Whenever You're Ready

Chapter 8 - Recovery and Emails

Dylan

A week later, Dylan wakes up to the smell of bacon. He smiles and gets out of bed. He could finally begin to eat harder foods. Grabbing his cane, he walks to the kitchen where Taylor was making breakfast.

"Hey sleepy head." She says smiling. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay." He shrugs. "Hey, you didn't have to do all of this." He sits down at the table.

"Of course I did." She smiles. "I'm taking care of you."

"You're literally the best caretaker ever."

Taylor laughs and puts the bacon and pancakes on a plate then brings it over to Dylan.

"Go slow with the bacon. Some of it's a little hard."

Dylan gives her a look. "Do you wanna cut it up for me?"

Taylor rolls her eyes. "I just don't want you hurting yourself."

Dylan nods. "I know, I know. I just hate being like this."

Taylor sighs. "I know you do. But hey, you're getting better every day. We've just got to take it slow."

"It's already been close to two months..." Dylan bites his lip. "I can't go back Tay. I don't think I can do it." His breath starts to hitch.

Taylor sees him start to get stressed and goes over to him and puts her arm around him. "Hey hey, look at me."

Dylan starts to breathe heavily. "I-I can't do it... N-not anymore." He could feel his chest start to get tight. He could tell he was about to have a panic attack.

Taylor could tell too. She kneels down next to him and puts her hand on his knee. "Dylan. It's okay. You don't have to go back. We're going to take this very slowly. Everyone will understand."

Dylan could feel tears in his eyes. He couldn't make eye contact with her. His breathing was getting worse.

"Hey... It's okay. Just breathe." She says in a soothing voice trying to calm him down.

"I-I can't." Dylan finally makes eye contact with her. His face showed pure fear and pain. Taylor then leans in and kisses him.

Dylan stops, shocked because he had no idea what had just happened. Then, he starts kissing back. Taylor pulls away after a few seconds and looks at him.

"You okay?" She asks.

Dylan nods quickly. His breathing had returned back to normal.

"I learned that from Teen Wolf. Didn't actually think it would work." Taylor says laughing.

Dylan smiles a bit. There was still something on his mind. He sighs.

"I've had so many producers email me. I-It just makes me so mad for some reason. Like I just can't email them back." He could feel himself getting angrier talking about it.

Taylor puts her hand on his. "We'll figure this out okay? Don't look at your emails now. You need your time off. Just don't worry about it. Just worry about getting better."

Dylan nods a bit and takes a deep breath. "Thank you. Seriously, for everything." He says looking at her.

Taylor stands back up and wipes her pants with her hands, smiling. "Of course." She sits down. "Alright, now eat your food. It's going to get cold."

Dylan smiles a bit, and does as he's told.

Taylor

Taylor hated to see him like this. She could see that he felt so vulnerable and she wished that she could help him with it. She walks back into the kitchen and starts doing dishes.

Suddenly, she feels arms slowly go around her waist and she turns around to see Dylan standing there, holding her in his arms. Taylor smiles and puts his arms around his neck.

"I'm so lucky to have you." He says, looking down at her because of the height difference.

She shakes her head. "We're lucky to have each other." She smiles, reaching up on her tiptoes to kiss him softly on the lips.

Dylan returns the kiss and then pulls away. "I can't wait until I'm better and I can take care of you instead of the other way around."

Taylor shrugs. "I don't mind taking care of you."

Dylan smiles and shakes his head. "And I don't mind you taking care of me. But it would be nice if you didn't do everything for once. I feel bad."

Taylor laughs and shakes his head. "You do realize that I'm getting paid for this right?"

Dylan smiles and shrugs. "So what? You're going to up and leave me after this is over?"

Taylor shrugs, joking. "Maybe." She smirks.

Dylan laughs. "This really is a great relationship then isn't it?"

Taylor laughs and nods. "The best."

------

Taylor

Months pass, and Dylan is slowly, mentally and physically getting stronger. Every once and a while, a producer or director of a movie they want Dylan to be in call or email. It was hard for Taylor to figure out if Dylan was actually going to act again. He kept on going back and forth and she could tell it was a very hard decision for him, but they both knew that eventually he would have to answer the emails. Taylor was going to have to go back to work soon since Dylan was mostly healed. She knew that it was going to be hard to leave him, but luckily his sister was on summer break and would have some time to come and stay with him.

Dylan was sitting on the couch watching one of his favorite films, Never Been Kissed when Taylor walked over to him.

"Hey." She says, sitting next to him. "How are you feeling?"

Dylan looks over at her and smiles, putting his arm around her. "I'm okay, how are you?"

She smiles and shrugs. "If you're okay, then I'm okay."

Dylan smiles at her remark and kisses her cheek then looks her in the eyes. "I think I'm going to go back..." He says softly.

Taylor was taken aback. "What? You mean to acting?"

Dylan nods. "I-I mean I've been dreading going back this whole time and it's just been putting me into a deeper depression." He sighs. "Why not just go back out and face my fears?"

Taylor bites her lip, not sure how she felt about this. "Dylan, you know you don't have to go back to acting. There are plenty of other jobs or things you could be doing instead."

Dylan shakes his head. "I want to do this. I-I need to do this Tay..." He looks at her again, his brown eyes sparkling a little in the light. "I'm not going to let this accident stop me from doing what I love."

Taylor nods, fully understanding him. "Okay..." She takes his hands. "If you're going to do this then I'm going to be right there with you."

A small smile formed on Dylan's lips before he reached over and hugs Taylor. "Thank you." He says while rubbing her back.

All Taylor could do now was pray that everything was going to be okay.