That Summer

Nightmare Interrupted

Delilah Annabella Jackson. The name rang in my head like a beautiful melody on repeat. It had been a few days since everything had happened with Anna. Still, there was no change. Day after day I stayed by her side and waited for her to wake. By now, it had become routine. Although, I would take my breaks throughout the day to spend time with our baby. I was getting accustomed to rocking her softly to sleep and tracing her tiny face with my fingers. I don't think I could get enough of her. It killed me to know that Anna was missing out on all of these first moments, which made me feel guilty for doing all of these things.

Since Anna was put in her coma, I made sure to document each of the moments that I had spent with the baby. This way she wouldn't miss out on anything. However, these documentations soon turned to daily journaling. I closed my notebook and placed it next to the fresh Casablanca Lillies I brought to Anna. Even though she wasn't awake, I made sure to make the room seem homier, in case she did wake up. That's all it was to me now. A question. A question of whether or not she would wake up. I tried to not let the bad moments consume me, but it was always hard. When your true love is completely unresponsive and there is no telling whether they will wake up was always something to be too hard to digest. At times, I would find myself daydreaming about this situation as if it were a fairytale. I imagined Anna as the princess that was under a sleeping curse from some evil witch and I was the prince that would awaken her with a kiss. Have I tried that? Perhaps. However, it never worked. Even though I wish it would have. I suddenly heard a knock on the door and in came mother and Janet,

"Hey, how's it going?" Janet asked as she cast a glance over at Anna, who still managed to lay completely still.

"About the same, there's been no change in her brain activity." I sighed heavily with my eyes still on her.

"I think you need a break, why don't you go visit your daughter and I'll stay here?" Mother offered, however, I brushed off her suggestion.

"I will in a bit, but I'm not leaving you here by yourself." I cut in.

"Why don't you take mother to see your daughter and I'll stay here. She hasn't held her yet, Mike." Janet gave me a soft smile as I began to get up from my seat,

"Are you sure?" I asked her. She gave me a quick nod as I bent down to kiss Anna's cold forehead,

"I'll be back soon, my love. I'll give our daughter a kiss for you." Janet walked around me and took a seat on the chair I was sitting in before I escorted mother towards the nursery, alongside my bodyguards.

"You look tired, son." Mother commented as she wrapped an arm around my torso.

"I'm fine, mother," I commented lowly. Truth was, I was very tired. I just refused to sleep because I wanted to be awake in case something happened.

"Michael, I have seen you tired, energetic, hungry, angry, and among other things. I know what you are like in different moods. You can't fool me that easily." I blushed under her stare. I knew I couldn't lie to her.

"I just don't want to miss anything. If she wakes up, I don't want to be asleep. I want to be the first person she sees when she wakes up and I want to see her see me." I felt the warm tears fill my eyes, but I refused to let them fall right now.

"I know you do, but you need rest. You need to be at your strongest when she does wake up. Promise me that you'll get some sleep?" Just as I was about to respond with another 'I'm fine' the elevators opened up and revealed the nursery to us. I gestured for mother to follow me to the nursery. The nurses, whom I have gotten to know as Ruby and Jenny, opened the door for me and filled me in on what has been done so far for my daughter.

"She's already been fed and burped, now it's just time for her to get some sleep," Ruby informed. I looked over at mother who had such a bright smile on her face that it made me smile slightly,