13elieve (Short story collection)

The Drive

Alex Arnold and Dove Deering have been dating for three years, and went out to dinner for their anniversary. Alex went all out, and took Dove to the most expensive, and romantic, restaurant in town. At the restaurant, they had a three-course meal, ate by candlelight, and had wine to drink. The restaurant had a promotion, where you could pay a little extra upfront, and have unlimited wine refills, which is part of the reason that Alex chose the restaurant. Alex did not think of himself as an alcoholic, but some people did say that he had a problem. He knew that Dove would love how romantic the restaurant was, and that he would love the wine, so it was a win for both of them. By the time they finished dessert, Alex already had three glasses of wine. Dove, who did not have any wine to drink, thought it would be a better idea, if she drove home, but Alex convinced her that he could drive.

Dove still wasn't entirely sure, but she ultimately trusted him enough to let him drive. Much to Dove's surprise, Alex was actually driving safely. She actually forgot that Alex had wine. She thought she was going to be able to make it home safely, until the last traffic light. The light was red, but Dove noticed that Alex was not slowing down, and she shouted at him to stop, but instead of stopping, Alex sped up and drove through the red light. As Alex drove through the red light, another car, who had the green light, also drove through the intersection, and hit Alex's car in the passenger seat, where Dove was sitting. Alex and the other driver, got out with only minor injuries, but when Alex checked on Dove, she was not responding.

Alex called 911, and an ambulance came and took Dove to the hospital. Alex felt awful about this, and visited Dove every opportunity he could. Upon visiting the hospital, he found out that Dove was not dead, but was in critical condition. Dove's condition got so bad, that she had to be put on life support. Alex soon learned how emotional it was to have a loved one on life support. On one hand, Dove was still alive, and he could still see her, but on the other hand, all it took was a pull of the plug, and she would be dead.

Alex knew that this was out of his control, and all he could do was hope that Dove would get better. He knew it would take a miracle, but he did not want to think about losing Dove. If any good came out of this, it was that Alex realized that he had a problem with alcohol. He was able to use Dove as motivation, to quit cold turkey, but he only wished that Dove was able to see his progress. He had a hard time even remembering what Dove's voice sounded like, because it had been so long, since the last time he heard it. He tried his hardest to stay positive, but as the days became weeks, he knew that there was a less chance that Dove would recover. He did not want to give up on her, nut it got to the point where it got hopeless.

The doctor pulled Alex aside, and asked him the question that Alex had been dreading to hear: "Should we pull the plug?"