The Bucket List

33

Four days later, they let me out. The doctors were literally only waiting for me to say or do something before releasing me. Reggie came to pick me up and walked me out to his car in the parking lot with Corey and Devyn in the backseat. I smiled sadly and started crying silently on the way to the car.

"They're all scared of me," I whispered. Reggie looked down at me.

"What?" he asked.

"Jess and Colby and Eli and Sam and Kat and Tara. They're scared of me," I said. I knew Reggie was going to try and make me feel better, but I was right. I just had to be. There was no way they weren't. "Don't bother," I whispered when I heard him inhale to tell me that they would never hate me.

"Did you clean up my house?" I asked after Reggie helped me into the car. Devyn leaned up from the backseat. She took a deep breath before explaining.

"We were planning on doing it a couple of days after it happened. All of us. We took some pictures in case you didn't remember and wanted to see. But I walked in three days later, everything was clean. Your TV was replaced, your wall was fixed, you had a new mirror. There were new dishes in your kitchen, your floor was wiped up, your room was clean, and your clothes were all put back into your closet. The dent in your fridge is even mostly gone," said Devyn. I sighed.

"You know who did that for you, right? He didn't sleep or eat once until he had fixed everything," Corey said. "Hell, I didn't even see him for the first two weeks outside of the hospital after you... left."

I nodded and closed my eyes, even more tears streaming down my cheeks. I inhaled shaky breaths until I stopped crying and could open my eyes again.

"Okay, you ready to go home?" asked Reggie. I nodded.

"Is Colby...how is he?" I awkwardly asked.

"Every single day during visiting hours, he would come and sit outside of the room you were in or wait in the waiting room in case you ever asked for him. Every single day for seven weeks. He hasn't posted a single video on his channel. He never left the house unless it was to go sit in yours or go sit in the hospital," Corey explained.

"Every day?" I asked. I had been in there a long time. The nurses had probably just stopped asking because they already knew I was just going to shake my head, but still. He was there, waiting for me. For almost two months.

"Every day," said Corey. "He wouldn't go out or do anything fun. Lame ass," he continued, trying to lighten the mood. I smiled.

"Hey, I don't want this question to upset you and I know the hospital let you go which partially answers my question, but, um...are you healthy?" Devyn asked. I opened my mouth to ask exactly what she meant when I looked down at my legs. The extra small hospital scrubs I was wearing were way too big. I was allowed to have some of my own clothes in the ward, but they were all too big for me now. I had some bruises on my skin and the doctors said it was because I was iron deficient, so I bruised really easy.

"Yeah. I haven't looked in a mirror since they took me out of my apartment," I answered. I heard Corey take a deep breath in.

"It's okay, brother. I have a pretty good idea of what I look like now," I said, laughing a little bit.

"Hey, you guys, I know I went apeshit, but I lost my best friend and my job in less than a day and I didn't know how to grieve. You don't have to be scared of me. I promise I'm never going to hurt you guys. Obviously especially you guys," I said with a laugh. I could literally feel the tension in the air dissipate.