Give It a Chance for Our Love to Start

I sat in the hospital room for what seemed to be hours. There was no news. The doctor hadn’t told me anything. The nurses were even less help every time they walked by. Nothing. I sat in the waiting room, my head in my hands. I felt guilt and remorse filling me. It was my fault. I should have stopped them. I should have crossed the street to meet them. I should have helped them.

“Joe,” I heard Kevin call me. I looked up to see him, Katelyn and Nick rushing towards us.

Nick looked like he was about to break down. I felt even guiltier for having him in this whole situation. That was my fault too. This was all my fault. “How are they,” he asked, his voice broken, powerless.

“They haven’t said anything yet,” I whispered.

Kevin put his hand on my shoulder. “She’ll be okay. They both will.”

“What even happened,” Katelyn asked.

“A car hit them,” I cringed at the memory, the moment replaying in my head as the racing car sped into them. On the floor, drenched in blood, on the ambulance gurney, still not awake. But that wasn’t true. Tinsley had been awake for a few moments in the ambulance. She had griped my hand tightly. She ha whispered to me. Again, the memory played in my head.

The sirens had become deafening. I was sitting in Tinsley’s ambulance. Bethany had needed more help, and so there was no room in hers. I was holding Tinsley’s hand, but I was yards away, trying to see Bethany’s face. “Joe,” Tinsley whispered.

“Yes Tins,” I whispered back, the tears coming down my face. I didn’t care. I may not be in love with Tinsley, but I still cared for her. I still wanted her to be okay just as I was praying for Bethany.

“You tried to save her,” she cringed. I wasn’t sure if it was from her words or the pain she was in, or both.

“What,” I asked, confused.

“You love her,” she coughed, strained.

“No, I—“

“Stop,” she moaned. “You called her name Joe. You love her.”

“Tinsley, I—“

The machine started beeping. The paramedic made me move to the side. Tinsley started having convulsions. The tears were coming faster. Was she going to make it? Was she going to die hating me? Hating her sister? The last part made me wince in pain.

“Joe,” Kevin shook me gently. I shook my head and looked at him. “You okay?” I looked at him skeptically, questioning his sanity. Of course I wasn’t fucking okay. The love of my life, and my intended were both in critical care. Of course, both connotations weren’t exactly the same for me as they were for everyone else. For me, they weren’t the same person. Kevin put his hands up defensively. “I mean you looked like you were about to have a seizure or something.”

I took a deep breath. “I’ll be okay as soon as they are.” I looked at my hands. “I was so close to them. I was so close, yet so far away.”

Katelyn hugged me. “There’s nothing you could have done Joe. They’ll be okay.”

Nick didn’t say anything. He just continued to tare at hi hands. Kevin and Katelyn went to go get u all coffee while Nick and I sat in the waiting room chairs to wait for news.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Nick looked at me, confused. “For what?”

“For hurting Bethany,” I said quietly. I was talking abut for more than just the car. And I had a feeling Nick would understand that.

He, of course, did not disappoint. “You’re a real dick, you know that right Joe?”

I sighed, and nodded. “You know, sometimes I wish I had never found out it was really her who wrote the letters.”

“You don’t mean that,” Nick said.

I shrugged. “I actually do sometimes. You don’t know what it’s like Nick. I love her. I was made for that girl in the letters. And she was made for me too. I never lot my way, not once Nick, because of her. I couldn’t be lost, because she was my light. She was my home. But ever since I found out, I – I’ve been lost Nick. I’ve been out in the cold. I’ve been waiting for her to open that door, and just let me in. But she won’t. I’m so close to being home, and yet, I have to stay on the steps. Do you understand Nick? She completes me. She makes me whole.”

Nick had been looking at me quietly through my whole speech. He broke out in a small grin. “That sounded kind of corny.”

I laughed weakly, seeing his point. “It’s still true though. Just maybe in a bit cooler metaphor than that.”

“Joe, don’t you think she loves you too,” he asked. His voice sounded slightly bitter. “I’m with her, yes. But is she truly with me? No Joe. She loves you, and only you.”

“She loves you too,” I said quietly.

He smiled. “Maybe she does. But that’s only a small tree compared to the forest with you.”

I smiled too. “And you call me corny.”

“So we’re a corny family,” he laughed softly, shrugging. “But the point is, she was made for you too. Maybe she was made for both of us. But never, in a million years, will I think that I will ever compare to you.”

“How do you do it then,” I asked, genuinely interested. If he was so good at acting, I wanted to know his secret.

“Honestly,” he sighed. “I’m not sure. I think it’s because I can see that Bethany is such an amazing person. And looking at her, looking at her kindness, looking at her sacrifice for her friend, for her sister, and I can’t help but want to work my hardest to make her happy.”

“Even if that means you’re sacrificing your own happiness,” I asked quietly. ”Even if you know she will always be mine, just as I will be hers.”

He cringed at my words. “You love her, right,” he asked after a moment.

“More than anything,” I said.

“Well wouldn’t you do anything for her? For that love,” he asked. He stood up. “Think about it. I’m going to go see if Kevin and Katelyn need help with that coffee.”

I nodded and watched him leave. My little brother. He was too beyond his years. I thought on his words. And I knew what I had to do. For Bethany, I would do anything. Even if it meant destroying my own happiness.

“Are the families of Tinsley Carmichael and Bethany Lyons here,” a doctor asked.

I walked up to her. “Yes, I’m Joe Jonas. I’m Tinsley’s fiancé, and Bethany’s – best friend.”

“Well Mr. Jonas,” she said, looking at her clipboard. “I’m Dr. Supritha. I’m sorry. But it appears that both girls hit their heads hard when they feel. Ms. Lyons seems to have received the shorter end of it. The paramedics say that may be because Ms. Carmichael pushed her slightly right before the collision, as was reported by a witness.”

“Wait, Tinsley pushed her out of the way,” I asked, trying to remember if I had seen that. I couldn’t remember. It had happened to fast.

The doctor nodded. “Unfortunately, Ms. Lyons was still hit, but it seems Ms. Carmichael saved her life. Even a few inches away from where she was standing, the collision could have killed her.”

“Could have,” I asked. “Does that mean they’re okay?”

Dr. Supritha sighed. “Like I said, they hit their heads. Ms. Carmichael could hemorrhage at any point. But at the time being, both girls are in a coma.”