A Change in Mind

Overcome

Ella's P.O.V
I woke up to a million texts from Jake. Hey. Text me when you get this. I love you. I hope everything goes well. I'm gonna miss you. I'm gonna be lonely. I love you so much. You're my world. I texted him back. "Hey. I love you too. It's not forever. You have friends, Jake. And you're my other half. I love you. See you in a week, baby." I put my phone down. The nurse walked in and took my vitals.
"You ready for your surgery, hun?" She asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
Jake's P.O.V
My phone buzzed. It was from Ella. She was going into surgery. Perfect start to my Tuesday morning. Lots and lots of stress. I went from class to class as usual, and she was done by 9:00. By 9:30, the worst week of my life had officially begun. It was the awareness that she wasn't responsive that made me the saddest. I got questions from my peers about how Ella was, and I explained the whole thing a million times over. By the end of the day, I just wanted to go home and lay with her for a while. But I couldn't.
The next week was absolute hell. My grades were slipping and I was spiraling into depression. People told me I looked tired all the time, and I couldn't tell if it was from crying so much or the fact that I was actually sleep deprived from the long nights I spent awake, worrying about her. My fears weren't exactly unfounded. The following Tuesday, I got a call from her mother.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hey, Jake. This is Ella's mom. I'm afraid I have bad news. Ella hasn't woken up yet. And the doctors are saying that the coma is strengthening the head injuries. She might lose her memory." I immediately burst into tears. She decided it would be best to leave me alone. I didn't get any better after that. My doctor prescribed painkillers because my heart was physically hurting. They didn't work, and neither did the antidepressants. It got to the point where I had to stay home from school. I fell more and more behind, despite my mom's best efforts.
I lost more and more sleep. Finally, two weeks after the call, I got another one. This one was from the hospital. Ella was finally awake. I rushed over to the hospital. When I got to her room, she immediately recognized me. I ran over to the bed and wrapped my arms around her.
"I missed you so much." I whispered.
"I almost forgot you. What if I did?" She said softly.
"Don't worry about it. You're ok now." I held her reassuringly.
"But you're not. I see how tired you are. Your eyes are bloodshot from crying so much. Go home and get some sleep. You can sleep now. I'm alive and well. Sleep." she said.
I went home and did exactly that. I slept for 12 hours and then 8 hours after that. The next day, I actually felt like getting up. My head was clear and I could think straight for the first time in weeks. I got caught up on my school work, and everything was okay again. I visited Ella every day after school. She got discharged the following Saturday, and I offered to pick her up. I helped her into the car.
"Hey, beautiful." I said.
"Hey." She said, rolling her eyes jokingly. The rest of the ride home was silent.
She was in a slight amount of pain due to the fact that she was still in recovery, but she was alive.
I took her to my house because her parents were away and she couldn't be home alone. I carried her bridal-style to the couch.
"Let me go get your stuff. I'll be right back." I said. I went to the car and grabbed her crutches and the overnight bag that I picked up from her house. I walked back in the house and set it all down before grabbing a blanket and sitting down beside her. I reclined the couch for her.
"Jake." She said.
"Hmm?"
"I was in that coma for three weeks. I relived the same day over and over. The day I wrecked. But it was a different girl every time. All I knew was that I wanted to wake up in your arms." She leaned towards me and put her head on my shoulder. I stroked her hair softly.
      "I'm here now, babygirl." I reassured her.
      "I don't ever wanna lose you."
      "You won't baby." I fell asleep with her in my arms, finally happy. I woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon. I got up, careful not to wake Ella, and walked into the kitchen.
      "Good morning, Jake." My mom greeted. "I made pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I'm about to be late. Bye sweetie, I love you."
      "Love you too." I mumbled, walking back to the couch. I sat next to Ella and held her until she woke up.
"Good morning, Jake." She mumbled sleepily as she carefully stretched. "Why didn't we get woken up for school?" She asked, her head cocked slightly to the side.
      "Because," I kissed her cheek. "We need some us time." I whispered softly in her ear. She giggled at this and I pulled her closer. The past few weeks had been depressing, and Ella was the ray of sunshine that pierced through the darkness of it all. We spent the day catching up on schoolwork. When that was over, we watched movies at my house all day. Suddenly, I remembered something. I got up from the couch.
      "I'll be right back." I explained. I rushed to my room and grabbed her ring off of the dresser. I walked into the living room and sat down beside her. "You forgot this, Princess." She blushed as I slipped it back on her hand.
"Jake..."she trailed off.
"Hmm?"
"I love you more than anything else in this world."
"I love you, too."
We spent the next few hours cuddling and whispering sweet nothings to each other. It was finally time for her to go home. She wasn't even out of the door and I missed her so bad. It was at this moment that I knew what love was. Maybe the change in mind wasn't so bad after all.

A/N-Crap ending, sorry. I just now reread the last two parts and they were actually better than I remembered. Up until that point, the book was total crap tho. Oh well. Kinda sad the book ended, kinda happy that I can FINALLY move on to cowriting with my bestest (that's a word now) friend in the whole wide world! I will miss writing this, but ig I'll be okay when I start writing a new book. Until next time, loves, -Susanna<3