Until we meet again...

Chapter 29

In the hospital, they told us that they took him immediately to the surgery room. So we had to wait for the doctor to come out and enlighten us about his condition.

“Why did it take this long?” Ethan’s mother broke the silence, after hours of waiting.

“I don’t know, I just hope everything will be fine.” I consoled her.

“Is it done? How did it go?” We rushed to the nurse as she came out.

“I can’t tell you anything. The doctor will come out in a moment, he’ll explain to you everything. Excuse me.” The nurse said briefly, then left.

We stepped back, disappointed, waiting for anyone to give us any information about him.

“Doctor...what’s happening exactly?” We precipitated as we saw the doctor.

“We did our best. He had a liver injury and some broken ribs. He lost a lot of blood. Luckily, he was brought in time. But he remains in critical condition. We are taking him to the Intensive Care Unit. We’ll wait until he wakes up.” The doctor explained, leaving everyone anxious, restless and crying.

“Why are you crying?” I shouted, “He is not dead. He will be fine. He will get well. He is strong. He won’t give up easily. He will come back to us. He will come back to me.” I tried to stay strong, and held on to the little hope that I had.

         They took him to the ICU. We couldn’t get inside. We watched him only through the glass. He was motionless and connected to a number of machines. Seeing him like that made my heart ache.

We spent hours and hours waiting for any good news. But there wasn’t any changes in his condition.

“How is he now, doctor?” We asked the doctor, after he came to check on him.

“His state is stable, but he is not responding.” He confirmed. 

“Can we see him?” Julia asked.

“Only one of you for the moment. And it better be someone close to him, because it might help him.” He answered.

“You go, Marie… He needs you.” She looked at me. I nodded. Then got inside.

“Ethan, it’s me. The doctor just allowed me to get in here and talk to you, he said that it might help you…” I put my hand on his, “…Ethan, I know that you will get well. I know that you are strong enough to handle this. You will wake up. And we will go home. We will get married, and live our life together like we always wanted. Ethan, you can’t leave us now. We still have a whole life ahead of us. And it will be the happiest life I could ever have, because it will be with you… I know that you can hear me know, and I just want you to know that I love you in ways I can’t even understand. And I can’t imagine a world without you in it. So please, hold onto that, don’t give up on me. I need you Ethan, I can’t live without you. Please, wake up. Please, say something. Please, come back…for me. For all of us.”

I stood up, and after I took off my hand, I saw him move his finger. Oh My God! He is waking up. I wiped my tears and jumped out.

“He’s waking up. I saw him move his finger.” I shouted, as I got out.

“Really? That’s awesome.” Ethan’s dad shouted back out of joy.

“What? Thank God! My son is back.” His mom looked relieved.

“That’s good news. It often help the patient wake up when he hears the voice of someone close to him.” The nurse comforted us.

Right after a moment, we heard a weird machine sound which made the nurses come and rush in, followed by the doctor. They closed the door and windows so we couldn’t see what was happening inside.

“What’s wrong?” George’s face hardened.

“I don’t know. I can’t see anything.” I answered, clueless.

After a while, the doctor came out.

“What’s going on, doctor?” Ethan’s father asked.

The doctor stared at us for a moment, then said regretfully, “I’m sorry…”

“No…No…My son.” He couldn’t believe what he just heard.

Julianne fell on the floor, crying. Everyone else poured into tears. And I… I leaped in. I kneeled on the floor, my head on the bed, and I let the floods of tears come out.

“Ethan, wake up! …Wake up and tell me that this is not true! …Ethan, you can’t do this to me. How can I live without you? …Ethan, please…I just can’t. I can’t…”