The Day Colin Bridgerton's Heart Stopped

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Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: F/M
Fandoms: Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn, Bridgerton (TV)
Relationships: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Colin Bridgerton & Penelope
Featherington, Sophie Beckett/Benedict Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton &
Penelope Featherington
Characters: Penelope Featherington, Colin Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton, Benedict
Bridgerton, Sophie Beckett
Additional Tags: Fluff, Idiots in Love, Hospitals, Major Character Injury, Injury,
Oblivious Colin Bridgerton, Angry Colin Bridgerton, Accidents, Love
Confessions, Friends to Lovers, Colin Bridgerton Being an Idiot
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2021-03-12 Words: 2,615 Chapters: 1/1
 The Day Colin Bridgerton's Heart Stopped
by Agentrogers17

Summary

Can Colin Bridgerton survive seeing Penelope hurt and injured? And how long can he hold
his emotions trapped inside?

Notes
See the end of the work for notes
"I can't believe you risked Penny's life like this," Colin glared at his sister, moving to sit
beside Penelope as the doctor prepared to push her shoulder back into its place. Colin went to
stand next to the redhead as she was tensed to prepare herself for the coming pain. He moved
to hold her free hand, giving an encouraging squeeze.

"Don't fight," Penelope said with a tired voice.

"We are not," Colin lied, blocking Eloise from reaching Penelope. It was a foreign feeling to
feel this protective, this possessive, not only towards Penelope but anyone in general. It was a
primitive feeling; the feeling has not let him think logical since the moment he saw Penelope
fall of the balcony. It was only the first floor and, thankfully, to the soil and not concrete.
Still, 3-feet-height was enough for Penelope to dislocate her shoulder and fracture her ribs.
Colin still could feel the freezing breath of the horror gripping his soul as he saw Penelope
disappearing from the railing. She was perched for an Instagram photo. Eloise insisted on
how he was off to the garden before Eloise could even give out a scream. Or Benedict could
call an ambulance. Colin was by her side, making sure she was alive, making sure she wasn't
bleeding. The state of her shoulder was enough for him to fill with rage.

And now, while Benedict and Sophie were waiting outside, Colin was glaring at his younger
sister, who was the reason for Penelope's hurt and pain. Colin was right by Penelope's side
from the moment she was put into the ambulance. Her top was off currently, and Colin
couldn't hate the blooming bruise around her ribs and shoulder more than he did. It was so
wrong on her soft body. Since he met Penelope, she always was soft, curvy and plump. She
was everything nice and homey—the furthest thing from anything bad, especially pain. And
now this awful bruise was decorating her body, angry purple on her milky skin. Colin hated
this. Even the fact that Penelope was almost half naked right in front of him, in a baby pink
bralette. At any other time, he would be collecting his jaw off the floor, but right now, all he
could think was the rage that bruise awoke in him. Colin was still glaring at Eloise as he
helped Penelope into his sweatshirt, the arm sling preventing her from putting her own shirt
on.

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked as they entered after the doctor exited. Benedict was more
concerned about the tension between his siblings, as he was well aware of how Penelope was
a soft spot for both Eloise and Colin. And the way Colin's jaw was squared, how his eyes
were challenging Eloise just to say a word, how overall he looked full-on attack more,
terrified him. Colin was the sweetest, most patient and happiest man he knew, but this Colin,
it was a rare occurrence and was full of danger.

Colin had a firm hand on Penelope's lower back, standing right by her side, looking more like
a bodyguard or an overprotective boyfriend. The whole family was aware of the tension
between the short redhead and their wanderlust brother. Colin was different when it came to
Penelope; his eyes would linger on her for way too long, his gaze darkening. They were like
a magnet and steel. Colin would always find a way to be in her gravitational field. He always
had a smile reserved just for her. It was hopeless at this point and painful. Watching them pin
after one another, lust and long. However, from the way Colin looked at everyone but
Penelope in this room, with the intention of murder painted on his face, Benedict felt like it
was about to change.
"I am okay," Penelope grimaced at Sophie. There still was a prominent ache covering half her
chest and upper body. The painkillers were slowly beginning to work, making her feel a bit
out of it. Colin's hold on her was the only thing holding her upright.

"Let's get you home," Colin said, with a firm but kind voice, his eyes on his siblings was
much contradictory to it. Penelope nodded, letting Colin lead her towards the exit. Benedict
put an arm around Eloise's shoulder, who was unusually silent and sad.

