Forever

Stability

Alex was staring intently at Norma. He didn't know how she managed to be so angelic even in the worst situations. Her body was hooked up to what looked like hundreds of little machines. Lying there in the hospital bed she looked at ease, she couldn't think of the trauma she had endured her whole life. She was peacefully lost in time. He couldn't understand the feeling he got when he saw her. He had never been in love before, at least never like this.

A nurse walked into the room where Alex sat with Norma.

"The boy... Norman. He's going to be okay, we have him intubated and he is going to pull through just fine."

"Yeah alright, but how is she going to do?" He peered at Norma, and glanced back at the nurse. A look of surprise quickly filled and left her face.
"Oh um, well it looks as though she was in the room much longer then the boy. We think she will be fine, but this may not come without complications."

Alex knew he was being a jerk towards Norman; and he knew it must have shocked the nurse to see how little he cared about that boy.
He listened to the nurse talk about what complications may have come about because of her oxygen deprived body. He zoned out halfway through the lecture and stared at the floor. What if he never got Norma back again? Of course Norman would go without harm, but his wife couldn't have been as fortunate? He felt like life was screwing with him, like his emotions were being toyed with by a higher power.

Before he knew it the nurse was out of the room, now it was just him and Norma. He knew he'd be here awhile. He packed his bags and spent the night at the hospital next to her bed. He had an obligation to protect this woman and he failed her, he did exactly what he said he wouldn't let happen. This was his fault.

A few days passed and he slowly saw the life return to the eyes he once stared into longingly. Norma had no permanent damage from that night, and she was quickly becoming her her old self again.
She never mentioned the fact he wasn't there to protect her. He thought maybe she didn't expect him to stay true to his word. Had he been such a bad partner to where she couldn't even count on him? Did she assume he was like all the men before him? Did he prove that he was? He shook the thoughts out of his head and turned to Norma.
"Alex, thank you for being here. It means a lot to me." She smiled gently and dosed off. Her voice coarse from the tubes down her throat nights before.
All he could do was lean into her, this woke her up. 

"How is Norman doing? Is he okay Alex?"

"He's fine Norma, stop worrying about him. Think about yourself for once."

She nodded off again. He cried. That's all he did anymore was cry. She was progressively getting better and that all that mattered to him.

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Weeks had passed and Norma and Norman left the hospital. Norman was detained for attempted homicide/suicide, and he was sent to the police station for interrogation. Norma was finally letting go of him knowing of what he had done. She would never look at him the same, he was her son and she would always love him; but this was unfixable.

Alex didn't allow Norma to go back to her house, at least not yet. She needed time to heal away from there, away from what happened within those walls.

It was her first day out of the hospital and she looked perfect, just as she had before. She had to wear the white nightgown home from the hospital, it was all she had. He could barely look at it without getting flashbacks to the night she laid lifeless at the foot of the stairs.

"I'm not taking you back to your house Norma. You're going to stay at my place for awhile, alright?"

She glanced up at him.
"No yeah sure, that sounds good Alex." She looked out the window and the car got painfully quiet for a few moments.

"You were right. I should have listened to you. I didn't expect this, I didn't expect any of this. All of it is my fault, if I hadn't been so stubborn and took your advise none of this would have happened. I'm sorry Alex." Her voice trailed off into a quiver.

"Norma, don't start with that."

He was blunt, but it brought peace to her. Maybe it was un-emotional at the time, but that always had a way of calming her down. It gave her stability in a world that never offered her anything.