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“I’m sorry.”
It was the last thing he said before walking away, right after shattering Lucy’s heart into countless pieces.
He said they were worth the risk, and Lucy can’t understand how he managed to leave so easily. They were fine. They really were.
They had been thinking about the next steps of their relationship. About moving in together. About starting to build their small family. Lucy had even suspected that he would propose soon, and now… everything was gone.
He made a decision for her. He didn’t give her space to talk. He didn’t give her the chance to express herself. He didn’t even care about her damn opinion.
She hates him. No. She loves him.
Who is she trying to fool? She would be incapable of hating him. If he came back right now, even after just breaking her heart, she would still forgive him, because she is incapable of hating him.
Yes. She loves him.
And that’s why she knows he’s doing this to punish himself. She doesn’t doubt that he loves her. She really doesn’t. She knows this is self-sabotage, reflections of a disturbed childhood with an abusive father.
But even though she knows and even though she understands this self-punishment, she can’t believe that he actually did this. That he really left so easily.
After realizing she had been standing in that parking lot for a while, Lucy walks toward her car. There’s no point in standing there. He’s not coming back.
Lucy gets into the car, sits in the driver’s seat, and thinks about how she was about to build her family with Tim.
“Don’t go there,” Lucy says to herself before starting the car and leaving the parking lot. There’s no point in standing around thinking about something she can’t change.
She drives toward her apartment, her mind far away from anything in front of her.
She only thinks about Tim.
About how he must be feeling right now. Damn. He just broke her heart, and she’s here thinking about how he’s feeling.
Terrible time to be altruistic, Lucy.
She stops at a red light and looks to the side while waiting for it to turn green. When she turns her face, her heart races.
She sees a couple. A couple with a little girl. And a damn dog.
“Thank you, universe!” she says, laughing without any humor.
It’s completely comical and ironic that she would run into a beautiful, happy family right after having her perfect future stolen from her.
She looks at the little girl and hates how much she looks like a version of a child she would have had with Tim. Brown hair, blue eyes. She was beautiful and looked exactly like a daughter she didn’t have.
And would absolutely never have now.
Before she realizes it, tears are running down her face. She doesn’t notice the light has turned green until the cars behind her start honking, snapping her back to reality.
She accelerates to keep driving, but the tears won’t stop falling. Her vision blurs and she can’t see clearly. She doesn’t see the car coming the wrong way, straight toward her. Not until it crashes directly into her car.
She only feels a sharp pain in her head. Or rather, throughout her entire body. She feels herself fading. Feels herself losing consciousness, and the last thing she thinks about before passing out is the beautiful family she saw moments ago.
The family she will never have.
*
Tim gets home, and the first thing he thinks about is how much he wanted Lucy.
But he can’t have her, because he’s an idiot.
An idiot who pushes people away when things get hard.
An idiot who lost the chance to have his own family, his own story.
He knows Lucy wouldn’t care about his past. He knows she would stand by his side and try to help him forget it all, and show him how lovable he is, how incredible he is, and how much he deserves everything good in his life.
Damn it. He’s an idiot.
And that’s why she deserves someone better.
Someone who doesn’t have these scars. Who doesn’t carry this past. Who doesn’t have wounds or baggage.
She deserves someone pure like her. Someone who is a ray of sunshine in people’s lives and always makes others want to live.
But damn it… just thinking about Lucy with someone else makes his stomach twist and his heart race.
He thinks about everything he could have had, but threw away.
Without thinking too much, he gets up and walks to the bedroom. He reaches the dresser and opens the third drawer. He searches for a few seconds and then finds it.
A small black velvet box. With a ring inside.
The ring that was supposed to go on Lucy’s finger.
Now he’s crying. But not just crying.
He’s sobbing.
He thinks about Ray, thinks about the past, thinks about Lucy, and thinks about the future he won’t have.
How can he be such a terrible person?
He destroyed his past and just destroyed his future. What is he doing with his life?
He destroys everything he touches, and that’s why he can’t destroy Lucy.
His girl. His love.
Or rather… she was his girl.
With that thought, he cries even harder.
He cries and cries, losing track of how long he stays there, drowning in his own pain.
Until his phone rings.
Angela.
He presses the button to decline the call and gets up to put the ring away.
That’s when the phone rings again.
Angela. Again.
He declines it once more.
She insists. Again.
“What is it, Angela? I’m not in the mood—”
“It’s Lucy,” Angela says, cutting him off.
“Look, Angela, I know you’re going to say I shouldn’t have broken up with her. You don’t need to throw what I already know in my face, okay?”
“WHAT? YOU BROKE UP WITH HER?!” Angela yells, and Tim pulls the phone away from his ear.
