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"Any news?" I hand him his coffee.
"The doctors were in a few minutes ago, checking vitals, drawing blood. They say no change is not necessarily bad. I hope they are right." He takes a sip of his coffee and turns back to the window.
My phone buzzes, and I step outside to take it.
A deep baritone voice asks, "Is this Aaron Axel?"
I say, "Yes."
It's the detective.
"Yeah, I wanted to let you know I'll be by the hospital later this morning. I can go over the details of the accident with you."
"Great. I'll see you then." I walk back into the room and update her dad.
"I hope they find the son of a bitch who did this to my little girl."
I respond with, "Me too."
I opened the video I made for Erica and watched it again. Erica's dad comes over and looks over my shoulder.
"When did you make this?"
"As soon as I realized what an ass I had been. I flew in last night to surprise her and apologize for my actions. I made the video to show her how we were always meant to be together and to ask her to marry me." I shake my head back and forth. "Maybe if I had reacted differently, she wouldn't be here in the hospital, fighting for our baby's and her life."
He puts his hand on my shoulder. "Don't do that to yourself, son. Hindsight is twenty-twenty. Cliché or not, it's always true. We can't change what has already happened, but we can learn from it, move forward, and try to be better than we were. That is all any one of us can do."
He squeezes my shoulder, and we finish watching the video together. We laugh in a few places and melt in others.
I sit by Erica's side, watching and re-watching the video. Sometimes, I fast forward to my favorite photos, the ones when we are older, which give me hope for the future. I watch her expressions change over the years. I zoom in and realize how she looks at me has changed over the years. How had I never noticed this before? I'm such a fool.
I could have been with Erica all these years, and instead, I kept her in the friend zone. Whenever I would start to feel anything other than friendship, I tamped down those feelings, telling myself it was better if we stayed friends. I was so afraid of losing her as my friend; I couldn't see her as anything more.
Mr. Melvin says, "Try to get some shut-eye in the lounge. I'll wake you if anything changes."
I start to shake my head no, but he's right. The last time I slept was the night before last. The way the doctors are talking, it could be a few days yet before they are out of the woods.
I walk to the empty lounge and spot a couch. I dim the lights and lay down. Silently, I pray to the one power I haven't prayed to in quite a while. "I realize you don't have any reason to know my voice, God. I haven't exactly come to you for much. But, God, if you're there, I beg you to bring Erica and our baby back to me. I'll give up anything you want me to, do anything you ask of me, just as long as I can have Erica in my life, so we can raise our baby together. Please. Amen."
After I sent my message to the big guy upstairs, I fell into a restful sleep. It's only a few hours, but it helps. I'm still alone in the lounge, and the lights are off now. I get up and stretch and head back to the room.
I pick up Erica's hand and put my other hand on the baby bump. "How are they doing?"
Mr. Melvin rubs his eyes, says there's been no change, and then suggests, "How about I get us a strong cup of joe?"
I smile. I don't think people say that anymore, but I nod in agreement. I could use some right now.
When he leaves, I lean over and whisper in Erica's ear. "I know you're in there. I know you can hear me. Please, don't leave me here alone. Come back to me. Bring our baby back to us. I have so much I want to say to you to apologize for. Just, please, open your eyes, twitch a finger. Let me know you're coming back to me."
I stare at her intently, watching for any sign that she is coming around. No twitch, no blink, just stillness. I look up and silently pray again for God to bring her back to me.
Mr. Melvin comes in with our coffee and a stranger.
"I'm the detective working your wife's accident. You must be Alex?" He reaches out his hand for me to shake.
"Hi. I'm Aaron. I know it's confusing; my last name is Axel. It happens all the time," I chuckle. I don't correct him on the wife part, though.
"Uh, yeah, I'm sorry about that, Aaron. I wanted to come by and see how she was doing and to make sure you had my card. Also, I need to let you know that we have not tracked down the individual who ran into your wife at a stoplight. We believe they were drunk, making a left turn, and misjudged the distance, hitting her head. The driver never hit the brakes. We believe they were going about fifty-five miles per hour, about twenty miles over the speed limit. I don't know how they drove off after that, but they did. We have a 'be on the lookout' for their vehicle description. However, none of the witnesses could say whether it was a man or a woman driving. I'm very sorry, but we are doing everything possible to find them."
