You May Love Me One Day

chapter 30

I slowly opened my eyes, a bright light pearced through my eyes, forcing me to close them again. I heard machines around me, my steady heartbeat and a soft snoaring next to me. Opening my eyes a bit, I looked to my left, where Chris was laying, his hand in mine. I wanted to say something but I couldn't, I had something weird in my mouth, so I squeezed his hand, making him jump up. "Oh my god! You are awake!" He exclaimed happily and hugged me tightly. "Wait! Imma get you a doctor, don't move!"

Chris ran out of the room, leaving me alone, giving me time to examine the room. There was only one bed. On the left side was a huge glass window, outside was the ocean and the beach. To my right there was a little nightstand. To my surprise there was only one flower alive, the rest had already died. There was a note next to it. Before I could reach for the little piece of paper the door opened and several doctors came running inside, mumbling and discussing something.

Within them was Chris, trying to get through to me, but he had no chance. I was now surrounded by doctors, who examined me and I quiet literally felt like a puppet attached to strings. "EVERYBODY OUT!" a man yelled through the room, making everyone go quiet and do as he said. Then he walked up to me. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes, some facial hair and compared to Chris very small.

"Hello dear, my name is Dr. Stark, I am the head of this institute and you are under my treatment. How are you doing?" I wanted to reply, but again couldn't say a word. "Oh right.", Dr. Stark mumbled, handing me a piece of paper and a pen. "Here, write." I took the pen and started to right, but was shocked. I mean my handwriting always sucked, but never was that bad. Confused I looked over to Chris, who gave me an encouraging smile.

'What is wrong with me?'

I sloppily wrote down, taking almost an eternity to write it down. "Well Mrs. Stuard, after you got shot you suffered from some serious internal bleeding. You where in surgery for about 12 hours and we where able to close the wound and not cause any damage. After that you fell into a coma. Truth be told your chances where very low, but its good to see that you opened your eyes again.", he said in a calm way. I gulped, trying not to cry. The doctors pager went off, so he had to leave the room and couldn't answer more questions, but all the information was already enough. Memories came running back into my mind about the day I was shot, seeing Tom again, seeing him wear that ring.

I looked over to Chris, who sat down next to me. Realizing he had a ring on his finger I smiled at him. 'Married?' I wrote down with a smiley. He nodded. "A year ago. Jules is pregnant now." My eyes widened, I squeezed his hand tightly, congratulating him in that way. Suddenly it hit me. Wait... a year ago that means I must have been in a coma for over a year. 'How long?' I wrote down again. "How long youve been in a coma?", Chris asked to reassure himself. I nodded.

"Youve been in a coma for 3 years Elli." My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat, my breathing got faster. "Hey, calm down okay, breathe please." Doing the exercise with Chris really helped my breathing to get steady again. Now only one thought came into my mind.

'Tom?' I wrote down on the board. "He came everyday in the first year, brought you one more rose each day. The last day he came he put the one rose in that survived. I dont know what kind of rose that is, but it sure as hell is immortal." I looked over to the vase next to me, the red rose shining even more in its beauty due to the sunlight. Reaching for the piece of paper, I opened it and a smile appeared on my face and a tear rolled down.

-My Love for you will die with this last rose. I hope you never forget me, Yours forever and always, Tom -

*Flashback*

It was a breezy autumn day, when Tom and I decided to go to the funfair of Athen. We stood at a shooting stage, when he tried to impress me. "I bet you all my money, that I can shoot you that bear." I let out a laugh. "Its your money Mister not mine." Tom winked at me and took the gun, starting to shoot.

~~

"Well you truly suck at shooting." I stated and let out a chuckle. He looked hurt. "Hey! I shot you a rose, come on!", Tom made a pounting  face and pulled me closer by my hips. I cupped his face, giving him a long kiss. "I love you.", I whispered to him. Tom took the rose and placed it in my hair. "As long as this rose lives, my Love for you will live too." I frowned and tilted my head. "You do realize that that's a plastic rose, right?" He nodded. "Fully aware." Tom gave me the most genuine and happy smile that I just had to chuckle as we kept on walking to the beach. "You are my forever home, you know that right?", he said while we walked. "You are mine too."

*End of Flashback *

A tear rolled down my face. He kept the rose all this time. Then realization hit me: I had to go to him. Ripping of the cables that where on my arms and in my mouth, I tried to stand up, but immediately fell. Chris was too late to catch me so I fell on the ground, taking the vase down with me. The glass shattered, the floor was wet and the vase was all shattered. Still alive was the rose, shining now more than ever. I took it into my hand and held it close to me. "What where you thinking? You cant just stand up!", Chris yelled at me. "I need to see him." I replied in a raspy voice.

*A few months later*

After a lot of frustration and tears, I finally was able to live my life how I used to know it. Chris had spend the last few months with me, watching my progress and helping me, also been taking over the business. "Are you ready to go and meet him?", Jules asked me, rubbing her belly soflty. She was in the last month now, lets just say her cherry was about to pop. "Ready as I'll ever be."

I kissed Jules stomach. "See you later Chris Junior. Wish me luck." Earning a judgeful look of Jules I let out a chuckle. "Before you rip my head of, I'm leaving, see ya." "STILL DEBATING THAT NAME!" She yelled after me.

~~

About half an hour had past and we arrived at a vinery in the hills of Verona. The car ride went silent, I was too tensed to start a real conversation. "You want me to come with you?", Chris asked me. I shook my head. "No, I need to do this alone, but thank you."

I got out of the car, making my way through the vines over to the house on top of the hill. Suddenly I heard a voice. "Excuse me Madam, may I help you?" I turned around and there he stood, with a hat on his head, a casual shirt and cargo trousers. In his hand he had a basket. As I turned around and he realized who stood infront of him, he let the basket fall. "El...", he half whispered, tears formed his eyes. I held the rose in my hand even tighter. "Hi." I gave him a smile, making some steps towards him. "Tom honey where are you?", a female voice made me stop. Tom still was shocked, not responding at first.

In that moment I realized he had moved on from me. Without a word I turned around and ran away. "Elliana wait!"