In a tangled mass of metal and glass, he reached for her hand. He wasn’t sure why the car stalled, or why he was stupid enough to try to make a call from the middle of the intersection, but both happened. And then they were hit. It happened so suddenly that the tractor-trailer that t-boned them never had a chance of stopping. It hit them on the passenger side of the car. He was jarred and his head had been cut open by some mysterious item that he would never find, but she wasn’t moving. Her head was tilted, to the side and her lips had a blue tint to them.
How long had his eyes been closed? How much time had he wasted? The questions were racing through his mind faster than they ever had before. He was sick to his stomach with grief as they used a small tool to slowly cut her out of the once safe vehicle. The paramedics were worried. Something was wrong, very wrong, but they wouldn’t tell him what it was. He was terrified.
Memories flooded through him as he sat helplessly next to the man trying to pump life back into his fiance. He held her hand. He held onto her and did they only thing he knew how. He began to bargain. If you save her, I’ll stop drinking. If you bring her back to me, I’ll go to church and I’ll work less. Just, please, please, don’t take her away from me.
Forty-eight hours passed. She still hadn’t woken up. Her heart was beating, thanks to the machines that she was hooked up to, but she wasn’t breathing on her own. Her brain activity was regular, her body just needed to heal. That’s what the doctors kept telling him. But he couldn’t leave her side. He refused.
Her eyes fluttered open, as though she were seeing light for the first time. He gasped, ran to the door to call for attention, and then ran back to her side, embracing her.
“I was so worried, I thought I’d lost you. I don’t know what I would have done. I’m so glad you’re alright.” His words came out as one rushed sentence and when he pulled away from her, he was shocked. The woman that he had fallen completely in love with was looking at him with sheer terror written on her features. He reached out to touch her face, she flinched.
The nurse came in and started taking her vital measurements, calmly explaining what she knew and telling her that the doctor would be in soon. When all was said and done, she still hadn’t mentioned her fiance, sitting in the corner with his head buried in his hands. Not until he spoke to her, that is.
“Advika, love, are you alright?” His eyes pleaded with hers. Trying to find logic in her next words, in the cornflower blue hue of her soul.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know who you are.”
