The Disappearance of Taylor

Chapter 14

Two years later...

Cole hung his head as he left to go back to the hospital. He had gotten up early every single day for the past two years to go visit Taylor and he was exhausted. But, he forced himself to hold his head up as he left for the hospital.

He entered the hospital like usual and sat on a chair in the waiting room. Surprisingly, he hadn't gotten his usual cheerful 'hello' from the receptionist. He looked at her, but she turned away like they had never even met.

Without waiting for the doctor to come for him like usual, he got up and walked all the way down to Room 166. When he opened the door, though, he was surprised to see that the hospital bed was empty!

What? No, it can't be! These were the only thoughts going through Cole's head at that time. He forced himself to breathe. He suddenly saw the doctor coming a down the hallway and stepped up to meet her. She looked surprised. "Why are you here?"

"I come every day," he reminded her. "But where's Taylor?"

"Well, um..." She sure was acting strange. "What is it?"

"Well, you see, we found something wrong with the recovery she's made. With the injuries she's had, it somehow paralyzed her. We managed to fix it, but for some reason, the paralysis seems to have caused her to come down with some unnamed illness. It is very severe."

"Can I still visit her?" Cole said hopefully.

"No. I'm sorry. You see, this illness causes the heart to stop at one point and unless the victim has completely proper breathing, the heart cannot regain its life. I'm afraid that if we let her out of the hospital, she would die from a single bit of exertion."

Cole started to grow panicked. "Is there anything you can do to help her?"

"The only thing we could do is place her in a coma for about 72 hours and make sure she stays alive and fights off the illness during that time. Then, we can disconnect the life support we have on her currently and possibly let her go home. But if it doesn't work-" She twisted her hand together uncomfortably and turned to another doctor to speak with them.

Cole suddenly spotted Taylor being rolled by on a small hospital cot. He quickly stroked her hair as she passed and began crying. He ran out of the hospital and ran until he found the hotel closest to the hospital. He rented a room and went to it- Room 364. When he got to his room, he called Alyssa, Max, Danny, Merrick, and Princess Shayla, telling them what had happened and explaining what he was doing until and when Taylor got better- or until she died. Whichever came first. And whichever one he hoped would and would not happen.