But the Greatest of These is Love

Back Again

I ask Cathy to stop by a cute little flower shop on the way, and I buy him a dozen roses. I'm not sure why, really, but a weird part of me thinks it'll help somehow.

As soon as I walk though the hospital doors, I'm assaulted by half a dozen nurses. They pepper me with questions, all wanting to know if I was here for Dylan.

"Ladies, back off!" Cathy's laugh breaks through the throng of people.

The group breaks off, and they laugh self consciously at themselves.

"Um... I'm just gonna head up to his room... if that's okay."

No one says anything, so I leave.

The room hasn't changed from when I left it last night. I quietly close the door behind me, wanting some privacy.

"Hey..." I whisper, slowly walking to his bedside. I shyly put a hand on his exposed forearm, doing my best to avoid the armada of tubes sticking out of him. I fall into silence, as I start to focus on all the little details of his face. The way his long eyelashes curl up, even when his eyes are closed. I can't be sure, but I think I see dimples in the corner of his cheeks. My eyes flick over the spattering of freckles on his nose, and I find myself wondering what color his eyes are. Weird to think I might never know. I look down at my hands and I realize that I'm sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand resting on the other side of him, the other on his cheek. I'm almost shocked by how comfortable I feel around him... almost. Without another thought, I lean down and kiss his forehead.

The next couple of days fall into a weird routine. Wake up, try to remember where I am, head to the hospital, spend the day talking/reading to/sitting with Dylan, eat at some point every day, repeat. It's all pretty much the same until Monday, exactly a week after I arrived. The day started out like the other six had, slow and peaceful. The second I walked into the hospital however, I knew something was up. There were too many nurses on Dylan's floor, and when I got to his room there were altogether too many nurses in there as well.

Oh hell, he's gone isn't he. Nope nope nope nope, I can't do this.

Then I hear whispers and my name.

"Is that her? Is she here??"

I push my way through the crowd of nurses and nearly fall face first into Dylan's bed. It takes me almost a full minute to figure out what the heck is going on. My eyes travel up the length of his body, until I reach his face. Everything looks the same... until I reach his eyes. And when I do, I almost fall over. They're looking right at me, and he's got the biggest grin on his face.

"Hey Drew."

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh he's awake and he's hot and he just said my name and holy hell what do I do now??

I put a hand to my flushed cheeks and manage to croak out a hello.

"What... but I thought... I'm so confused..."

Dylan laughs, and I feel his fingers slip into my own.

"Some part of me must have realized you're here... and I woke up..."

I laugh, and look down, trying to figure out what to say. At some point the nurses must have left, because it's suddenly very quiet.

"I liked the roses."

His voice breaks me from my trance.

"Oh, yeah... that... it was the least I could do."

I can feel him looking at me, and I guess I should have been prepared for what he said next...

"I love you."

I wasn't. 

Yayyyyyy, hope y'all enjoyedddd.... if ya did i would love a vote or two :D