that way since this woman, Vivian, I used to date."

"What happened to her?" I ask. "If you couldn't handle her walking away, what happened?"

"She died." Oliver says sadly. "Someone spiked her drink while she was out with her friends, most likely an enemy of mine. Vivian escaped, but she did so by driving. People say it was a car accident, but I still say she was murdered." He shakes his head and leans back in his chair. "How do you think Theodore found you that night? I told him to go get you."