Notches On His Bed(Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter 31

Eli’s POV

“If there is any reason that I should not say yes I want you to wake up right now and tell me,” there was a pause from her beautiful voice.  Oh come on wake up damnit! I yelled at myself.  “Well then I guess that settles that.”  She went to speak again but I could no longer hear her.  I was sitting in a very familiar park.  I looked around at the green grass and saw Erika sitting in a dress motioning for me to come over.  I walked slowly towards where she sat and she smiled.

“It’s nice to see you Eli,” she smiled and placed her hand on the ground beside her, motioning for me to sit down.  I obliged and looked at her. 

“Erika what am I doing here?”  I asked and looked up at the sky. 

“This is the place where people who are stuck between living and dying stay.  You are awake from your coma but your body doesn’t know whether or not it wants to keep on living, yet your mind is too weak to overpower your body.  So I was sent here to help you decide what you want to do.”  I looked at her confused and she smiled softly at me.  “Don’t worry though, it’s not that bad.  It takes time to figure out what you truly want to do.  But in this time you will only be able to hear what you need to hear to be able to decide.  Today was the first step of that process.” 

“Did you go through this?”  I asked and she nodded slowly.  “And you picked to die?”  She shook her head and placed her hand on top of mine. 

“Not exactly Eli.  For me I was shown how the future would look with me and how it would look without me.  Very seldom are we given that option to decide.  Would you like to know why I died instead of stayed with you?”  I nodded my head vigorously and she smiled.  “Good, it’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time.  Well if I would have lived I never would have been fully alive.  I would have been a couch potato; you never would have got to be truly happy because you would have constantly been waiting at my hand and foot.  Now I was shown what would happen if I was dead, you would be happy, you would have met Elisabeth and Abby, fallen in love again, and finally be truly happy.  I picked to die because you deserved to be happy.”

“But I’m not happy right now!  Elisabeth is going to start dating some new guy!  How can I be happy knowing that the love of my life could easily forget about me?”  I yelled and she laughed slightly shaking her head. 

“And that Eli is why we are here.  You are clouded by your emotions and not what is best for Elisabeth and Abby.  You have to decide if their life is better with you or without you.”  I sighed and lay down on the grass.

“How am I supposed to know if their life would be better without me?”  I asked and she placed her hand on my chest, right above my heart.

“As I said before it takes time and soon you will know the answer to that.”  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I tried to understand life. 

“How long have I been in a coma for?”  I asked and she shrugged her shoulders. 

“Well when you got here it was 9 months and since we’ve been talking another three months have gone by, which I think it’s time for you to tune into what’s happening so shhhh!”  I sat up as soon as I heard Abby’s sweet voice ring out from the sky.

“Daddy, mommy has stawted dating that Bwian guy and I don’t know how I feel about it.  He’s not like you!  He doesn’t play around with me anymowe!  I miss you daddy,” her voice was gone and I could feel the tears threatening to break from my eyes. 

“She’s been calling you daddy for a long time now.”  Erika said softly as I closed my eyes to try and control the tears. 

“See she misses me!  I have to go back!”  I yelled as I grabbed her arms tightly.  She shook her head and looked at me. 

“She misses you yes, but you have no idea if Elisabeth misses you.  Eli you have to think about the both of them.  They mean the world to you, you heard Abby.  Elisabeth is dating Brian now.  What if she falls in love with him?  What if he makes her happier than you ever did?”  I took a step back from her and stared in shock at the women who once held my heart. 

“How could you even say that?”  I yelled and she started walking off. 

“You need to sit and think about that.  I’ll visit you again after you come to understand what I said.”  I stared after her as she vanished. 

“What does she know?  Elisabeth will always love me!  She would never stop loving me.  We are meant to be together I just know it.  I mean we’ve been through everything together!  I’m in a fucking coma for her for fucks sake!”

“Eli, hey, it’s been almost two years now since you’ve been in this coma.  A lot has happened actually.  Well I was dating that Brian guy I told you about but I’m not anymore.”  I smiled and smirked to myself.

“See I told you so Erik….”

“I’m not anymore because we are engaged.  I’m getting married in three months.  I love you Eli but it’s time for me to move on.  I could never truly love someone more than I ever loved you but he comes pretty damn close.  Abby still isn’t too fond of him but I think he’s growing on her.  Well the doctors told me that there are still no changes but they are trying to keep me hopeful.  Well I don’t think I’ll be coming by every single day like I have been once I get married.  Brian is getting to the point where he’s getting tired of my constant mood swings when I come up here.  Well I love you Eli.”  Her angelic voice was gone and I was left with the tears in my eyes. 

“ERIKA!”  I yelled at the top of my lungs.  I sat down on the grass holding my chest as I felt my heart being crushed.  She appeared in front of me and looked down at my pained face with sorrow. 

“Yes Eli?”  She asked and I finally let the sobs escape my lips. 

“I know what I have to do,” she bent down on my level and placed her hand on my shoulder.  “Their lives are going good now; Brian is going to be good for her.  I need to leave so she can move on.”  She nodded and helped me stand up.

“Are you sure about your de…..”

“Well Eli looks like the best man won huh?  Do you know how much money she makes?  Well I can convince her to pull the plug on your life and then I’ll divorce her and take all of her money.  I mean why would I marry someone who has a kid?  Why would I marry anyone to begin with?  That bullshit lie I gave Elisabeth about my wife dying, hell I can’t believe I’ve stayed this long in a relationship to begin with.”  I stared at the sky in shock and then turned back to Erika. 

“I need to go back!  I need to get Elisabeth out of this mess with that man!”  I yelled and she shook her head. 

“Eli if you go back you will not remember anything about what happened here while in the coma.  Do you understand that?”  I nodded and grabbed her hand tightly.

“I understand, just send me back!”  She nodded and kissed my cheek.

“Okay close your eyes, count to ten and then open them!”  I closed my eyes tightly and didn’t even get the chance to count because within seconds I could smell the sickness of the hospital.  I opened my eyes and was greeted by the fluorescent lights of the hospital room.  I looked around the room and noticed I was completely alone. 

“Nurse,” I tried to yell but it came out raspy and low.  “Nurse!”  I said again not as loud as I’d like.  “Nurse!”  I finally yelled at the top of my lungs.  I stared at the door, waiting for someone to run in.  After about a minute I opened my mouth to yell once more when the door was swung open.  The old lady looked at me and then stepped back outside.

“DOCTOR HE’S AWAKE!”