"Give him time; he needs to cool off and make sure Pen is okay," he said softly, knowing
Eloise shared a similar fear of losing Penelope mixed with guilt, "I know you want to talk
with her, but she is minutes away from a deep painkiller slumber, and you need some time to
calm down, too," Sophie nodded, finding her place on her sister-in-law's other side, rubbing
the younger girl's back.

"I almost killed Pen," Eloise sobbed.

"Accidents happen, El," Sophie promised, "All of us, including Penny and Col, know you
would never hurt her. Penelope could never blame you for it; you know that. And Colin needs
some time to calm down; you know how much he adores Pen; he is just scared, right now."

***

The ride back to the summer house was quite. Penelope was asleep against Colin's shoulder.
Both Colin and Eloise were clinging to her hands. Benedict kept glancing at how Colin was
gazing at the curvy girl. To a point, Sophie slapped his thigh as she shifted the gear. Colin
refused to wake Penelope up when they arrived. It probably was the right choice, as with all
the medicine in her system, she probably wouldn't wake up anyway. Colin picked the shorter
girl with ease and care, not to pressure her ribs much. Her weight and warmth pleasant in his
arms, she was heavier than his sisters, but for a man who grew up wrestling eight siblings and
two annoying older brothers, the solidness of her weight just provided comfort. A reminder
that she was okay, safe and alive. Colin knew Eloise was following them with Penelope's
medicine in her hands. He still was angry at her, for risking Penelope, for making him taste
the fear of Penelope's death, even if just for a couple of minutes. Being carefree allowed him
not to take anything too seriously, thus not to get scared. This feeling, the fear, the terror he
felt the moment Penelope disappeared from his vision from the balcony, he felt like he
couldn't breathe. Eloise helped him tuck Penelope under the covers, pushing a small pillow
under her upper arm to support how newly placed shoulder.

"I am sorry," Eloise whispered as they both sat beside the sleeping girl.

"I know," Colin said. He knew he would be sorry about treating his sister this way after a
while, but currently, he was still angry.

"I didn't want to hurt her, Col," he could see the tears gathering in her eyes.

"But you did."

"I know," she sobbed.

"I can't lose her, Eloise," he said firmly; he needed her to understand it. There was no life
worth living if Penelope wasn't there. He just couldn't do it, "I can't keep going if she isn't
there."

"You think I can?"

"Yes," Colin said, with no malice in his tone, "You can continue; you can have a life. Maybe
not a friend as close as you are with her, but you can have a life after Penelope. I can't. I don't
have that luxury. It is either a life with her in it or just counting the days left to my end."

"Colin," Eloise tried to tell him. It was a silent agreement between all other Bridgertons. Push
Colin and Penelope towards each other, create excuses for them to stay alone but don't tell
them their feelings for each other. And Eloise was ready to break that agreement, but Colin
interrupted her.

"I know," Colin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I know I am in love with her, and
she has similar feelings towards me."

"Then why not to ask her out?" she asked curiously.

"Because of this," Colin motioned to the bandages littering her shoulder, "If it is this
terrifying, her getting hurt, losing her when we are friends, how can I survive losing her if she
is my partner? You know what happened to mum, you know how hard it was, we all saw it.
And I am not as strong as mum."

"You are not friends," Eloise said, pointing out the obvious, "You never were friends, even
when she was a minor, Col. I am sorry but, you two were meant for each other, and since the
moment you two met, you two were not friends. Maybe it wasn't falling in love until much
later, but you always loved her, and she always loved you and not as friends, more like
soulmates. So what if you never kissed, never had sex? Those won't make her your partner,
the emotions you share, the way you two care for each other makes you each other's partners,
and not asking her out will just block the physical part of a relationship. You still will be in
love with her, and you still will be destroyed if anything happens to her. You weren't, yet
aren't yourself. Avoiding giving this a name won't make it go away."

***

Penelope woke up to weight on her calves and a dull pain covering her upper half. She
groaned the moment she tried to move her arm; her movement was much restricted and hurt
like hell. The moment the noise left her lips, the weight on her legs were off, and the
concerned and hellishly handsome face of Colin Bridgerton entered her vision.

"How are you feeling, dove?" Colin asked, capturing her free hand in his, squeezing her
fingers.

"A bit disoriented," she said.

