I Don't Even Know Your Name

Hold On

*Ruth's POV*

"Hi Mrs. Mendes. So, uh...... Here's the thing. Shawn is.... He's..... In a coma." I cried into the phone. I was updating Mrs. Mendes on what was happening.

I heard a gasp from the other end of the phone, as felt my stomach drop to the floor.

"I am so sorry, this is all my fault."

"It... It's okay Ruth. We're getting a flight down there, so we'll be there in a few hours. Thank you for staying there with him." Mrs. Mendes responded, I could hear her voice breaking.

"Y- you're welcome." I choked out from behind my tears, when I heard the other end of the phone go silent.

I slowly took the phone away from my ear, and set it aside next to me. I couldn't possibly imagine how she felt right now. Having your child be thousands of miles away from you, in a coma, severely injured, and near dying. She must feel awful, And not to mention how furious she probably is with me. I would be surprised if she ever let me see Shawn again after this.... If he makes it.

A few hours passed as I stared into space, readying myself to say goodbye to Shawn.

"I should go see him now." I said to myself, while I stood up to go to his room. When I got there, I pulled up a chair next to his bed. His eyes were closed, and he looked peaceful in sleep. I could hear his slow deep breaths, and the monitor beeping behind the sound. I one of his hands in mine and kissed it lovingly.

"I am so sorry Shawn, I should have never let you drive drunk. I'm sorry I got mad at you for what you and Kaitlyn did, I know you had no idea what you were doing. Just, please, don't leave me. I love you too much Shawn, I don't think I can bare living my life without you.... You're my world." I said, speaking far too quickly, with tears streaming down my face for what seemed like the thousandth time today. I took a deep breath to collect myself. I grabbed my phone out of my purse, as well as ear buds. I placed one in my ear, and the other in his.

"You remember this?" I asked, putting on "I Don't Even Know Your Name" at a mellow volume.

"The first song we sang together. I'll never forget how nervous I was to go up on that stage with you. You somehow, just made me feel better by simply being there with me. I guess, from that point on, I knew there was something special between us. Your fans were so happy to see you perform with me. Who am I kidding, they're happy whenever they get to even see you. They love you so much." I said, chuckling a beam from behind my tears.

"..... And your parents, they love you more than words can express. You know they're going to be here any minute to see you? They flew all the way from Ontario, and Aaliyah too." I stroked his face with my thumb. I knew how much Aaliyah meant to Shawn. I thought maybe if he could hear me, it would give him a little strength to hold on just a little longer.

"If you don't come back for me, at least come back for them. They would be devastated to see you go...." It's not like he'd want to stay alive for me anyway, after what I'd done.

"You are loved by so many people Shawn, and you have endless reasons to live on this Earth, don't give up."

"Ruth?" A high-pitched, meek voice interrupted. I turned my head to see Aaliyah and her parents standing in the doorway.

"Aaliyah." I said, the water beginning to flow from my tear ducts again. I wanted to stand up and give her a hug, but I thought that she was too angry with me to want one.

"Hi Ruth." Aaliyah said, coming up to me to embrace me. "You must really love my brother."

"H- How-"

"We heard everything." Mr. Mendes spoke. "You just took all the words from my mouth and said it to him. Anyone who can do that, I know is meant to be with my son."

"R-really?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes." Mrs Mendes said.

"Aren't you mad at me?" I asked.

"Well, to be honest, yes darling, we are. But only a little. You have to realize, that Shawn had fault in this too. He was the one who decided to drive drunk." She said, tears falling from her face as well.

"Yeah, but I didn't stop him." I said.

"We know. We also know that you would never mean to hurt him in any way. We know how much you care about him." Mr. Mendes replied, with the audible lump in her throat.

"Well, I'm happy that you are willing to give me sympathy, but I still let him get hurt. Drunk or not, I let him get in that car and drive away."

"You're right, you did, but if I didn't think that you were going to learn from this mistake, then I probably would not let you near my son again. But since I know that you will, I have faith that you will let something like this ever happen again." Mrs. Mendes said, approaching me with a stern look on her face. It was astonishing that his parents were being so forgiving, I guess it runs in the family.

"You can bet that I will never let this happen again." I said, looking into her eyes.

"I know." She said, kissing my forehead.

"Now, how has my boy been doing?" Mr. Mendes said, walking over to pop a squat in the chair I was just sitting in. I was surprised to see him have such a positive attitude.

"He hasn't moved, or made noise since I've been in here..... How are you staying so cheerful about this?" I questioned.

"Because I have faith, that Shawn will fight through this." Manny replied.

"Yeah but, what if he doesn't? I mean the condition he's in..." I asked, gazing at Shawn's body.

"We're not expecting him to make it through, but a little faith is better than none." He said, as Aaliyah and Karen took their place next to him.

I had never thought of it that way. I didn't realize that by expecting the worst, it was making me have no hope. I guess I needed to change that.

"Yeah.... You're right." I said, thoughtfully, coming over to stand next to them.

"You know, she's right you know." Mr. Mendes began. " We love you, and it's not time for you to go yet. You have so much of your life ahead of you, it won't slow down, but you just have to hold on for me okay?"

Tears began to fall from his eyes as he looked at Shawn. This made Aaliyah begin to cry as well, and Mrs. Mendes, she never stopped.

"Shawn, now you listen to me. I need someone to look up to, be silly with, and someone to talk to when I'm having a hard time. I love you Shawn, please wake up soon." Aaliyah spoke, looking down at him.

"You're sister's right Shawn. We need you. Don't leave us, you deserve to live a long happy life." Mrs. Mendes said, before there was a minute of silence between the five of us. Aaliyah sat on her Dad's lap and cried into his shoulder, while Karen pulled me into a hug, as she sobbed uncontrollably into mine.

"Should we play him some music?" Aaliyah asked, trying to cheer everyone up. "I think what Ruth was doing is a good idea. You know Shawn, can't go a day without his music." She laughed under her sobs.

"Sure, what should we play for him?" Mrs. Mendes asked, wiping the tears from her face.

"I know he really likes John Mayer. I have his continuum album on my phone, maybe we can play that for him." I suggested.

"You know him so well." Mr. Mendes said.

I chuckled slightly, making me feel a little less upset. Then, I pulled out my ear buds and phone again. I stuck both in his ears and clicked shuffle play on the album.

"There we go." I said.

I hoped this would somehow bring him back, if something like that was even possible.