Come Back To Me

3

"Mr. Henderson is going to be alright. However, he's in a kind of coma," Dr. Maxwell stated. The four of us cast our eyes downward. I sucked in my bottom lip to keep it from trembling. "It's a light coma. His body knows that it's in pain, so it put itself in a state of shock. We're going to monitor him very closely until he wakes up, to make sure everything is alright. Right now, his immune system is not functioning very well. It would be very easy for him to get sick or develop an infection. For the time being, we're keeping visitors to a family-only basis."

Mrs. Henderson sighed and headed toward Alex's room. I followed, right on her heels. There was a nurse outside the door recording Alex's visitors.

The nurse stopped me before I could enter the room. "Excuse me, miss, but we don't have record of Alex having a sister; just a brother. And visits are being kept to family only. I can't let you in." She shook her head. "Now, if you would excuse me." She turned back to enter Alex's room.

"Wait!" I shouted. I scrambled for an excuse to get to see him. Why couldn't I think of one. But, finally, it hit me. "I'm his fiancee!"

"Then why aren't you wearing a ring?" The nurse retorted. Nick stepped in at that time, helping my case.

"She had to have it resized. But they are engaged. To be married." Nick spoke so fluently. I know he just wanted to help me get to see Alex, and I later thanked him for that. The nurse looked at me questioningly as I entered the room, Nick right behind me.

The walls were white. The sheets were white. The monitors were white. The floors were white tiled. And Alex was in a white hospital gown. The room was so plain. But none of that mattered once I noticed Alex. His mother and father were to one side of the bed, while Nick stood at the foot of his bed. I raced to his other side and placed my hand on his.

To see his face, so pale and emotionless, was what sent me into a fit of tears. "Oh, baby," I whispered, my voice wobbly and unsure. I rubbed my thumb back and forth over his hand. Shaking my head, I questioned why any of this had happened. What did Alex ever do to deserve this? I couldn't think of a singe thing.

For a while we all stood still, silent and unmoving, watching Alex's chest rise and fall with each breath. I couldn't comprehend fully what was going on. Around me, everyone's eyes were downcast. Both Sharon and Steve looked right into the face of their son, wondering how this even happened. Nick stared at his feet, attempting to make sense of everything. And I looked at his hands, remembering the roughness of his palms against mine.

After an hour or so, Nick, Sharon, and Steve headed down to the cafeteria to get some coffee. I asked them to bring me some, but a nurse told me I couldn't have it in the room right now. I offered to stay with Alex until they got back.

"Hey, baby, I don't know if you can hear me or not. But if you can, and I guess even if you can't, I want you to know that I Iove you," I whispered as I squeezed his hand. "I feel so stupid sitting here and talking to myself. But at the same time, I feel like you're right here beside me. I know you're listening to everything I say. You probably want to hear something happy to get your mind off all the pain. So give me a second here. I'll think of a good story to tell," I considered all of our happy moments together. We had so many inside jokes and so many good times, but I needed to find the perfect one. "I guess I'll start from the beginning."

It was a beautiful yet slightly chilly night in late March. My best friend, Zoey, convinced me to go to a senior party with her. She'd been"talking" to the guy hosting the party, and he'd invited her and told her to bring some friends. After being at the party for less than an hour, Zoey left me in hopes of hooking up with that guy (which I later found out that she did). I looked gorgeous, and although I was standing all by myself on the front porch, I felt pretty good about myself.

My dress was not keeping me very warm. It was a navy blue cocktail style dress with a sweetheart neckline and trimmed with rhinestones. Even though it'd cost half of my last paycheck, I figured it was worth it. I felt sexy and confident, and that's what mattered.

Early on in the evening I'd ran into my ex, Zane, who was a strong candidate for being the most hungover in the morning. He'd always been a partier; maybe that was why we didn't work out. After he got the message that I wasn't interested in hooking up "one last time" he finally left me alone. Then, I was back to being all by my lonesome.

I headed back inside to find a drink. The music was loud and the house was packed. People were grinding and dancing and drinking and falling down; the normal party sights. And then there was me, totally sober, just looking for a Pepsi. After fighting through the crowd, I finally made it to the kitchen, where a bucket full of ice and soda cans sat on the counter. I rooted around, trying to find a Pepsi. They were all on the bottom.

"Could you hand me a Mountain Dew?" A voice yelled into my ear. I didn't recognize it, but I did dig around for a Mountain Dew. I turned and smiled, handing the guy his drink. He was perhaps one of the best looking guys I'd ever seen. "Thanks."

"Yup." I was at a loss for words. Holy crap, this boy removed everything from my brain. I couldn't think of a single thing to say, but I didn't want him to leave. So I just kept nodding like a complete idiot.

"I'm Alex, by the way," Now he was the one nodding like an idiot.

"Hanna."

"Would you want to sit by the fire with me? It's really loud in here, and I kind of need a break," He offered, shrugging his shoulders. I nodded. "A couple of guys built one out back. Come on."

Alex reached his hand behind him as he turned toward the back door. I smiled and placed my palm against his.

I don't remember much else about that evening, because as I was retelling the story of how we met, I fell asleep, sitting on the floor with my back against the bed. Alex's hand was just touching my shoulder, with mine over top of his. Finally, after seeing him, my brain was able to calm down enough for me to be able to sleep.