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“We were fighting in your car,” she said.
“Right, and then I stopped at a traffic light, and once it turned green, your passenger door came in direct impact with a speeding pickup truck.”
“No… that can’t be right,” she refuted in confusion. “Wepassedthat intersection. I remember us driving through—it was literally a couple seconds later that the car behind us got hit by that vehicle.”
“Aria, that’s not what happened, baby.”
“I looked back, and I saw the crash! You pulled over… we… we talked.”
“Sweetheart, maybe you dreamed all of that while you were in a coma. We never made it past the intersection.”
Her eyes darted side to side in confusion. Hopefully, reality was sinking in.
“Oh, my God!” Her face crumbled in tears as she clasped her hand over her mouth. “I told you I hated you!”
“It’s okay, baby.” I leaned in closer, moving her hand away.
“I didn’t mean it!”
“I know that.”
“I can’t believe I said all those awful things!”
“Aria—”
“I’m sorry, Noah. I’m so sorry. I—”
“Shhh, don’t cry.”
She held on to me and wept in my arms. Our past arguments didn’t matter to me.
“Stop apologizing,” I said.
“I love you”—she sobbed—“I could never hate you.”
“I know. You don’t have to say it.”
“But you could’ve died! I could’ve died! If I never woke up, you would have lived the rest of your life thinking I hated you!”
It was heart wrenching to hear her cry. I felt responsible for all her pain, and I couldn’t take it away.
“I said some awful things too, Aria. So please, don’t feel bad. No more tears. Do you forgive me?”
She nodded, drying her eyes.
“Good.” I smiled. “I forgive you, too. I don’t want to see you cry over an argument that happened ages ago. Let’s just focus on your recovery.” I kissed her head and relaxed in my chair.
“Can you tell me what happened?” she said. “Everything I thought was real has turned out to be nothing but a dream.”
I was curious to know what those dreams were about, but I did as she asked and put together a chronological timeline for her.
“… After we left Evan’s place, it was almost one in the morning—Tuesday, April 30th, to be exact. We argued in the car because… And then a white pickup truck started hydroplaning… the driver was speeding and driving drunk. We had the greenlight to go, and when I reached the middle of the intersection, it happened so fast. He slammed right into your passenger door and caused the car to flip and somersault sideways. I was knocked out at first, but regained consciousness when paramedics pulled me out of the car.
“The full crew was there at the crash site. Your injuries were more critical than mine. I remember not wanting to go on the stretcher, but they forced me.”
“What happened to the driver?” asked Aria.
“He died during the crash.”