“Yes, Angela. But if you didn’t know, why did you call me? What happened to Lucy?” he asks, already feeling the worry rise.
“I’ll finish telling you how much of an idiot you are later, Bradford,” Angela says, and Tim rolls his eyes.
“Tim… I called because Lucy was in an accident. She was on her way home when—”
She doesn’t finish the sentence because Tim interrupts her.
“Where is she, Angela?” Tim asks, already grabbing his car keys and heading for the door.
“Tim, I need you to calm down and listen to me.”
“TELL ME WHERE LUCY IS!” he shouts. “Please, Ang…” he finishes in a whisper.
The worry grows in his chest, and guilt eats away at every bone in his body.
Angela tells him which hospital Lucy is at. He thanks her, hangs up, and rushes out to find her.
He can’t lose her twice in one day.
And he will do everything possible and impossible to save her. He will make whoever is responsible pay for this.
Starting with himself, for putting her in this situation.
•
Tim doesn’t know how long it takes to get to the hospital, but he knows he probably got a few speeding tickets. But who cares?
Lucy is in that hospital, and she is all that matters.
He enters through the hospital doors, gives Lucy’s name at the front desk, and follows the path the nurse points out.
When he reaches the waiting room, he finds Angela extremely worried, her legs bouncing nonstop.
She looks up, sees him, and stands to hug him.
“Oh, thank God, Tim.”
“Where is she, Angela? What happened? Is she okay?”
“An accident, Tim. She was heading toward the apartment when a car driving the wrong way hit hers.”
“Did they catch that bastard?”
“Yes. He was drunk, so it wasn’t hard to find him. He crashed into a pole a block away.”
“When I see that guy…” Tim starts.
“You’re not going to do anything, Tim,” Angela interrupts. “You’ve already done enough damage to your own life. Actually, what do you think you’re doing with your damn life, Timothy?”
“I’m not talking about this now, Angela. Not when Lucy is in there.”
“The doctor told me, minutes before you arrived, that Lucy still can’t have visitors. So you’re going to tell me everything. Now, Tim.”
Tim runs his hands through his hair, knowing there’s nowhere to escape, and tells her everything.
When he finishes, Angela says:
“You’re an idiot, Bradford.”
And then she surprises Tim by stepping forward and hugging him.
“But are you okay, Tim?”
“No, Ang… but I will be, once she is.”
*
About an hour passes before Dr. Becks returns to the waiting room where Angela and Tim are.
“So, doctor? Is she okay?” Tim asks, already standing.
“She’s stable. It’s still too early to say much. She has a few broken ribs and a concussion. We ran some tests to make sure there’s no internal bleeding in her head, but we still need to wait for the results.”
“My God…” Angela says, covering her mouth.
“Can we see her?” Tim asks.
“Yes, but she’s still sleeping, and it’s very important that you don’t wake her.”
Tim and Angela nod silently and follow him toward Lucy’s room.
Tim stops at the doorway for a second before entering.
He wasn’t ready.
Lucy is lying in the hospital bed, too small among the white sheets. Pale face, a few visible scratches, a bandage on her forehead. Wires connected to her body, machines softly beeping around her, marking that she’s still there.
Alive.
Tim’s chest tightens so much he has to grab the doorframe to keep his balance.
This isn’t how he was supposed to see her. Lucy was supposed to be laughing, talking too much, complaining about something stupid. Not still. Not hurt. Not like that.
He takes a few steps into the room, slowly, as if any sudden movement might make her disappear.
“My God…” he whispers.
Angela stays back, giving him space, but watches closely.
Tim approaches the bed and stops beside her. He doesn’t touch her. Not yet. He’s afraid. Afraid of hurting her more. Afraid this is too real.
She looks so fragile.
His girl.
Guilt hits him like a punch. He left. He left her alone. And now she’s there, broken, while he thought the worst thing that could have happened that day was a breakup.
His hands tremble when he finally takes hers, carefully, as if she were made of glass.
“I’m sorry, Lucy…” he murmurs, his voice breaking. “I’m sorry for everything.”
She doesn’t respond. She keeps sleeping, unaware of the world, unaware of the chaos he created.
Tim lowers his head, feeling tears fall without being able to stop them.
“I should have stayed. I should have chosen you.”
The sound of the machines is the only answer he gets.
Angela watches Tim for a few seconds before stepping closer. She stands beside the bed, crosses her arms, and lets out a heavy sigh.
“This isn’t your fault, Tim.”
He lets out a humorless laugh, still looking at Lucy.
“It is, Ang. It’s my fault. I left. I left her alone. If I hadn’t done that…” his voice trails off.
