<<<< Home
Three months later
Six people survived the crash. Only six. Zac was one of them. When I first saw him, I could barely even believe that it was my boyfriend. He was so battered up, you would never know if it wasn't for the I.D that they found in his pocket, saying so. All of his ribs were cracked, both legs were seriously broken, a sprained wrist, a shoulder popped out of joint, all of the fingers on his left hand broken. His entire face a swollen, bloody mess. And then the fact that he was in a coma just topped everythihg off. They didn't know when he was going to come back to reality, if at all. It hurt so bad to see him like that. I just had to keep reminding myself though, that at least he was alive. That was the main thing.
I went down to that hospital every day. Sometimes Amy came with me for moral support, but normally, I went alone. When I got there, David and Starla were almost always there too, and his brother Dylan was there quite often as well. If anything good came out of this situation, it was the fact that I became very close with his whole family. Since Zac was not concious, we got to talk a lot, and we got to know each other very quickly. After all, we were together almost all of the time. It was only during the nights that I decided to sleep over at the hospital that it was just Zac and I.
Slowly but surely, Zac's body healed. His face looked normal again. But, he still would not wake up. We had everything back but his brain, which was really the most important thing.
The whole situation didn't seem fair at all. Since Zac and I had started dating, there had been nothing but drama. First, there was Ashleigh spreading rumours about me. Next, there was Josh coming to town and trying to hurt me. Now this. I was beginning to think that our relationship was cursed. I wondered if it would ever get better. In some strange way, I felt responsible for Zac being hurt. Before I came along, nothing bad ever happened to him. Now one horrible thing only seemed to be weeks apart from the next horrible event. Would it go on like this forever? And would each thing continue to get worse and worse?
Night after night, I sat in that dark hospital room, the sound of Zac's heart monitors and oxygen tanks keeping me awake. Even if the room was silent, I am sure I couldn't sleep anyway. How could I sleep with Zac in the condition that he was? I literally only slept about an hour a night since the accident, if I was lucky.
It was three months since the plane crash. Every one of the other survivors had recovered wonderfully and were home with their families. Zac was the only one who was still in a hospital. It was about eight o'clock at night, and Zac's parents had just left. I sat down in the big chair in the corner of the room and opened up a magazine. The pages were filled with stories on Zac, and his accident. Reports on how he was doing, and pictures of the wreck itself. It hurt to even look at it, but that's pretty much all that had been in any magazine since it happened.
Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Zac's hand move. I glanced over at him, positive that I was just imagining things. He was still laying there, like he had been for three months. I looked back at my magazine, and as soon as I did, I once again thought he moved. I put the magazine down and stood up. Slowly, I crept over to the side of his bed. It was dark, but it looked like his eyes were slightly opened.
"...Zac?" I whispered, feeling foolish. I knew I was just freaking out, or imagining everything.
"Chloe..." His voice was raspy. Then again, he hadn't used it in months.
"Oh my god!" I shouted, running the rest of the way to his bed. "Zac, you're awake!"
"Where am I?" He asked.
"You're in the hospital." I said, my voice shaky. I was trying hard not to start bawling.
"Why are you crying?" He asked, a small smile on his face. He reached up and grabbed my hand.
"Because you're awake!" I replied, taking his hand and holding it tight. "Will it hurt you if I hug you?"
"Why would it hurt...?"
I bent down and wrapped my arms around his neck. His arms went around my back and he squeezed tight. I was beginning to think I would never feel his arms around me again. It never felt so good to have him touch me.
"Oh my god...I can't believe I'm actually hugging you."
"Why?" He laughed.
"Well it's been three months. It felt like forever. I didn't think you were gonna come back." I sniffled and kissed his lips. They felt one hundred times better than I remembered.
"What are you talking about?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You mean, you don't remember?"
"Remember what?"
"The plane crash."
"Plane crash?"
"When you left to finish the movie in Oklahoma...your plane crashed." I explained, suprized that he couldn't remember.
"What?"
"Three months ago. You've been in a coma ever since."
"Oh my god..." he said quietly, under his breath." "What about the other people on the plane?"
"Only six people lived, including you." I said.
"Six people? There were at least fourty something on board...." his eyes got wattery.
"I know." I replied. "It's terrible."
"Those poor people..." he said quietly.
"But, you're alive. And you're back. And this is good. Very good!"
"Yeah..." he looked really upset. He had an obviously good reason to be. "Chloe, I'm so sorry..."
"For what?" I asked.
"For making you worry."
"Zac! It's not your fault! Don't apologize!" I laughed a little and wiped away a tear. "I should tell someone you're awake. And oh god! I should call your parents. They just left a few minutes ago." I stood up.
"Chloe! Wait."
I looked down at him. "What?"
"You can call them. But just wait a minute, okay? I just want you to be with me for a second."
"But I need to find a nurse, or doctor...somebody. I mean, you don't even remember the accident! What if you have amnesia or something?"
"Chloe, you can do all of those things. But, it's not going to make a different if you wait a little bit. Just a minute?"
He reached his hand up, and I grabbed it and sat down on the chair that was next to the bed. I layed my head on his chest and he ran his fingers through my hair. I started to bawl again.
"I missed you so much." I said.
"I'm okay now Chloe, it's alright."
"I know." I replied. "I really wasn't sure if you'd ever wake up."
"I did though."
I turned my head toward him and kissed him again.
"I love you so much." I said.
"I love you too, Chlo." he smiled at me. "And I can't tell you how much it means to me that you stuck around all of this time."
"I'd do it again in a second." I replied. "But, please don't give me reason to do so. If something like this ever happens to you again...I don't know what I'll do..."
"Don't worry." He replied.
I couldn't help but worry. I couldn't help but think that as long as he was with me, horrible things like this would just keep happening. I tried to block those thoughts out of my head, but it was nearly impossible to do so.