Just One Chance : Chapter Five

Chapter Five.
“Hey you!” Michael stands as I enter the quiet little coffee shop. He’s always been the perfect gentleman. That’s one of the reasons I love him.
He wraps me in a hug and I put my arms around him, inhaling his scent.
I’ve missed you so much.
My mind repeats this over and over.
“Hey yourself.” I smile up at him.
We sit and talk for the first time in ages, he tells me how much he likes Nicole, but how he misses hanging out with me.
“So, when will I get to meet Nicole?” I pretend interest in his love life.
He shrugs and changes the subject. We exchange funny work stories for a while until we grow silent, both lost in our own thoughts.
“Katya?”
“Yeah?” I glance up at his face and notice that he looks completely serious. “What’s up?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” I smile.
He takes a deep breath. “..Have you ever-“
“Michael!”
I snap my head toward the happy voice. Nicole bounces up to our table and Michael stands to kiss her cheek. She smiles at me. “Katya, right?”
I bite my lip. “Uh yeah.” Why had my mood just taken a nosedive?
“Nice to meet you! Michael’s talked about you.”
She sounds like she’s just trying to be polite. It’s impressive though, she doesn’t seem the least bit jealous. If I found my boyfriend having coffee with another girl, I think I might be just a bit jealous. Especially if that guy was Michael.
“Nice to meet you too. Yeah? Good stuff, right?” I force a laugh and look at Michael. He looks just as uncomfortable as I feel.
Strange.
We talk for what seems like hours, the three of us. Nicole’s actually not so bad. It seems like she does most of the talking, about her family, her church, her job.
I’ve never been much of a believer in anything or anyone, but her faith in this Jesus seems unbreakable.
After a particularly deep conversation about how her God sacrificed his son for everyone’s sins, something I so did not get, I pull out my phone to check the time. I let out a little gasp and stand up. “It’s 9:43! I really should go.”
Nicole stands and pulls me into a hug.
“Don’t forget what I’ve said!”
Michael stands and raises a hand in goodbye. I wait for a hug, and when none comes, I feel inexpressible sadness. I wave back and walk out the door into the pouring rain. I stand under the awning for a couple minutes, hoping the rain will let up. I hear the door open and back into the shadows.
Michael’s voice brings my head up. “Don’t worry babe, she could never ever replace you.”
Nicole’s chirpy voice cuts over to me. “Good. She seems nice I guess. Not much of a threat.” Her laughter rings in my ears. “Want an umbrella?”
Their voices fade into the roar of rain and wind.
Tears fall down my cheeks in hot torrents as I run to my Lexus. I slide into my heated leather seat and turn up the radio and the heat to full blast. I grip the steering wheel as sobs shake my body. I sit like that for who knows how long.
Finally, with tears still streaming down my cheeks, I start my car and pull onto the busy road. My mind feels overwhelmed by a million different things.
The radio pounds.
The hypnotic rain drums on my windshield.
Bright lights from passing cars blind me.
A honking semi horn deafens me.
I hear the crunch of metal before I even see the truck. I feel my body burst with pain. I open my eyes, not even conscious that I had closed them. I scream as I see blood everywhere. Is it mine?
I feel the car spinning out of control.
The airbag hits my face, sending excruciating pain spiraling through my head.
And that’s the last thing I remember before I black out.
***
Michael felt as though he couldn’t breathe. The past hour of his life had seemed like one big sickening dream.
The smell of the hospital nauseated him. The sound of hushed whispers from the other waiting people echoed in his mind. He worked hard to push away the doubt and fear, but the Doctor’s words haunted him.
“She’s in a coma. She’s stable for now, but we don’t know if she’ll make it.”
Everything he said sounded clipped. Monotone. Unreal.
He couldn’t lose her! Not now!
Sudden anger surged through him, and he stood, pacing like a caged lion. How could this have happened? It was all his fault, for wanting to meet her in the first place.
If she didn’t make it, he would never forgive himself.
Ever.
***
In the next couple weeks, going to the hospital became a routine.
Michael would get up, go to the gym, work out, go home and shower, drive to work, and after work he would go to the hospital.
The nurses grew to expect him.
Some days the news was good “She has a little more brain activity today…”
Some days the news was bad “She sank a little further into a coma last night.”
But mostly, she stayed the same. Michael talked to her as if she could hear him.
“You look good today, Kay. I miss you. When are you going to pop open those beautiful green eyes?” Every day that he saw her, lifeless and unmoving on the bed, he grew a little more despondent.
He missed her laugh, her cute dimples, the way she bit her lip when she was nervous or uncomfortable. He wanted his best friend back.
Her not being around made him realize how much he’d taken her for granted.
And the longer she was gone, the more he missed her.
Nicole came occasionally too, telling him that she’d pull through, and talking with him. He didn’t want to socialize though. He’d rather just sit with his best friend.
Alone.

xoxox**