Forever yours

memories

* Kevin*

I kept flipping the ring box open and closed.

My head was empty. My hands were full of blood. Her blood. And in my ears I could still hear her screams, although it was now completely silent around me.

I folded the box back shut and lowered my gaze. Everything felt so numb.

One moment I could see her coming my way and then a car hit her without stopping. Just like that.

I had prepared everything. I had wanted to ask her to marry me after asking her father for permission. I had wanted to do it right, had just wanted to make her happy. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, and now I didn't even know if I would ever speak to her again.

A lump formed in my throat and I could barely breathe as I began to sob again. I was at the end of my rope. If she didn't survive this, if I never saw her again....

I didn't even want to think about it.

My hands were shaking so much that I almost lost the ring box. At some point Max took it from my hand and sat down across from me.

"You should wash up, man." he said worriedly, holding out a T-shirt to me "She'll be fine. You know how stubborn she is. Like she's going to die now if she knows you're waiting for her with a ring.".

Max was done. I could see it in his face, but he was trying to smile while tears were running down his face himself.

Just slowly, I pushed myself up and accepted the t-shirt while shoving the ring box into my pants pocket. She just had to be stubborn and fight now. I couldn't lose her.

I staggered into the bathroom and stopped at the vanity. I put the T-shirt aside and took a look in the mirror. I didn't recognize myself. This wasn't me. My entire face was smeared with blood. I must have wiped my hand across my face.

I had wanted to help her, had tried to stop the bleeding, and had told her over and over that everything would be okay. I had promised her that she would not die.

A scream escaped my throat and I slumped in front of the sink. It was the worst pain I had ever felt. Nothing could compare to it.

The door flew open. Max and Kelly came rushing in.

Max helped me back to my feet. I was completely devastated. I couldn't do this.

"Hey man, she can do it. You hear me? She can do this.", Max looked at me piercingly "She can do this.", he repeated, then let go of me and slumped back against the wall himself "I hope so.".

Eventually it was Kelly who cleaned me up with a damp cloth while Max slumped to the floor. He sat there crying while I had gone quiet.

I stared at nothing.

We were still sitting in the waiting area. I just stared at my shoes. I couldn't think about anything.

When the doctor came to us, my head immediately shot up.

My heart stopped beating and I forgot to breathe while he was talking.

"She's stable. She had some serious injuries, but she will recover. I'm sure the broken leg will give her problems for a while, but with good physical therapy, that too will be fine. You can kind of say she was lucky once again," Kelly took my hand and squeezed it tightly.

I sobbed and took a breath of relief.

"Can we get to her?", Max was on his feet immediately.

"But not all of you, please. She's not quite back to herself yet, and I'm sure she'll need to rest for a while. But yes, you can go to her."