Mr. B. Urie

23

It has been one week, three days and six hours since Ariella's seizure. She is currently still in a coma, and I'm starting to worry that she might never wake up. After all, they gave Mr. Alvos two and a half weeks as an estimate, and we're halfway there.

I've been thinking a lot about the fact that if Ariella dies, I'll lose the love of my life. We'll never get married, we'll never have kids . . . Which is why I'm going to ask Mr. Alvos to convince the doctors to freeze Ariella's eggs. I know I sound crazy, but if she dies, then I'll have nothing left. Having her child will hopefully make that less painful.

Of course, I'll have to find a surrogate in the event that Ariella doesn't wake up, and that could be difficult. I think I'd want it to be someone I know so that I can trust them. Would Taya be up for it? I think it might freak out her boyfriend though . . . Erick's nice and all, but I think the concept would be too much to wrap his head around.

There's Sarah . . . I mean, yes her and Arie had a rough start, but they're actually starting to get along now that Sarah's stopped trying to make her life miserable. And Darren would be on board; he'd do anything for Ariella, but not in a creepy way, just because he's been her friend for so long. There's no one else I can think of who would be willing, unless I ask one of my sisters, but one is happily married, and the other is sufficiently crazy enough that I'm not sure I trust her to bear my child. So . . . Sarah it is. Her and Darren have been visiting periodically to check on Ariella, and I'm sure they'll come around today.

First, I need to talk to Mr. Alvos. I'm more nervous about asking for his daughter's eggs than if I were asking for her hand in marriage, which is totally something I'd do, by the way. I did it for Sarah, even though my heart wasn't in it. Anyways, yeah I'm fucking shaking.

"Hey, Mr. Alvos," I say, walking into Ariella's hospital room with a cup of coffee. I figure I better warm him up before springing my idea on him.

"Brendon, you know you can call me Dean, right?" He smiles up at me and takes the coffee.

"Alright . . ." I draw out the word in an attempt to stall my next topic. "Uh, I have a proposition to make."

"Well, son, I'd like to hear said proposition; shoot," he says, sitting in one of the chairs by Ariella's bed.

"Okay, well, as you know the doctor said two and a half weeks . . . And we're at one and a half now, and I don't want to say it, I really don't, but if she doesn't wake up . . ." I let out a breath of air, I don't want to cry, but I can feel the tears behind my eyes. "If she doesn't wake up, then we'll both be devastated. I can't think of a better way to keep her spirit alive, than to have her child."

"What do you mean?" Dean looks at me in disdain, and I realize too late that it may have sounded like I want to impregnate his daughter while she's still in a coma.

"I mean, we should freeze some of her eggs, so that if she doesn't wake up I can still raise our child." Dean takes a moment to digest my words, and I can see that he's still not sure what I'm talking about.

"How does it work?" He asks after a few moments.

"Well, I guess they go into her ovaries and take some eggs. Then they put them in a freezer until we're ready. It's a little bit more difficult than freezing sperm, but I think it'll be worth it. I mean, best-case scenario, we won't even need to use them because she'll wake up. But, if she doesn't wake up, then I'll get someone to surrogate. I was hoping either Taya or Sarah, what do you think?"

"Sarah? The one that tried to ruin Arie's life?" He looks appalled at the idea, and I don't blame him.

"Look, they started to become sort of friends in the last few weeks. Sarah feels really bad, and she and Darren are a little bit more open about pregnancy—I think—than Taya would be. Especially because of Erick." I reason. Dean nods and looks at Ariella. She looks peaceful, and it's odd that she isn't awake to talk about this with us.

"You better get the hell up if you don't want Sarah to birth your child, Ariella." He says it jokingly, but there's still hope in his eyes. We both stare down at her in anticipation. Maybe that's just the kind of kick she needs? But, of course, she doesn't wake up. "You're right, Brendon. We'll get them in tomorrow to collect some of her . . . Eggs."

"I appreciate it, Dean." I smile at him and clap a hand on his shoulder.

"Just don't make me regret this. Give me a good grandchild, please."

*****

"You want me to what?" Sarah almost drops the glass of water she's in the middle of handing me.

"Hear me out, alright?" I put my hands up in defence. "I know we all went through a rough patch—"

"You left me at the altar for her, and then had sex with her on the same day!" She says bitterly, slamming the glass onto the coffee table in front of me.

"I'm sorry about that, but I thought we had moved past it. Anyways, this is only a worst-case scenario thing. If Arie wakes up, then she can bear her own child. I just want to make sure I have all of my bases covered, okay?"

"Fine. I'll have to talk to Darren about this, but I'm on board . . . Hypothetically." Sarah sighs, collapsing into a chair across from me. I'm not saying that I'm ecstatic, because I would still much rather have Ariella alive than just her child, but I'm happy to have Sarah on my side in the event that the next week ends in tragedy. I still have hope, and I'm clinging to it like a lifeline.