"Do you remember anything?" he asked as he helped her to sit. Colin could not stop the blush
painting her face and neck as Colin's large hand cupped her hip, and his other hand supported
her back as he curled an arm around her. His scent made her head spin, her chest brushing
against his when he lifted her up to a seating position. She just recognised that she was in his
sweatshirt, covered in his smell all over.

"I fell off the balcony?" she questioned, not believing the question leaving her lips. Colin
gave her a solemn nod, tucking her wild curls behind her ear. He brought her a glass of water
and a couple of pills.

"You did," he said, sitting back next to her, "Almost gave me a heart attack and a brain
aneurism at the same time."

"Did I break anything?" she asked, trying to calm her heart down at Colin's worry and the
look he sent towards her.

"Thankfully, no," he said, but he didn't look happy, "But you dislocated your left shoulder
and bruised your left ribs. They will heal nicely but surely will hurt for some time."

"Oh," she said, not liking the idea of spending her holiday in pain.

"And your left size looks a bit scary, but you will heal nicely," Penelope really did try to
control her brows. She really did, but Colin commenting about how her upper half looked
was not something she could act nonchalant about.

"We actually need to put some cream on it," Colin said, this time blushing himself. Penelope
just gave the nod, anxious about stripping in front of her life-long crush, but apparently, he
already did see everything. Colin's knuckles brushed against her side as he helped her off the
sweatshirt. She grimaced at sight; she never particularly loved her torso, all soft, full of rolls
and stretch marks. Now, full of purple and reddish bruises covering from her shoulder to her
waist, it looked even worse. Colin noticed the judgement in her eyes towards her body.

"It will heal in a blink of an eye," he promised, rubbing some bruising cream against her soft
flesh with the most soothing touch not to hurt her even further, "It is just that you are really
pale, Pen. You always bruised a tad bit too easily, the only thing I couldn't love about you. I
hate seeing you hurt, and you get bruised so easily, always with a reminder of that hurt. But
the doctor said you would heal in a couple of weeks, and bruises will fade. You will be the
prettiest again; just need a bit of healing," he smiled, pressing a kiss to her temple. Penelope
could feel himself getting overwhelmed by Colin's attention and closeness. Colin always was
a physical man, and being close with Colin meant she always was either pulled into his hugs
or sat right beside him with no personal space left. This, however, was different. This was
new. This was not as much in a friendzone as she was used to.

"Col," she tried to ask; she needed to know what this meant. She needed to understand before
her heart got too into it.

"I am in love with you, Penelope," Colin said, voice just above a whisper, his hands still
resting on her body. Colin rarely used Penelope's full name, it sounded almost foreign in his
tongue, but still, it was the proof that Colin was serious. The most serious he has been all his
life. Right now, at this moment, as he was looking deep into her eyes, the smell of medicine
and balm lingering on the air, her with her top off and sling over her shoulder, and him with
desperation and need in his eyes.

"I did not realise it now," Colin confessed, "I have known for a while now. A couple of years,
at least. I just was scared, Pen," he sighed, pulling her hands in his, pressing kisses over her
knuckles, "of this, really," he said nodding to her injured side, "of losing you, of losing
myself the moment I lost you. I thought if I did not take the step, did not ask you out, did not
become an official couple, I could protect myself. Today showed me I could not. No matter
what I called you, a friend, best friend, girlfriend, lover, it couldn't change the fact that you
are my heart and soul. I am just losing the precious time I can spend with you. I am just
putting on barriers between us that hurt both of us."

"I love you, too, Col," she smiled. It felt unreal; maybe it was the painkillers or the shock
from falling down a balcony, but it felt so good being able to say it out loud to him.

"Thank heavens," Colin said, smoothly moving to her side, cupping her chin to pull her into a
kiss. It was not the painkillers or shock. It was real, Penelope thought. Not even her wildest
dreams could compare to the touch of Colin's lips on hers, as he kissed her with all the love in
the world. It was real, and it was happening. And Penelope almost was happy for falling
down the balcony, "I know we are supposed to go on a date, and everything, but I think it is
okay to postpone it for a couple of weeks. Instead of sweeping you off your feet with my
incredible date planning, I will be doing it by my incredible nursing skills."

She giggled at his sweet smile, "I don't need you to sweep me off my feet; you know that I
already love you."

"Just more reasons to make sure I'll do, love," he smiled, pressing a kiss to her head, "Have to
make sure to convince you to elope with me by the end of this year."
End Notes

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