“No,” Angela says firmly. “Stop that right now.”
Tim finally looks at her.
“You weren’t driving that car. You didn’t make someone drink and get behind the wheel. You didn’t cause this accident.”
“But I caused her pain,” he shoots back. “I broke her heart. I left when she needed me.”
Angela takes a deep breath before speaking, as if choosing every word.
“You messed up. And you messed up badly. No one here is pretending otherwise. But a mistake doesn’t define an entire life, Tim.”
He rubs his face.
“I always ruin everything.”
“No. You ruined things before,” Angela corrects. “And now you’re here. And she’s alive. And that means something.”
She steps closer.
“The past is already a mess, you can’t change it. But the future… the future is still there, intact. You still have a choice.”
Tim swallows hard.
“What choice?”
“To keep punishing yourself or to try to do things differently,” Angela says simply. “Life doesn’t owe you anything, Tim. But somehow, you’re getting another chance. The universe isn’t usually this generous.”
He looks back at Lucy, eyes full of tears.
“What if I mess up again?”
“You might,” Angela answers. “But you can try to get it right too. From now on, what you do is your choice. And your consequence.”
Silence fills the room for a few seconds.
Tim squeezes Lucy’s hand even more carefully.
“I don’t want to run anymore,” he says quietly. “I’m tired of living in the dark.”
Angela watches him closely.
“So what do you want?”
He takes a deep breath, as if admitting the hardest truth.
“I want to try to do it right. Even scared. Even without knowing how. I just… I want to see the light again.”
His voice breaks.
“And I just hope that… when she wakes up… she’ll still give me another chance.”
Angela doesn’t answer right away. She just places a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly.
And for the first time since walking into that hospital, Tim feels like maybe there’s still something left to rebuild.
•
Tim is still holding Lucy’s hand when he notices it.
Her grip changes.
It’s almost imperceptible, but he feels it. Her fingers curl slightly and then relax too quickly.
“Lucy?” he calls softly, leaning closer.
No response.
He frowns. Her chest rises… but not like before. It’s faster. Uneven.
The machines begin to beep differently.
“Angela…” Tim says, tension creeping into his voice. “Something’s wrong.”
Angela rushes to the bed.
“Lucy?” she calls.
The monitor makes a sharper sound.
Suddenly, Lucy lets out a low groan, almost a choke, and her body moves strangely. Her face tightens as if she’s in pain even while asleep.
“Hey, hey, hey…” Tim says desperately. “Lucy, look at me.”
She doesn’t open her eyes.
The beeping gets louder.
“Call someone,” Angela says, already moving toward the door. “Now!”
Tim slams the emergency button.
Within seconds, the door opens and two nurses rush in, followed by a doctor.
“What’s happening?” Tim asks, his voice nearly breaking.
One of the nurses checks the monitor, then looks at Lucy and quickly pulls the sheet down a bit.
“Her oxygen levels are dropping,” she says. “Blood pressure too.”
Lucy lets out another groan, stronger this time, and instinctively reaches to her side as if something hurts badly.
“She wasn’t like this,” Angela says, scared.
The doctor gently presses Lucy’s side, and she reacts immediately, her body tensing.
“Possible complication,” he says seriously. “One of the ribs may have shifted.”
Tim feels the ground disappear beneath him.
“Shifted how?” he asks.
The doctor doesn’t look at him.
“It could be puncturing something. Lung, possibly.”
“WHAT?” Tim says too loudly. “You said she was stable!”
“And she was,” the doctor replies firmly. “But trauma evolves.”
Lucy starts struggling to breathe now, the sound shallow and weak.
“We need to take her now,” the doctor says. “Prepare for CT scan and possible procedure.”
“I’m going with her,” Tim says immediately.
“No,” the nurse answers, already pushing the bed. “You can’t.”
Tim grabs the side of the gurney, desperate.
“No, wait, please, I can’t let her go alone!”
“Sir, you need to leave the room now!” another nurse says.
Angela wraps her arms around Tim from behind, pulling him back.
“Tim, listen to them. You’re not helping like this.”
“Lucy!” he shouts as the bed is pushed out. “Lucy, stay with me, please!”
She doesn’t respond.
Before leaving completely, the doctor turns back briefly.
“Be prepared. This will take time.”
Then they’re gone.
The door slams shut.
The hallway feels painfully quiet.
Tim stands frozen, staring at the empty space where she was seconds ago, his heart pounding, guilt crashing back like a crushing weight.
“No…” he whispers. “Not now. Not when I finally decided to stay.”
Angela hugs him when his legs finally give out.
And for the first time that day, Tim is afraid there won’t be enough time to fix anything.
