A month ago, he would have claimed being on the road was the most exhausting experience possible. Now, as he began to stir from a restless nap in a hospital chair, he realized it could get much worse. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he saw Nikki was already awake. She was watching him silently with a slight smile and an expression that made her look as if she was deep in thought. She had been like that a lot lately. The accident had really affected her. He didn’t know what to say or do anymore. She still resembled his silhouetted dream girl, but something was different. Something was terribly wrong and he couldn’t figure out quite what it was.
She was so sweet and innocent, the perfect girl in his eyes, but she seemed so distant lately. She stared off into space, brooding over some secret problem so private she couldn’t even tell him about it. Finally breaking the early morning silence that covered the room in a thick blanket of awkwardness, he was surprised to hear how loud his voice seemed in the deathly quiet hospital room. The ensuing conversation started out normal enough. He asked how she slept and if she felt any better and she responded in a dry, flat tone made harsh by her hoarse morning voice. It sounded as though she had just woken up and had hardly shaken off the sleepiness. What came next was his first surprise of the morning.
Rather than sigh and look blankly out the window on the other side of
the
room, as she normally did, she looked up into his eyes and said “Thank
you.” No explanation was given; only those words were said. She
continued to watch him, studying his face and staring into his eyes.
Maybe she was waiting for a response. Or, she could be half-dreaming.
It
just seemed odd to him that she would just make a statement as simple
as a
mere “thank you” with no further explanation or conversation. Not
knowing
how to respond, he just smiled as he leaned forward to give her a kiss
on
the forehead.
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