Timeless Love

Chapter 5

You felt a slight shrug on your shoulder. You opened your eyes slowly and with difficulty. You saw yourself back in the hospital bed. You looked to see if Aaron was still beside you. He was. You looked over your shoulder and found the doctor staring at you.
"Mrs. Tveit," he whispered. "I'm sorry to wake you. It's still too early for all of this, isn't it?"
You chuckled softly as you pulled yourself up. You stared at him waiting for him to say something.
"So I believe that the transportation team is ready to take your fiancé down for CT now," the doctor stated.
"Ok," you said groggily as you got yourself off the bed. You quickly reached out to ruffle your fingers through Aaron's soft, blonde locks. The team finally came in. You were pushed away from Aaron by one of the team members so that he could unlock the wheels on the bed. Other members disconnected Aaron from his ventilator and attached and squeezed a large bag at the end of the tube. As the team prepared to roll out, you pushed through and admired Aaron's face once more. You squeezed his hand and leaned in to kiss his forehead.
"I'll be here when you get back, babe," you whispered.
You moved yourself out of the way. You watched the team roll out and then down the hall. You were hoping that this wouldn't be he last time you see him breathing. The doctor approached your side. You stared up at him.
"So now what," you asked condescendingly.
"It shouldn't take that much time," he answered. "Once they are done with him, they'll bring him back here and we'll see what else is next."
You looked at him in confusion.
"You mean you don't know," you asked.
"We can't determine anything else until we find out what the problem might be."
You looked away and nodded.
"We will work on getting a room for him, but until then," the doctor paused.
"Ok," you replied.
The doctor left you alone finally. You walked back into the room and plopped yourself back into your chair. You suddenly heard a loud roar coming from above you. It was the air conditioner. The air hit you like a tornado. You slumped further into your chair to try to get yourself warmer. You stared at the floor, reminiscing that dream you had just a few short minutes ago. Looking back at it, it seemed too real. Too good to be true. You, Aaron, and your future child. Would that be the only time you would see all three of you together? It was too much to take in right now.
"Can I get you anything, ma'am," a voice asked from a short distance.
It was so sudden that you almost slid completely out of your chair and onto the floor. You looked up and saw a young woman in scrubs.
"I didn't mean to scare you," she said with a slight smile on her face.
She was obviously trying hard not to laugh. You couldn't help but grin also.
"Would you like anything," she repeated.
So much had been going on that you didn't even remember that you hadn't eaten or drank anything at all today. Your stomach was in way too many knots to even think about food.
"Maybe just a water for now," you answered.
The nurse walked up to you.
"You know you've been here for awhile," she said. "You sure you don't want tea or coffee perhaps--"
"I'm pregnant," you stated harshly.
She went silent. She nodded.
"I'll get that for you," she said timidly and walked out of the room.
You took a deep sigh and leaned back into your chair. You felt bad.
When she came back, she put the pitcher on the counter, poured some to a plastic cup, and handed it to you. She also handed you a bag of crackers. You didn't even want to look her in the eye because you felt too embarrassed.
"Thank you," you said faintly before she left the room.
She turned around and gave another light smile.
"I'm sorry," you continued.
"Don't be," she replied. "It's only part of my job. Believe me, I have had worse. I should have been more considerate. I'm sorry about that, really."
"It's fine," you said. "Really. You know, things are just so tense right now. Maybe I'm overthinking all of this, but this is the last thing I was expecting, especially now. I just found out last night. I was going to surprise him when he came home today."
She walked up to you and kneeled down to your eye level.
"I know it's not easy," she said. "But I think you do need to relax. The tension won't help you in the long run. It won't help for you, your husband, or your child."
"Yeah," you said as you nodded. "I'll try to."
"Can I get you anything else right now," she asked again.
"Actually," you said and pointed up. "Do you think you could get someone to turn off this air conditioner?"
You both chuckled.
"Unfortunately, I'm not in charge of that," she stated. "But I can get you some blankets if you'd like."
"It'll have to do," you replied.
"I'll be right back," the nurse said as she got up and left the room.
You stuffed your hands in the pockets of your oversized sweatshirt.
Suddenly, the same doctor walked in and stared at you blankly.
"Yes," you said nervously.
"Mrs. Tveit," he started. "I believe I have some news."
"What kind of news," you asked.
"Your fiancé went into cardiac arrest during the CT scan."
"What," you screamed. "But how? You said he would be alright--"
"We were able to bring him back," he interrupted. "But we did find something from the results."
You placed your hands over your face waiting for him to say something to hurt you once again.
"It turns out his brain is bleeding," he started. "I believe we will have to take him down to surgery right away."
You felt the temperature across your face rising.
"We just needed your consent first," he continued.
You nodded.
"Yeah," you whispered as you looked away. "Is he going to--"
You couldn't finish your sentence.
"Only time can give an answer right now," the doctor said softly. "We will do everything we can for him."
"You better be right," you said angrily.
The doctor walked out and the nurse came back in. She handed you a pile of blankets.
"Everything alright," she asked worryingly.
"No," you whispered not even bothering to look at her. "My husband is going to die."