A Twisted Love

Colton woke up in a daze, and everything was slow and hazy. He could make out figures moving their mouths and gesturing frantically. Something was happening. Something big. His senses seemed gone though. Every sound was blocked, and every sight was blurred. His breathing was shallow and abnormal. Someone placed a heavy mask over Colton's face. He could barely feel it digging uncomfortably into his skin.

Lights flashed into his eyes, making him want to turn away. Then it occurred to Colton. If he only closed his eyes, then this whole horrid scene around him would stop. He let his eyelids slowly droop, as they began to feel heavier by the moment. He turned his head to the side and the last thing he saw was someone about his own size being carried to an ambulance on a stretcher. Cameron Colton thought, right before he fell into a deep sleep.

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Colton woke up to an annoying beeping sound, that seemed miles away. As his eyes fluttered open, he reached over, prepared to throw his alarm clock on the floor. He turned to his side and a slight stinging pain shot through his right arm. His eyelids jerked fully open and he shot up from bed. He took in his surroundings slowly. There was no alarm clock anywhere near him, and instantly he knew that he was not in his room. His room wasn't so white. His room wasn't so sterile. His room wasn't so morbid.

Colton breathed in a deep sigh that sent a sharp pain through his chest. He glanced down and pulled the itchy material of the hospital nightgown away from his chest. A large, ugly purplish bruise covered his ribs. What the hell happened? He asked himself. He ran through the possibilities in his head. Maybe he had gotten drunk, and got into some stupid fight at a bar or a party. That would certainly explain the hangover-like headache. He rubbed at his forehead and felt another bruise.

Carefully he swung his gray sock clad feet over the side of his thin mattress. It was a hospital bed, he realized. He was in a hospital. Just the thought sent a shock of worry through his head. As he was about to lift himself from the bed, the door clicked open, and a young pretty nurse walked in. Her blond hair was tied in a neat bun, a small smile set on her face.

"Oh, you're up!" She exclaimed, looking delighted. Colton just nodded.

"How are you feeling?" she asked immediately after.

"Shitty." He replied in a rough voice. It sounded as if he had not spoken in a while. She nodded thoughtfully, and gave him a look of pity. He hated it, and gave her a death glare.

"Um, do you remember anything that has happened?" She asked, clearly wanting to change the subject.

"No." She gave him a blank look while she just stood in the middle of the room, looking uncomfortable. Colton was getting annoyed.

"Just tell me what happened!" He snapped.

"There was an accident. You were on a bus when it-" Colton cut her off, yelling for her to stop.

He covered his face with his hands and took deep breaths for five minutes straight. Memories were flooding back now, a few lingering at the edges of his mind. The sound of screeching tired pierced through his head, louder than any gunshot. He winced visibly, and bit back a scream. He had remembered the worry in the pit of his stomach, that growing sense of uneasiness. And then the terror. The sheer terror that had led him to throw his arm around Cameron, desperately trying to protect him.

"Where is he?" Colton shouted. The young nurse looked confused.

"My brother! Where is Cameron?!" He repeated hysterically.

"Oh, right. He hasn't quite woken up yet, but he's stable. It would be okay for to see him if you'd like." She offered.

Colton nodded, and the nurse left to get a wheelchair, even after he had insisted that he didn't need one. Then another thought came into his mind. One he had been avoiding since the moment he woke up. What had happened to Olivia? He remembered where she was sitting, on the right side of the bus. The right side that had been crushed inwardly. If she was still alive, she would be in critical condition.

When the nurse came back, wheelchair by her side, Colton practically lunged himself into it. She wheeled him out of the door and down numerous hallways. Everything looked the same, and it seemed as if they were going nowhere, until finally they arrived in front of a particular plain white door. The nurse shoved open the door and pushed the wheelchair through it with a bit of a grunt.

Inside the room, there was a large window that had a view right over the ocean. They were near a beach, Colton realized. The bed in the center of the room was the first thing his eyes landed on. In the middle of it lay a covered lump. Disregarding what the nurse had told his about his bruises, he got out of the wheelchair and walked straight over to Cameron's bed.

"Would you leave?" Colton said curtly, not even bothering to look over at her. A second later her footsteps retreated outside and the door was closed.

Colton looked over to the heart monitors and wished that he understood the pointlessly confusing lines that zig-zagged across the screen. He sighed, and ignored another sharp pain in his chest. Colton reached out his hand and pushed back the thin sheets, revealing Cameron's peaceful face. His soft hair was splayed messily across his face. Colton pushed back a strand of it and stared at the few stitches on Cameron's forehead. He had gotten cut.

Colton stood by Cameron's side for a long while, occasionally playing with his hair, or brushing his cheek. All of his thoughts were directed towards Cameron, and whether or not he would be okay. He longed for the moment his eyes would open, and he would stare at Colton with a smile on his face.

Colton had never felt closer to his twin then he did in those hours spent waiting for him after he woke up. He would never admit it to anyone, hardly even himself, but somewhere deep down he knew that he would never be able to live without his twin brother.

He already missed Cameron's smile.