Unexpected Romance

Chapter 19

Natasha:
I whip my head up off Val's bed.

"Nat?" Wanda questions.

"Get the doctor," I demand.

"Natasha, what happened?"

"She just squeezed my hand."

I don't have to explain further. She runs out of the room and less than 20 seconds later, two doctors come rushing in.

"She moved? What happened?" The man from earlier frantically asks.

"I-I was sitting next to her, holding her hand and she squeezed my hand."

The doctors go on their computer and check a bunch of things, I'm not paying attention to them because my eyes are glued on Valerie.

"She seems to be waking up," the man says quickly.

"Oh my god," Wanda says from behind me.

"Wait. Dr. Adams is this..." The man points to the computer screen as the other female doctor rushes over to see what he's asking about.

Before the other doctor can say anything, the heart monitor slows down dramatically.

"What's going on? What's happening?" I ask in a shaky voice.

"She's going into sudden cardiac arrest," the woman, Dr. Adams, responds in a rush over to Val.

I stare at her.

"She's dying," she explains carefully.

"No. No. NO! Valerie no. Please stay with me. Don't leave me!" I yell through my sobs.

As I yell for her not to leave me, her heart monitor flatlines.

At that moment, everything stops. My whole world goes quiet. The doctors shouting, Wanda talking to me, everything gets muffled. It feels like slow motion when I turn to look at Val, laying flat on her bed, my hand still in hers. Tears quickly flood my eyes and roll down my face. Wanda wraps her arm around me, hugging me tight as I break down next to my dead girlfriend.

"I'm so sorry. She's gone..." The male doctor says quietly.

I don't even look at him, I put my head down on Val's arm and sob harder, Wanda still hugging me. The doctors move around the room and click on the computer, doing god knows what. They come in and out of the room many times.

Laying on Val's arm, I think about being with her. I let myself remember our first date when that waitress asked me out, the first time I called her mine. I think about going on the balcony and Val asking me to be her girlfriend. Us dancing on the beach at sunset plays like a movie in my mind. I freeze the memory when she spins me for the last time and we stay in each other's arms on the beach for a few minutes. I try to remember the feeling of her hugs, the warmth in her kiss. All these thoughts make me cry harder.

"Come back to me, baby. Please..." I whisper through my tears.

Right on cue, as if she could hear me, I hear a slow beeping sound.

"Nat. Oh my god. Nat." Wanda taps my shoulder frantically.

"What?" I look up at her confused and she just points to the side of Val's bed.

"Oh my god." The heart monitor shows her heartbeat.

I look back at Valerie, still not moving but I watch her chest rise and fall. The doctor in the room runs out of the room to do whatever she needs to do. I couldn't care less, my baby's alive.

"Wanda," I say weakly. "Look." I gesture for her to look at her face.

Valerie's eyes move behind her eyelids, something that wouldn't happen in a coma. I watch her eyes and chest, waiting to see if something else happens. We wait anxiously for a few minutes. Suddenly, Valerie takes a deep breath and moves her fingers slightly in my hand. The more she moves, the more anxiety that fills my body. I keep hoping she completely wakes up and doesn't fall into a coma or worse again.