Sufferable Acceptance

Forty-Six

Theo

I heard beeping. I tried opening my eyes, but I couldn't. I couldn't move anything. I tried moving my arm, but immediately stopped when a shooting pain bolted through my body.

Where was I? Why can't I say anything or see anything? It took all of my strength to squeeze my hand, and when I did I felt something warm holding it tight. Eventually I had enough energy to open my eyes. Everything was still groggy, but I could see light.

I tried looking around the room, and I saw my mom standing next to me. I think she was trying to say something to me.

"Theo." She cried. "You're awake! Do you remember anything?" She asked me.

The attacks from the restaurant came flooding back. I remember getting shot, trying to get Mom back to the house safely, and passing out. After remembering I panicked and tried sitting up.

"Theo, don't move. Stay still. You'll hurt yourself." She told me.

I looked down at my chest and saw bandages and wires all across my body.I looked down to my right, and that's when I saw what was squeezing my hand. Amelia was laying next to me asleep. She held my arm as she laid her head on my bed.

"Amelia.." I tried saying, but only making a whisper.

My mom looked over to her, and then back to me.

"She's been with you the whole time. None of us could convince her to leave your side." She told me.

"This is the first time she's slept in four days." She said.

"Four days?" I tried to ask.

"You've been out for a while." She said with concern in her voice. "You had surgery a few days ago, and we've been waiting for you to wake up." She said.

"She's been waiting for me to wake up for four days?" I asked.

"She wouldn't let any of us take her away from you." She said, "Why don't you wake her up, and I'll go get your doctor."

Mom left the room, and I was left staring down at Amelia. It took me a couple of tries to get my fingers moving again. I tried squeezing Amelia's hand to wake her up.

It took her a minute to process what was happening, but when she realized I was squeezing her hand she sat up quickly. She looked shocked at first, but then a wave of relief hit her face.

"Theo..." She whispered. "You're awake."

I gave her a small nod with what little energy I had left. Amelia leaned in closer to me, held my hand on her cheek, and began to cry. She muttered a few things to herself as she kissed the back of my hand.

She stood up and leaned in even closer. She cupped my face and gave small delicate kisses. She kept pulling away to look at me, and make sure she wasn't dreaming. She looked worried.

"I'm ok." I said almost half convincingly.

We were interrupted by the doctor coming into the room.

"Welcome back!" She said. "How are you feeling?" She pulled out my chart, and started writing.

"I can't feel anything." I told her.

"That's to be expected." She explained. "We didn't want your body to go into shock, after surgery or during recovery. The medicine you're on now will start to wear off soon. The more it wears off the more you'll feel. If it's too much for you, you have to let me know, and we'll adjust your pain killers again." She explained.

As she spoke I watched Amelia stand at the foot of the bed watching everything the doctor did. The doctor ran a few tests. She asked me to grab and squeeze her finger, take deep breaths, and rate my chest pain. The doctor went over everything they did in surgery, and what recovery would look like. By the time she was done explaining everything I was exhausted. I wanted to sleep again.

She could tell I was overwhelmed, "That's enough doctor talk for today. I'll let you get back to resting."

Mom followed her out to tell Dad I was awake and doing ok. Amelia and I were left alone in the room again. Amelia had tears in her eyes again, but when I looked over at her she gave me a small smile. I started to say something, but was interrupted by her.

"Theo I love you." She blurted out. "I should have told you before, but I was afraid. Then you got hurt and I thought I was going to lose you before I got the chance to say it to you. I'm sorry for the pathetic confession, but I can't go another minute with you not knowing."

Did Amelia Monet just tell me she loved me?

"Come here." Was all I said to her. I waved her over to come sit on the bed.

She hesitated at first, but then she slowly sat down avoiding looking at me. I attempted to sit up so I could see her better. She immediately tried to stop me, and lay me back down, but I wanted to sit up.

"Say it again." I said.

"What?" She asked, looking confused.

"I didn't quite hear what you said, say it one more time?" I teased giving her a smile.

She realized I was messing with her and rolled her eyes.

"Say it again Amelia. Come on, I almost died, and my only wish is to hear you say it again." I told her.

"I love you." She mumbled under her breath

"Hmm?" I asked.

Damnit Theo I love you!" She shouted.

She sat there waiting for me to say something back. I let go of her hand, and tried pulling off the bed sheet. I made an attempt to swing my feet over. Amelia stopped me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She questioned.

"I have to go. I have to get out of here." I told her still making an attempt to escape the bed.

"And where do you think you're going?" She asked, upset.

"I have to go tell everyone that the woman I love more than anything in the entire world loves me back." I told her.

When I said those words she loosened her grip on me. I gave up trying to escape, and waited for a reaction from her.

"What did you just say?" She asked.

"I love you Amelia." I told her.

A big smile spread across her face, and she tried giving me a hug, but hesitated, afraid to hurt me. She leaned back, upset to remember I was still injured. I wanted to reach up and hug her, but I had little left. All I could do was hold her hand. I reached out for hers and intertwined our fingers.

Our moment together was interrupted by the guys coming down to see me. I saw Amelia step out of the room to give the guys some space. When I looked back at the door I saw her leaning around the door frame with a big smile on her face.