Page 105 of True Sight
She springs up from the chair and moves to turn them off before returning to her seat next to me. “Henry, there was an accident.Youwere in an accident. You were on your way to see Conrad, remember? The car you were in was T-boned pretty badly…” As she speaks, the memory of looking up from my phone and seeing the car speeding towards me comes back in a blur. The impact of it hitting the car and me all over again. It’s as if I can feel the seat belt burn into my skin and hear the car rolling several times before coming to a violent stop. Then, nothing. I remember feeling a euphoric nothingness and taking a final breath.
“Did I die?” The words leave my mouth and she gasps at my question. I know I did but I need her to confirm it.
“You almost did, yeah,” she replies softly, chewing on her bottom lip. “The paramedics saved you and they rushed you to surgery when you got here. You’ve been out ever since.”
“How long has it been?” I glance outside and can see that it is dark but there aren’t any clocks I can see in the room.
“Nearly three days. Christmas is in a few more days.” She reaches her hand out to take mine and I look towards her. Tears brim on the edge of her eyes so I reach to wipe them away.
“Hey, don’t cry. I’m okay, I’m here now. You didn’t think you would get rid of me that easily, did you?” I try to smile at her but even that is painful.
“Henry Wanker, you evil little twat,” a new voice breaks out and I glance towards the doorway to see my best friend standing in it looking like she’s seen a ghost.
“Ellie? You’re here?”
“Of course I’m here, you prat. You didn’t honestly think I’d let you die without me, did you? We made a pact and I don’t care how much Jordan loves me, if you’re going, I’m going with you.” She moves quickly to my side and bends over to give me a hug. I groan at her touch but love that she’shere. When she pulls away, I look between her and Alex, grateful for their friendship.
“Not that I’m not happy you’re both here but…” I chew on my bottom lip and realize there’s a gash through it that wasn’t there before. “Does Conrad know? Has he been here?”
“Oh, he’s been here. He saw you and kind of freaked out but?—”
“He freaked out? Is he okay? I have to go and check on him.” I panic, realizing that my accident probably brought up painful memories of losing his parents. My hands come to the blanket and try to push them off so I can go and see him.
“Woah, woah, you’re not going anywhere.” Alex tries to settle me, pushing me back down in bed. The mere movement of sitting up straight makes me dizzy but I’m not going to let that, or her, stop me.
“No, you don’t understand, I have to?—”
“Sweets?” We all look towards the sound of his voice and I melt back into the bed when I see his brown eyes looking back at me. He’s carrying three to-go cups in his hand as he stands frozen in the doorway. Ellie moves towards him and takes the cups before nudging him closer towards me. The push seems to snap him out of the daze he is in and he moves to stand next to my bed. His hand hovers over mine and he almost seems afraid to touch me, as if doing so will break me completely. Always the one to move first, I reach for his hand and pull it into my cheek. He smiles down at me and uses his free hand to brush a piece of hair back into place.
“Hello, love.” I smile up at him.
“We’re going to go get some food. We’ll be back,” Alex says lightly, looping an arm through Ellie’s and guiding herout of the room. We study one another for a moment, letting the silence of the room speak for us.
“I’m so happy you’re awake,” he finally says. He lets go of my hand long enough to move to the other side of the bed and take a seat in the now abandoned chair.
“You told me I had to wake up, remember?” I say and his eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
“You heard me?” His words are laced with disbelief as his eyes bore into mine.
“At the time it almost felt like a dream but I knew it was you. I heard you talking to me, I knew you were there. I knew I had to wake up because you were waiting on me. I wasn’t going to leave you, not like that. Not ever.”
He attempts a smile as tears spring in his eyes causing tears of my own to bubble up and cloud my vision. He reaches over and wipes the one away that has managed to roll down my cheek.
“I have something else I need you to hear,” he says before standing up and grabbing something from the couch behind him. From the rumpled mess of a blanket and some of his clothes, part of me wonders if he’s been sleeping there, waiting for me to wake up. Turning around with his computer and a pair of headphones in hand, he comes back and settles himself in the chair, inching it as close to the bed as he can. Cracking open the computer, he types in a few things before plugging in the headphones and handing them to me. I put them in slowly and look at him, waiting. When he hits the spacebar on his computer my ears are filled with the rhythmic thumping of a noise I can’t place at first. I frown at him, trying to pinpoint it, and then feel a sense of knowingness and familiarity wash over me. I close my eyes and let the sound of the heartbeat fill my entire body.
“I know I wasn’t ready before but I’m ready now. I’m giving you my heart, Henry Baker, and I don’t want it back.” I blink my eyes open and wipe a tear away. When our eyes meet, he reaches over, and holds my cheek in the palm of his hand. “I love you, sweets, and I promise to never let another day go by without telling you that.”
“I love you too,” I cry before he stands from the chair and kisses me hard. It doesn’t even hurt when he does.
Our foreheads meet when he pulls away and he whispers against my lips, “Thank you for coming back for me.”
“Anything for you,” I promise before pulling him into me again.
The next morning,I wake up to him hunched over the bed asleep with his head resting on my lap. The doctors had me in and out of tests all night and no matter how many times I told him he could go home and sleep, he refused to leave. Glancing down, I smile at our hands that are intertwined, his fingers carefully shaped around my hand that’s stuck with an IV. I reach across and run my fingers through his ashy blond hair, causing him to stir.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Do you need me to get someone?” he hurries out, ready to play caretaker at a moment’s notice.
“I do need something,” I reply with a tired smile.