*
Time passes strangely in the hospital.
Hours that feel like minutes. Minutes that feel like hours.
Tim doesn’t move. He paces, sits, stands, runs his hands over his face so many times he loses count. Angela stays there the whole time, mostly silent, sometimes offering water, sometimes just staying.
No one says anything.
Every door opening makes Tim’s heart race.
Until, finally, he sees the white coat approaching.
Dr. Becks.
Tim stands immediately.
“Doctor?” his voice comes out low, tense. “Lucy?”
The doctor stops in front of them.
“We managed to control the situation,” he says. “One of the ribs shifted and caused a small lung collapse. We intervened in time.”
Tim holds his breath.
“She… she’s alive?”
“She is,” the doctor answers. “Stable again.”
Angela exhales sharply.
“But,” the doctor continues, “she had to be sedated. The procedure was invasive, and her body went through a lot of stress.”
“Will she be okay?” Tim asks, almost begging.
“Right now, the priority is letting her body rest,” the doctor says calmly. “The next few hours are important. We need to observe how she responds.”
Tim nods, even though his legs feel weak.
“Can we see her?”
“You can. But she won’t wake up anytime soon. And no stimulation. She needs quiet.”
“Okay,” Tim answers quickly. “Anything. Whatever’s best for her.”
The doctor nods slightly.
“She’s here,” Tim says softly, more to himself than to Angela. “She’s still here.”
Angela squeezes his arm gently.
“And you are too.”
Tim closes his eyes for a moment, feeling the weight of everything crash over him.
He doesn’t know how things will be after. He doesn’t know how long it’ll take. He doesn’t know if Lucy will forgive him.
But he knows one thing.
This time, he’s not leaving.
•
Some time passes.
Tim can’t say how much. He only knows the sky outside has changed colors more than once.
Lucy is still sedated, but no longer completely still. Sometimes her fingers twitch. Sometimes her face tightens slightly, as if trying to come back.
Tim sits beside the bed, leaning forward, like he doesn’t want to miss a single sign.
Angela enters quietly.
“I need to go to the police station to handle some things about the accident,” she says softly. “I’ll be back.”
Tim nods.
“I’ll call you if anything happens.”
“You’re not leaving here,” she says, almost stating a fact.
“No,” he says. “I’m not.”
Angela looks at Lucy once more and then leaves, closing the door gently.
The room is quiet.
A few minutes later, Tim notices it.
Lucy’s chest moves differently. Her breathing grows deeper. Her eyelashes flutter.
“Lucy…” he calls softly.
She moves slightly, turns her face a bit. Her brow furrows, like everything feels too heavy.
“Tim…?” her voice is weak, almost a whisper. “You… you’re here?”
His heart tightens painfully.
“I am,” he answers immediately. “I’m here.”
She blinks slowly, trying to understand.
“It hurts…” she murmurs.
“I know,” he says, holding her hand gently. “But you’re safe now. Rest, okay? You don’t need to talk.”
She squeezes his fingers lightly. Very weak, but enough.
“You didn’t leave…” she says softly.
Tim feels tears burn in his eyes.
“I didn’t,” he replies. “I won’t.”
Lucy seems to try to say something else, but exhaustion wins. Her eyes close again, her body relaxing.
Tim stays there, holding her hand, not moving.
Some more time passes.
Then she comes back again.
This time, her eyes open wider. Still confused, but aware.
“Hi…” she says softly.
“Hi,” Tim replies with a sad smile. “Welcome back.”
She looks around slowly, taking in the room, the machines, the bed.
“Hospital…” she murmurs.
“Yeah,” he says. “You were in an accident. But everything’s under control now.”
She swallows.
“I…” she pauses. “I thought you wouldn’t be here.”
Those words hit Tim hard.
“I know,” he answers. “And I’m so sorry for that.”
She studies his face for a few seconds.
“You’re crying,” she comments simply.
He lets out a short, humorless laugh.
“Have been for hours.”
Silence settles for a moment.
“You should be resting,” Tim says. “The doctors said you can’t strain yourself.”
“Just… a little,” she asks. “Talk a little.”
He nods.
“I broke up with you the wrong way,” he begins softly. “I left because I thought it was easier to run than to stay. I thought I was protecting you… but I just hurt you.”
Lucy listens quietly.
“I don’t know if you’ll forgive me,” he continues. “And I won’t pressure you into anything. I just want you to know I’m here now. And this time, I want to try to do it right.”
She blinks slowly, tired.
“I was so scared…” she says. “Not of the accident. Of waking up and you not being here.”
Tim’s chest tightens.
“I know,” he says. “But I’m here. And I’ll stay. As long as you let me.”
