and if I only could

Torry prayed consistently that it wouldn't come to this with Bree, but it was a fact. She didn't recognize him.

It hurt even more that she knew her uncle and her cousin and even an old boyfriend, but not him. It was as if he'd never existed. Those months they'd been together were wiped out clean and he needed to just go away.

He'd heard those bitter words from her uncle. Will was a little more kinder than the old man.

In fact, he envied her cousin Will who was starting a family. Sure, he was still college-bound and not sure where life would take him. Still, there were roots that Torry lacked.

Why was he even here in the heartland? Didn't he fell lucky to live in Hawaii? But he wasn't going there. He didn't feel it was his destination. It was here. He had a job to do. He'd even bought a house. Still thinking, Bree would find her way back to him.

Yes, it was true, he'd broken up with her first, but he regretted it. Apparently.

But there was the truth. Her going in a coma was all his fault. It was her botched attempt to find her own fate. The guilt wore on, no matter what anyone said.

And he guessed he needed to let her go.

In his heart he felt he needed to help her find her way. Yet no one seemed to want him to be there for her. After all, he was stranger. She needed to get on with her life.

Why couldn't he do the same?

This sorrow kept him restless, kept him in a deep sleep during the day. Nothing had been normal since her tragedy.

Torry felt he was stuck in time. Nothing good could come of him now. But there was Arlo by his side. He kept him from going completely under. He checked on him daily, made sure he was fed, even saw to it he got some help for his mental health.

Somehow, he would get through this, even if he felt it was too hard to breathe. Torry knew he had too.