Changing Me

Chapter twenty two

I stand in line, with a tray full of her favorite food. I know it probably won't be that good considering it's from a hospital, and I know she won't be able to eat it because she hasn't woken up yet, but I still got it. She would've been happy that I did. Trying new things and all. Getting out of the bubble she tried so many times to pop.

I pull my wallet out of my back pocket and grab  a ten dollar bill, getting ready to pay.

I make my way up to the front desk where the lady with a bright blue button down shirt is there with a name tag on. Paisley.

A unique name. Anika is a unique name.

I sigh deeply when her name pops up in my brain. I don't think I've ever been so scared for something before in my entire life.

I love her, and if she doesn't wake up... I'm not gonna be able to move on.

"Who's your one?" Paisley asks me once I get up to go pay. That's the first thing I hear her say.

"I don't know what you mean." I tell her as I hand over the ten and wait for my cash back.

She puts it into the register, eyeing what I got and plugging it into the machine. As she does so, she pulls out a five dollar bill and some change.

She looks up to meet my eyes, and I can see hers are a deep brown. The rest of her face has wrinkles that surround her eyes and mouth, but her eyes seem so young. I suppose that's one thing about you that can't change. Everything you've seen. Only fitting that the eyes stay young.

"The blonde over there," she starts off and she points with her dark eyes to a table close to the fridge with all the drinks. "She's been here for a little over two weeks. Won't leave. Her one? Her husband who got in because of a gunshot wound. He's a police officer."

I look over at her, and my heart sinks. She looks as if anything could be better than what she's going through right now. You can see the worry settled in her cheeks and eyes.

"And the guy that's eating the bagel by the door, his son is in for his first chemo treatment."

I look over at the door and sure enough, a tall man stands there with his eyes hung low and every ounce of life is drained from his face.

I start to look around and realize that everyone here is hurting. Not a single one looks okay. Not a single one looks like they're going to be okay. There's no hope in this room.

I look back at Paisley and she hands me back my change. I grab it from her and put it into my wallet and shove it far down my back pocket.

"How do you know all of this?" I ask her, and she gives me a small smile and shakes her head.

"You have dinner with your family. You go out to eat with your significant other. You have picnics with your children, and you have barbecues with neighborhood friends. Food is what brings everybody together. It starts off with a meal and it leads to a conversation. Before you know it, it's a memory that you hold close to you, that you repeat often. Nightly dinners, dates at restaurants, monthly barbecues..."

I look at her confused and she smiles even wider when she's seen I haven't gotten her point.

"Look around, everyone here has lost or is losing that someone they share a meal with. They pay for their food, I ask who's their one, and they'll tell me a story.  It gives them comfort to talk to someone other than a doctor or a common face they see every day. I'm just the lady who makes the food and takes your money." she says with a hardy laugh.

"but to them," she says, her tone turning more serious, "I'm a breath of fresh air that they'll never have to see again once they get back to their one."

I look at the woman before me and smile. It's not every day you meet someone like this.  A listener in a world full of people who just want to be heard.

"Her name is Anika." I say to her, and a lump starts to form in my throat, but I swallow it down.

"I'll keep her in my prayers."

~

I make my way upstairs to her room. I open the door slowly, an incredibly clean smell filling my lungs as I do, and I see her sitting there, wrapped in wires and beeping monitors surrounding her bed.

I'm not good at medical stuff, but when her doctor speaks, I try to understand.

The car accident caused head trauma so strong, she'll be in a coma, and he doesn't know how long that'll be. When the doctor doesn't know, I guess you can suppose this can end either really good, or incredibly awful.

I don't know if I have hope anymore for anything at all, but I know she would have. I know she would have hope for things that seem impossible. She believes in people. Which is something I have desperately tried to accomplish in the years I have been alive, which hasn't been many.

She's the world.

How do you live without the world? Without your ground, your home, your breath of life? Everything that ever made you feel alive? Everything that ever made you realize your existence and how it truly means something. Every single crisis and tear you have shed is all because we live in our world. It completes us. It's or reason for being anything at all.

She's the world.

She's my world.

I won't lose hope for her.

She'd beat my ass anyway if I did.

~~
Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Paisley is such a precious gem I had to add to this chapter and I hope you enjoyed her part. Stay tuned for more upcoming chapters!!!