Lucy closes her eyes for a second, breathing deeply.
“Then stay,” she says softly. “At least today.”
Tim squeezes her hand gently.
“I will.”
Without leaving.
Lucy takes a deep breath before speaking again.
It’s clear it’s not easy. That she’s choosing her words carefully, while trying not to cry.
“When things get hard…” she begins quietly. “I don’t want you to push me away, Tim.”
He looks up immediately.
“I don’t want to be the person you leave behind when everything gets too heavy. I wanted to be the place you come to when it hurts.”
She swallows.
“I wanted to be your safe harbor.”
The impact hits Tim hard.
“When you left like that…” she continues “I started thinking so many things. Things I never thought I’d think about us.”
She grips the sheets.
“I thought maybe I wasn’t worth the risk. That everything you said… about us, about the future, maybe it was just pretty words to keep me there.”
He shakes his head, denying it, but she keeps going.
“I thought I wasn’t enough for you to stay. That I wasn’t enough to be your safe place.”
Her voice breaks.
“And then my mind went too far. I wondered if there was someone else. I wondered if you’d been pulling away for a while and I hadn’t noticed.”
Tim leans forward.
“Lucy, I never—”
“I know,” she interrupts, tired. “But that didn’t stop me from feeling it. Didn’t stop it from hurting.”
She breathes deeply, trying to steady herself.
“Everything hit at once. The breakup, the fear… and I kept asking myself what was wrong with me.”
Silence weighs heavily.
“I don’t want a love where I have to compete with your fears,” she says. “I don’t want to be strong alone while you run.”
Tim feels tears sting his eyes.
“I wanted you to choose me,” she finishes. “Not out of obligation. Not out of guilt. But because I’m the place you want to stay when things get hard.”
He runs a hand over his face, emotional.
“I didn’t leave because you weren’t enough,” he says, voice breaking. “I left because I thought you were too good to carry what I carry.”
She looks at him.
“So you decided for me.”
“I know,” he answers. “And I was wrong.”
Lucy closes her eyes for a moment.
“If we try again…” she says “I need to know that next time everything tightens, you’ll come to me. Not run from me.”
Tim holds her hand gently.
“I promise to try,” he says. “Not to be perfect. But to stay. To choose you. Even scared.”
She watches him for a few seconds, as if searching for truth.
He squeezes her hand, emotional.
“And I want to learn how to stay,” he says. “With you.”
Lucy lets out a long breath, tired but sincere.
“Then try,” she says. “Because I’m here. And I don’t want to be pushed away again.”
The silence that follows isn’t comfortable.
But it’s honest.
And in that moment, that’s all they have — and all they need.
Lucy stays quiet for a few seconds after everything she said.
She still looks tired, but her eyes are different. Lighter.
“You know…” she says, almost smiling. “I think no one will even know we broke up.”
Tim frowns.
“What do you mean?”
“It was all so fast,” she says. “We broke up, I had an accident, you came back…” she shrugs. “It almost feels like it didn’t happen.”
He lets out a soft laugh.
“So officially…”
“Officially, we’re still together,” Lucy finishes. “Just better. More honest.”
Tim smiles for real now.
“I like that version.”
She squeezes his hand.
“Me too.”
At that moment, the door opens slowly.
Angela steps in, stopping when she sees them. Their hands intertwined. The changed atmosphere.
“Oh,” she says. “So… did I miss something?”
Lucy smiles weakly.
“Nothing big.”
Angela crosses her arms.
“You worked it out.”
“We’re trying,” Tim answers.
Angela sighs, relieved.
“Finally. Because I was ready to hit you again, Bradford.”
Lucy lets out a small laugh that quickly turns into a pained grimace.
“Hey,” Tim says quickly. “No laughing too much.”
“Annoying,” Lucy mutters, but smiles anyway.
Angela steps closer to the bed.
“Well,” she says, “the important thing is that you’re alive, Lucy. And that you two stopped making things so complicated.”
“We’re still going to complicate things a little,” Lucy admits.
“Of course you are,” Angela replies. “But now together.”
Tim looks at Lucy.
“I’m not leaving,” he says simply.
“I know,” she replies. “Now I know.”
Angela watches them for a moment and smiles, satisfied.
“I’ll give you two some space,” she says. “But if anything… I’m here.”
She leaves the room.
The silence returns, comfortable this time.
Lucy closes her eyes, tired but peaceful.
“Stay with me,” she murmurs.
“Always,” Tim answers.
He stays there, holding her hand, knowing the day was chaotic, painful, and terrifying.
But it ended the right way.
Because in the end, they chose to stay.
And that was everything.