Wake up.
You're running out of time.
Wake up.
Wake up!

My eyes slowly opened. At first I saw blackness. It was the same blackness I had been seeing for too long. How long had it been? Far too long for me to count. I knew that much.

My vision was slowly and steadily regained. My ears began ringing, and it was all I could hear. Finally, the first sound I've heard in way too long.

Everything was blurry, but I could see. I could actually see, and it felt great. I saw colors, not just black. I saw objects, not just emptiness.

The ringing in my ears eventually faded. After that, I heard beeping. Beeping, as if I was in a hospital room, hooked up to some sort of machine. Was I?

I slowly turned my head right, then left, then looked up. To the right of me was a curtain. It was baby blue and comforting. But not comforting enough. To the left of me was a window. Outside, I saw trees. Grass. Birds. I saw so many things that I had missed seeing. Above me, I saw tiles. Ceiling tiles. I definitely wasn't in a house or a hotel. I had to be in a hospital. There was only one way to find out.

I brought my hand up to my face, feeling a sort of mask with tubes attached. Yep. I'm definitely in a hospital.

I waited. I waited for what seemed to be forever. I waited for the curtain next to me to open, or to hear someone's voice, or to see a familiar - or not so familiar - face. But I saw nothing but the room around me. I heard nothing but a faint beeping.

I sat and observed what was around me. No get well soon cards or balloons. I guess I didn't really have anyone to bring them to me.

Besides Jay.

But Jay wouldn't have time for me. He would be too busy chasing The Operator and getting himself into things that he shouldn't be. He'd be too busy running in circles or trusting people that he shouldn't be. And besides, he isn't the type of person to bring balloons and cards. Hell, maybe the state I'm in doesn't deserve balloons or cards. After all, I have no idea why I'm here. The last thing I remember is... Jay.

Jay. Where was he now? How long had it been since I had seen him? Days? Months? Years, even? God, I miss him. Not in a romantic way, just in a you're-an-idiot-but-I-have-to-protect-you way. I want him to be safe. It's practically been my job ever since I met him to keep him safe. I was the one that had to remind him to eat and to sleep. I had to remind him to have fun once in a while, instead of doing nothing but looking at those stupid tapes and stupid totheark entries all day. Sure, he could be annoying sometimes, but it was worth it. It was totally worth it. Jay was clueless but brave. He lacked common sense but he was ambitious. He didn't let anything stand in the way of solving the mystery of Alex Kralie's Marble Hornets.

I wonder how far he's gotten on that investigation.

Someone. Finally.

A man in a white coat walked in and picked up a clipboard, paying absolutely no attention to me. This had to be the doctor.

He glanced over at me and quickly glanced back at his papers, only to look over at me again.

"Mr. Wright?" he questioned and looked at me with a puzzled facial expression.

"That would be me," I said, my voice cracking. I guess it would do that, considering I haven't said a word in god knows how long.

"You're... you're awake?" he asked. Awake? What did he mean by awake?

"Uh... pretty sure, yeah." He quickly looked at the clipboard once again, flipping through them and stopping on a certain paper. I couldn't see what was written on it, as my vision was still slightly blurry, but there was definitely a lot of writing on it.

"You're not supposed to be awake yet. It was supposed to be another year, at the least."

"Another... year? What's going on?"

"You don't remember? Well, I guess that's typical. I'm not surprised, really. Mr. Wright, you've been in a coma for the past 2 years."

"A... coma?" I choked out. There was no way I was in a coma... especially not for this long. Where was Jay? Was he alright? "Has anyone visited me over the past 2 years?"

"I'm afraid not," he said as he set the clipboard down and walked towards the curtain. "However, there is someone who's been dying-" he cut himself off and mentally scolded himself. I could tell by his facial expression that he had made a mistake in saying that. What's going on? "He's been, uh... wanting to see you again," he said, this time with more caution. He poked his head in the curtain, saying a few things that I couldn't quite make out.

He pulled his head back out and smiled weakly at me. He pulled back the curtain, revealing someone that I never thought I'd see.

Jay.

"J-Jay?" I asked, disbelief in my voice.

"Hey, Tim..." he choked out. I hated to say it, but he looked horrible. There were dark circles and bags under his eyes, a lot more than usual. The beeping on his machine was much slower than mine. He smiled, with all the strength that he had. It almost made me want to cry, seeing him like this. He was unhealthy.

"Were you in a coma, too?" He did nothing but shake his head yes and look over at the doctor.

"He's been in one the same amount of time that you have. He woke up a few weeks ago, and all he could talk about was how much he wanted to-"

"That's enough," Jay interrupted.

"How much you wanted to... what?"

"It's... nothing."

I signaled for the doctor to come towards me and asked him a question. "Is he... alright? He looks horrible." He did nothing but bite his lip and look over at Jay, who looked back at me with hopeful eyes.

"He... doesn't have much longer. His injuries were too fatal, and we couldn't help him. We tried our best. He's believed to, uh... go... today."

I felt my eyes begin to sting, and soon I was crying. I didn't even try to hold it back.

Jay, who was unaware and determined and everything in between. Jay, who was adorable and lovable and-

That's all I needed. I knew at this point that I did miss Jay. In a romantic way, to say the least. I loved everything about him. And now, that was all going to be gone. Everything was going to be gone. Jay was going to be gone.

I can't think about this any longer. What ever time I have left with him, I need to tell him. I need to talk to him, and ask him how he's been. But most importantly, I need to tell him.

"Jay, I have something to tell you," I choked out, trying not to break out in hysteria at any moment. I was nothing but a shell at this point, ready to crack at any second.

"I need to tell you something, too."

"You first," I smiled weakly. Whatever he needed to say, I was determined to listen.

"I was going on about excited I was to..." his breath began to get shaky. Shakier than it already was. The beeping on the machine next to him grew slower.

No, not right now. I need to tell him, and he needs to tell me. I'm going to tell him before he... leaves me.

"Tell you that..." his breath slowed, shortened, and came to a halt. With his last dying words, he muttered out;

"I'll miss you."

And with that, he was gone. He escaped from my reach, and all I could think about was him. He never got to figure out what happened to Alex. He never got to figure out who the hooded man was. He never got to solve any of the mysteries or finish supervising that script with Alex. He never got to watching all of those tapes.

And it hurt me. It hurt me more than the last words that he spoke. It hurt me more than his last breath. It hurt me more than watching him blink on last time. Only this time, his eyes would never open again.

"I'll miss you too, Jay. I'll always miss you."