Metronome (FOB FanFic ft. Tyler Joseph)

Chapter 17

I rushed into the hospital and up to the reception desk, telling them I was there to see Tyler. Jenna came in after me, keeping her distance.

"Tyler?" The woman repeated, as if I was speaking another language.

"Yes, Tyler! Tyler Joseph!" I screamed at her, my heart beating a mile a minute and my breaths quick and uneven as I attempted to bring air into my lungs.

"Evie?"

I turned my head and saw Josh, standing in the middle of one of the hallways off of the lobby. I didn't even bother bidding any sort of farewell to the receptionist before rushing over to my ex-boyfriend's best friend. Once I reached him, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly, burying my face in his shoulder. He did the same.

We stood there for a solid minute, not saying anything to one another. The silence that blanketed over us wasn't awkward, though. Instead, it was comforting.

I sniffled and leaned back in his arms, gazing up at the drummer with red and puffy eyes and croaking, "Please tell me he's okay, Josh."

I watched his Adam's apple move up and down. "Evie, I-"

"PLEASE!" I shouted, pushing him away from me.

He rubbed behind his neck, "Look, Evie, I can't tell you because I don't know. All I know is that the doctors got him stabilized and put him on a machine, but...the machine he's connected to...it's the only thing that's keeping him alive. They..." He tilted his head down, a single tear falling from his eyes and rolling down his cheek. He swiped away the tear and recomposed himself, looking back up at me. "...They wanted to know if I was ready to pull the plug."

My heart sank.

"Pull the plug?"

He nodded his head, biting his lip and averting his gaze elsewhere. My throat swelled up more than it already was and I lost the ability to keep myself balanced. I leaned against the wall as tears blurred my vision. Josh joined me shortly after, failing to hold back the tears himself.

"I want to go see him," I croaked underneath my breath, meeting Josh's glistening gaze.

He nodded his head and turned around, leading me to the room Tyler was lying in. I could barely look at him, he looked so different from the last time I saw him. His skin was now an almost gray color, and there were dark rings around his seemingly sunken-in eyes. His body appeared lifeless, with his arms resting by his sides and his wrists - both of them - stitched up. The heart monitor next to him beeped slowly, so slowly that it was almost illegal to consider him alive.

"I-I'll leave you two alone," Josh stammered, his voice just above a whisper. I gave him a slight, appreciative nod of the head. He walked away and I stepped into the room, cautiously making my way up to Tyler's bedside. I sat myself down in the chair and put my hands in my lap, tears spilling from my eyes.

"Is this your way of making me feel bad?" I murmured, "Because if it is, then congratulations, it's working."

The heart monitor gave a single beep.

Beep.

"I'm sorry, okay?" I tilted my head down and closed my eyes, "I'm sorry I loved you when you didn't love me. I'm sorry I wasn't enough for you. I'm sorry I pushed you away." I heaved a sigh and lifted my head back up, looking over at him. "We used to be so happy, Tyler. I wanted what you wanted, you wanted what I wanted, we had our whole future planned out. Sure, it wasn't very detailed, but we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. But then...then...I don't know what happened."

Beep.

"You know, I didn't tell you this because I wanted it to be a secret, but...I was learning how to play piano for you, not that I think it really would even have made a difference." I chuckled sadly, "Anyways...I put up with this jerk for a while, because some friend of mine told me he was the best. But the only thing he was the best at was being the best asshole."

I smirked at my insult, knowing Tyler would've smirked too or laughed, but I received no such response. The only response I got was that goddamn beeping.

Beep.

My smirk faded and I swallowed hard, looking away from him and out the window, "When it comes down to it, though, he's not that bad of a guy. He was just going through a rough time. But he said something to me that stuck. He said that...that I should learn to play in spite of you," I shook my head, "But I don't want to learn to play in spite of you. I want to learn to play for you. I mean, I gave up after...you know...but I'm going to learn again. And when you wake up, I'm going to play you a song. I promise."

I returned my attention to him, as if he was going to respond to me. But no, all I got was:

Beep.

I hated when he gave me the silent treatment. Alive and (almost) dead.

"Goddammit, Tyler, why would you fucking do this?" I grumbled, putting my head in my hands and starting to cry.

Over my sobbing, I heard a knock on the door. I glanced up and noticed Josh standing in the doorway, behind a doctor.

"Hi," The doctor greeted, flashing me a kind smile as he entered the room, "You must be Evie." He extended his hand out, as if I was going to reciprocate the gesture, but I just sat there, looking up at him. He cleared his throat and retracted his hand back down to his side, "Well, um, I was just talking to your friend, Josh, out there. He told me you and Tyler were really close." He lowered himself onto the foot of Tyler's bed, putting his clipboard in his lap and folding his hands on top of it, "What were you to him, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I was his girlfriend," I answered, wiping underneath my eyes and sniffling.

"His girlfriend?"

"I don't really want to talk about it," I muttered, rubbing my arm anxiously.

"Alright, then. We'll just get to business. You're well aware of his situation, correct?"

"Unfortunately," I mumbled, averting my gaze over to my comatose-like ex-boyfriend.

"Then you must know that we need consent to...you know..."

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Is there no chance of him getting better?"

"Well...I wouldn't say that...but if there is one, the chance is very slim."

"Well...a very slim chance is better than no chance at all, right?"

Author's Note: Hey guys! I just wanted to apologize for this being so late. I've been really busy this past weekend and beginning of this week and, if I'm being honest with you, I was unsure of what exactly I wanted to happen. I know that's no excuse for keeping you guys waiting, but I just didn't want to disappoint you with a really shitty chapter (not that I think this one is really any better). ANYWAYS...here's Chapter 17, I hope it wasn't too bad! Thanks for reading! -Rachael