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I sat straight up in my bed and pressed the phone closer to my ear.
“Hello?” I said again and held my breath. I didn’t want any noise distorting the voice on the other line, and that included my breathing.
“Vee…Baby…it’s me.”
This time there was no confusion on what I’d just heard. I looked around my room to make sure I was actually awake and not dreaming. I’d had these types of dreams before, although, he never spoke to me in them, so that’s new but still…
“Samuel?” I said just above a whisper. That’s all the sound I could muster.
“Yes?” his baritone voice answered.
“Baby? Is this really you?”
“It is. I asked for you when I woke up. The nurse told me you went home a few hours ago.”
I hopped out of bed and grabbed the first thing I saw to throw on.
“Ms. Patterson?” I heard the nurse say.
“Victoria, please tell me this is happening,” I said while pulling on my sports bra and t-shirt.
“It is! I saw the call light come on in here and thought there was a malfunction. I walked in and saw him sitting up in the bed. The doctors are in here now looking at him. Doctor McIntyre was on call tonight. I paged him, and he came right up.”
“I’m on my way. Did you call Vivian?”
“I will call her as soon as we get off the phone. He asked for you as soon as I came into the room.”
“Vic…”
“Yes, Ms. Patterson?”
“I’m awake, right? Like, this is not some elaborate extended dream?”
“No,” she chuckled. “Both you and Mr. Valentine are awake.”
I wiped the tears that had started to fall.
“Okay. I am on my way. Tell him I am on my way!”
I zipped up the jacket to my Adidas jogging suit. Without breaking my stride, I grabbed my purse, threw my phone inside and walked out my front door.
I made the ten-minute drive to the hospital in approximately five and a half. I don’t remember seeing any red lights. They bore some semblance of green to me; greenish-red, dark green or greenish-yellow, so I went through them.
Thoughts ran through my mind like, what if this is an isolated thing and he is asleep when you arrive? You didn’t ask her how he looked or if he was okay. What if you walk in and don’t recognize him or maybe he won’t recognize you. The latter was quickly dismissed because he asked to call me, so he knew who I was. Victoria would have mentioned memory loss.
I quickly found a space in the same area I parked in every day. I smiled and waved at the evening guard who’d become very familiar with my face. I trotted to the elevator bank and pushed the button for Samuel’s floor.
I took that time to examine myself in the mirrored elevator doors. I wasn’t sure if what I’d chosen to put on even matched but luckily for me, it did. I also had on sneakers to complement it. It was a miracle that I wasn’t in my nightgown, braless, in a pair of jogging pants and some furry slippers.
My heart began to race as the elevator doors opened. Muscle memory propelled me forward and down the hall to Samuel’s room. I had made this journey every day for four weeks. Every day I prayed for a miracle or some sign that he was getting better. I prayed for a sign that he would come back to me, an eye flutter, hand squeeze, something. Every day was the same prayer and every day was the same result. Now, I didn’t need to pray that prayer. He was awake.
I heard voices as I approached the door to his room. I took a deep breath before I pushed the door open and saw several nurses and doctors all milling around in the room. I could see Samuel’s bottom half, but I couldn’t see around the doctors that were examining him to see his face. I moved slightly to the left just as Samuel looked around the doctor standing in front of him. The corners of his full bearded lips curved upward into a smile. Instinctively I moved past every obstacle, machines, nurses, and doctors to get to him. I can’t recall if I said excuse me or if I just pushed my way through. Either way, they moved.
I dove into his awaiting arms and nuzzled my face into his neck. I felt his strong arms wrap around me securely holding me in place. I pulled away to look into his chocolate eyes. He pulled me to him and gently kissed me.
“Um, can someone find my real girlfriend. This one is crying. My girlfriend never cries,” he chuckled.
“Shut up!” I laughed through my tears, “I cry when it’s really important. I missed you, El.”
