Chapter 1
Savanna
It’s been six months since Tyler had his accident. I still attend school, but barely go to my part-time job anymore. Most of my days are spent in a classroom and then the hospital.
If it weren’t for me, he would be okay.
The car was found in a ravine about three miles from the campus. After I left the party, I drove right home and slept in the old barn I had run away to a million times. I turned my phone off and had no idea anything had happened until the next morning. I had a zillion messages from people asking what happened and if Tyler ever found me. I was still so angry with him, so I didn’t bother calling.
That night I got a call from his parents. The police found the car lying upside down. Tyler was barely alive and taken by helicopter to a hospital capable of handling his severe injuries. Not only had he broken just about every bone possible, but it was also freezing that night and he had hypothermia. He never regained consciousness, and was finally transferred to a long-term coma ward.
The doctors ran a zillion tests and said that his brain was fully functioning, and that they were optimistic one day he would wake up. It was a forty-minute drive to the hospital, in which I took every single day. Even during the heaviest snowstorm, our town has seen in ten years, I went to sit with him.
I would read to Tyler and talk about all of the good times we had. We were best friends and lovers for so long, but somewhere down the road, something changed for me. Tyler and I had an unconventional relationship. We fought all of the time, because we loved each other so much. No matter what, we were always a couple and neither of us ever doubted that we would not end up together. Things had become strained for me though. I couldn’t deal with college life, parties and schoolwork. Ty seemed to soak himself in it. I made the decision to end things, temporarily of course, but he never understood.
His daddy was a farmer, like a full-fledged works the farm himself, farmer. His parents had been together since they were thirteen. We had been together since we were fourteen. So naturally, Ty just always assumed that we would grow up and get married. When we started college, things became intense. Between the schoolwork, the new environment and his pledging with a fraternity, our priorities were not on the same page.
When we entered into our second year at college, I began to really struggle. I figured if we just stopped worrying about “us” for a little while, I could focus on school and get through it, then eventually start our future together. I never broke up with him because I thought it would be forever. Tyler took it the wrong way from day one. His new friends, basically the football team, convinced him I was interested in someone else and that he should move on too.
They were wrong.
My main focus was school. My parents did not have money to pay for my tuition, so through scholarships and grants, I was able to attend college. I was required to maintain a certain grade point average and if it fell, I lost my ride.
On the day I found out about Tyler’s accident, my mother insisted on driving me all the way to the hospital. I was in shock. Apparently, he had stolen a car and when they first discovered the accident, they didn’t know it was Ty. Finally, they found his wallet at the hospital and the police notified his family. Ty was not recognizable, and it wasn’t just from all the tubes and wires that were hooked to his body. His legs and arms were being propped up and they were covered in casts. He had a severe contusion on his head, and they had to shave his hair and operate to remove the swelling around his brain. His face was black and blue and both of his eyes were completely swollen shut, not that he ever opened his eyes.
I refused to leave when my mother left that night. Instead, I slept in a chair. I wasn’t supposed to, but the nurse was pretty nice and said that the more time I spent there, the sooner he might wake up. At first, I had this notion that if I stayed long enough he would open his eyes and I could tell him how much I loved him and that I would never leave again.
However, he never woke up.
His mother and father started to only visit on weekends. With him not being able to help and now having the hospital bills, they couldn’t afford to hire someone to work the farm while they sat at the hospital. I promised them that I would spend every day there, except when they came, just in hopes of seeing those brown eyes that I loved looking back at me.
My friends tried to get me to go out and get my mind off of things. My best friend Brina had been around for all of mine and Tyler’s ups and downs. Our town was tiny and everyone knew everyone. We all even attended the same church when we were younger.
Ty was never Brina’s favorite person, but she would never want him to be like that. I refused her offers each and every time. My mother took me to see a shrink, claiming I was giving up on life. She didn’t understand that Tyler Mitchell was my life. I couldn’t let go, I wouldn’t.