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It has been almost five hours now. The doctors gave him medication forty-five minutes ago to wake him up, and since then, I've been sitting by his bedside with most of our friends, desperately hoping, wishing, and praying. Riley left about an hour ago to get a coffee, and Danny left about thirty minutes ago to go and get Gabe.
As angry as I am, and as much as I hate him for driving drunk and putting Nate in this position, I cannot do that to Gabe. I could never be the one to stop Gabe from being here for his brother.
I hear the door open behind me and see him being wheeled in by Riley. "Sorry it took so long; Gabe had to speak to the police. Danny is just giving his statement now," Riley informs us.
"I'm so sorry, Isabella. I never meant to hurt Nathaniel," Gabe says sincerely.
"I know," I say, getting up and walking over to hug him. Gabe seems uncomfortable at first, but he lets me hug him anyway, though he makes no attempt to return my embrace.
Two hours later, he's still not awake. The doctors have been in to check on him and say his vitals look good, but that waking up is often the hardest part, and not everyone succeeds.
"How about we go get a coffee," someone suggests quietly, but I don't lift my head to check where the voice is coming from.
"You go ahead, but I'm staying here," I say sadly as I continue to pray to whatever gods, angels, and spirits are listening.
"Come on, Izzy, let's all go for a quick coffee. You've been here all night. You haven't eaten anything and have barely slept. All you've had today is one drink. If you’re not careful, you’ll make yourself sick. Let's go for a little walk at least," Ava suggests, trying to persuade me to get up.
"No! I'm not leaving him alone," I say, more forcefully this time.
"And neither am I," Gabe says, sounding even more forceful and annoyed than me.
"You guys need a break," I say more kindly as I turn to look at the others, who all look like deer caught in headlights.
"Are you sure, Izzy? We can stay," Tucker says, putting his hand on my shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly.
I see Gabe staring at his hand, and I hear a small grunt of annoyance. I'm sure Tucker does too, but he doesn't move it. Instead, he leans down to my chair and hugs me from behind. "We'll be at the café at the end of the hall. Call us if anything changes, and we'll be here immediately."
I can hear myself mumbling a reply, but I've no idea what I even said. All I know for sure is that the man I love is lying in front of me, with a machine breathing for him.
I don't know how long Gabe and I sit in silence on either side of Nate, both holding his hands and listening to the soft beep and hiss of the ventilator. I rest my head on Nate's leg and whisper, "Please open your eyes, baby, I need you."
I'm shocked when I feel a hand touch my head, and I'm even more shocked when I hear Gabe whisper back, "He's a fighter, Bella; he'll always fight to get back to you." I lift my head and look at him in surprise, but Gabe is still looking away, and his hands are no longer near me.
Did that really happen, or did I just imagine it? Am I so sleep-deprived that I'm actually hearing voices?
I continue sitting here, resting my head on Nate's leg, and silently begging him to come back to me, but I must drift off. I vaguely remember the door opening and hearing someone speak before I hear Gabe hiss, "no changes, but Izzy finally fell asleep. If you wake her, I’ll kill you." I almost open my eyes to see who he's talking to, or should I say threatening, but decide against it. Instead, I just squeeze Nate's hand tighter as I allow myself to drift back to sleep.
When I open my eyes next time, it's dark again. I lift my head when I see movement in the corner of the room. "Sorry to disturb you, dear, I'm just checking his vitals," a red-haired nurse says kindly.
"I'm so sorry, I must have fallen asleep. Where is everyone?" I ask, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
"Well, your friends left about an hour ago and said they were going home to get something to eat and change their clothes, but that they would be back later. They made my ladies promise to call them immediately if there are any changes," The nurse says, coming closer, "The big one can be quite forceful, can't he?" she adds.
"What Tucker? Mr. All-American football star?" I joke back in surprise.
"Yes, that's him."
"He's an absolute sweetheart." I laugh. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Well, you should have seen him bossing around that creepy looking guy in the wheelchair. I was beginning to think I was going to have to call security."
"Yeah, that's Gabe. He's just as much of an asshole as he looks." I shrug.
This makes the nurse giggle. "I'm so sorry, that's so unprofessional," she adds apologetically.
"It's okay, even he's aware of the fact that he's an asshole," I admit. "Where did Gabe even go? I can't imagine it was easy to get him to leave."
"Like I said, it was all the big guy's doing. He sent him back to his ward to get checked out by the doctor and to give another statement to the police. He should be discharged soon, so I'm sure he'll be back here shortly," the nurse adds, as she finishes up reading whatever the machine is telling her. "Try to get some rest before everyone gets back because they've barely left all day. We tried explaining it’s two visitors per patient, and that they weren't allowed to come, but since they all insisted on breaking the rules by camping out in front of the door, we agreed to let them come back if they stayed quiet and remained in the room as they were crowding the hallway."
