iridescent ↠ grayson dolan ✓

↠ f i f t e e n

{ c h a p t e r f i f t e e n }
lauren's pov ;

There was nothing that Lauren despised more than hospitals. The hospital ward was obviously meant to look cheery and upbeat, but had an obvious undertone of death and grief.

Grayson was in front of her hunched figure. He was still; he hadn't moved since she sat there and it absolutely terrified her.

To have him in front of her, but not there to hold was a form of torture. She completely broke. Not quietly or gracefully; she broke as every single inch of her body screamed in unison in fear of living without him.

She put her hand on his. Like the day at the diner. Except this time he didn't lace their fingers together. This time he didn't smile down at their interlocked hands. This time his hands were as cold as ice.

She didn't have a word with the doctor yet. They had apparently been experiencing an influx of patients and he simply didn't have enough time. A nurse had come in a little while earlier who informed her that she would be getting feedback later that day as to how he was doing. She said not to worry, but Lauren knew better than to believe that.

She stared at the bouquet of sunflowers she had sat on the table next to his bed. She reached into her backpack and unfolded the note he had written in the morning.

I thought they'd remind you of home, he wrote. But the flowers didn't remind her of home. He did.

He was her home.

She wiped away her tears and took a deep breath. Just talking was completely wearing her out. She hadn't gotten any sleep for at least a day now, and all this crying wasn't helping her case at all.

"Why does it seem so easy in movies to wake someone up? I'd cry and tell you how much I love you and your eyes open and everything's okay. But I've cried enough; so much so that I can't bring myself to cry anymore. And you know how much I love you- all the way down to that cheesy smile of yours and those cliche things you do to make me smile."

She stopped for a moment, taking deep breaths until she could speak properly without getting hysterical again. It was hard to fight back tears, but she knew she had to.

"Listen to me, okay? Asking you to wake up is not an option anymore. I've pleaded and I've sobbed but now it's all up to you. I need you to wake up. You have to wake up. Please, Grayson. You have to wake up for me."

She looked down at his expectantly. He was supposed to open his eyes. He was supposed to say that he wasn't going anywhere, and wrap her in a tight embrace. Everything was supposed to be okay. .

But his eyes remained closed. His body remained still. His hands remained cold.

Lauren couldn't be in their much longer. Just sitting there made her feel even more desolate than she already was. She wrapped a blanket over his cold body, pressed a kiss to his forehead and walked out of the ward. She knew she should stay with him but she just couldn't.

The waiting room outside was anything but welcoming. Hard wooden chairs stood in isolated rows, fake flowers accompanying them. Lauren stared at them, reaching out for their plastic roots. It seemed like everything died here; her hope beginning to follow suit.

"Hey," Ethan said, sitting down next to her. He was juggling three drinks in his hand. "I didn't know if you liked coffee or hot chocolate, so I bought you both."

Lauren gave him a tired smile, taking the hot chocolate gratefully. "Thank you," She said, bringing the cup to her lips.

The same silence that they always seemed to experience followed. Ethan, as per usual, tried to come up with conversation starters to lessen the stiffness but it never worked.