It's a Wonderful life

Something to live for

For a cold winter's day, the sun was absolutely blinding. Ariana dreaded opening her eyes, but alas a new day was upon her. Perhaps it would be better than the last. All through the night, the night nurse kept waking her up and checking her vitals. She definitely did not sleep well, not to mention the fact that she was somewhat depressed. She couldn't believe that her dream had that big of an effect on her. But it did and knowing that it wasn't real made her hurt, she was aching of her something that was never hers to begin with. She tried desperately to dream of it again; thoughts of Jai's miraculous recovery and the birth of their son were always the last thing she thought of before drifting off. However, she never dreamed of it again. Ariana closed her eyes again as she heard the footsteps walk into the room. She was facing the window on the opposite side of the room so hopefully whoever it was would think she was actually sleeping. She was not in the mood to be poked or prodded, a nurse had just done that thirty minutes ago, surely it was not time for another 'check-up.' Ariana clenched her eyes as the person neared her bed, she could feel whoever it was hovering over her body. Suddenly a hand was gently caressing her face; she couldn't help but jump and quickly open her eyes.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed at the sudden touch.

"Sorry, I thought you were sleeping," Jai bit his lip, nervous that he had been caught.

"I thought you were one of the nurses," Ariana replied as she looked up at him, he was so much bigger than her, he seemed miles away.

"Oh," Jai replied, not really knowing what to say.

"What are you doing here?" Ariana asked, it was still so early, only 7:15 in the morning.

"I just wanted to check on you," Jai responded. "I'm sorry I scared you; it probably wasn't the best idea."

"No, its ok, thanks for caring" Ariana smiled.

"I'll always care, Ariana ," Jai replied.

Ariana nodded her head. "I know."

"I um...really I should go, you should go back to sleep," Jai said digging his hands in his coat pockets.

"Oh, so soon?" Ariana questioned. Ariana wanted to spend more time with him, she was so happy to see that he wasn't actually dead. She knew he wasn't hers, she had after all made that decision but being around Jai just made her feel better.

"I have to be at the gym for practice soon," Jai replied, hoping that she'd ask him to stay because he would in an instant.

Ariana was about to respond when she heard yelling in the hallway. "Caitlin, you come back here! No running in the hospital!"

Jai chuckled, it reminded him of his mother. "Sounds like Mom isn't happy," he had been looking through the open door to see who he assumed was a young mother running after her young daughter. He was confused when he turned around to see Ariana crying her eyes out. "Ari..."

"I...I'm s...sorry," Ariana sobbed as she lowered her head in her hands, completely embarrassed but incredibly saddened at what she had just seen.

"What's the matter?" Jai was at her side immediately, he sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled her into his arms and was surprised when she didn't push him away; instead she wrapped her arms around his neck, crying hard into his chest. "Don't cry, pretty girl, don't cry." Ariana's heart stopped at his words, he'd said them to her in her dream right before he died. Her cries became louder as she squeezed him tighter. "What? Ariana, what? You're scaring me. What did I do? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no, you're perfect," Ariana mumbled against his chest before slowly lifting her head up and seeing his worried eyes.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Jai said sincerely as his gentle hands wiped away her fallen tears.