Dear Katy

Alex

When I watched Katy ran out from the chapel, I was arguing with myself. Should I catch her up, or I shouldn’t? I looked at Paul, who was still shocked on what just happened. A second later, he looked at me and I think he was ready to hunt me down.

Before he could go for my throat, I ran out from the chapel and tried to catch up with Katy. A few blocks away, I couldn’t see her anywhere. The road led me to the park Katy and I went to three years ago.

I walked into the park and sat down on the wooden bench near the lake. I leaned my back on it and looked up to the sky. It was a very sunny day, with clear blue sky even though it was autumn.

Suddenly, a splash sound was heard. I stood up and saw someone was falling into the water from the dock. Before I could guess who it was, I ran to the dock to help the person.

I looked down to the dark water; I saw white cloth under it. “Katy!”, I hissed in frustration.

Without any more thoughts, I took off my shoes and plunged into the cold water. The water was so cold; it felt like thousands of needles stabbing my body. I kept on diving, and with my eyes closed, I felt a cloth in my hands.

I opened my eyes and saw Katy’s unconscious body, falling deeper. I took her hand and pulled her body next to mine.

I quickly swam up onto the surface until the cold air filled my lungs. “Kate.”, I lifted her higher and shook her body lightly. “Katy.”

I swam to the dock and pulled her up. Her skin was ghostly pale, her lips were the shades of blue and purple, and her hands were as cold as ice. “Katy, can you hear me?”

Her eyes were still closed, but I still felt her heartbeats, her veins pumping, and even her shallow breathing. I gave her CPR as hard as I could. Her lips tasted like water, and when my lips touched hers, maybe it felt cold, but I missed it.

When I gave her CPR for the fifth time, she choked out the water and coughed. “Katy?”

Slowly but sure, her eyes opened. The turquoise pools showed me that she was scared. “Alex?”

“Kate.”, I pulled her into my arms, even though she was still weak. “What were you thinking?”

“I lost my balance.”

Her lips were shaking and her teeth were gritting due to the cold. I took off my coat and wrapped it around her. “Come on, you have to go back there. Paul’s waiting for you.”

“No.”, she muttered weakly.

“What?”

“I don’t want to go back there, Alex.”, she looked down to her hands. “I don’t.”
“But you have to. You’re getting married, Katy, and now Paul’s waiting for you.”

“Don’t you get it, Alex?!”, she suddenly snapped. “I don’t want to marry Paul!”

My eyes widened. When I was about to respond, her breath got stuck and her hands fell to her stomach. Tears peeked out on the corner of her eyes. “Katy, what’s wrong?”

“The—The baby…”

Without any more words, I picked her up bridal style and ran her out from the park to the hospital, which was almost 20 blocks away. Her arms were around my neck loosely, and she kept crying and muttering words, like she was talking to the baby.

When we were already there, I brought her right to the ER, and there were some doctors and nurses who took care of her. I watched as they pushed her bed through the swinging doors and went out of sight.
**************
“Alex.”

I lifted up my head and saw Serena, Dexter, and Aubrey looking down to me. “Hey, guys.”

“How’s Katy? Is she okay?”

I stretched up and stood up from the plastic chairs in the waiting room. “I don’t know. The doctor hasn’t told me yet.”

Serena sighed and sat down, followed by Aubrey and Dexter. We waited for a couple hours, until the emergency room’s doors swung open. We stood up. “Doc, how’s she?”, I asked him.

“Well, she’s fine, but the baby inside her is struggling to stay alive.”

I could feel my breath stuck inside my throat. Dexter rubbed my back like she could see that I tensed up. “Can we see her?”

The doctor nodded and we all rushing into the ER. After the nurse led us to Katy’s room, I felt useless when I saw her, lying on the hospital bed again. Her skin was better than before, but her heartbeats were low and weak.

“Hey.”, Katy whispered groggily when we walked towards her bed. I quickly took her hand and leaned down so my forehead was pressed onto her hand.

“I’m sorry, Katy.”

“No, Alex, wasn’t your fault.”

Katy

“No, Alex, wasn’t your fault.”, I said as I ran my fingers through his tousled hair. I motioned Serena, Aubrey and Dexter to give us some time with my eyes, and they nodded in unison before they walked out from the room.

Alex looked up to me and I smiled down to him. “What’s wrong?”

“The doctor said our baby’s dying.”, he whispered.

I looked away and trying to control my tears. I knew that the baby was dying, but I didn’t want Alex to know. He suffered enough. “Alex, he’s still trying to live.”

Alex nodded and he sat up straight. Suddenly, he opened my blanket up and leaned his head forward until his face were hovering above my stomach. “Baby, it’s me, your dad. Please live, for your mom and me. Please baby.”, he whispered, but I could still heard him. He drew imaginary heart on my belly and kissed it.

“Alex.”, I sobbed as tears started to fell again. “I don’t want Paul to be his dad.”

“Katy—“, before he could finish his words, my eyes fell to the doorway, where my parents and Paul stood.

“Katy!”, mom gushed as she ran towards my bed and pulled me into a hug. “Honey, are you okay?!”

“Mom, I’m fine.”, I laughed a little. When I was still inside my mom’s arms, I could see Paul was going to talk with Alex outside.

Alex

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”, Paul asked when I was about to leave Katy’s room.

“Uhm, sure?”

He nodded and led me a little far from the room. He stopped at the end of the hallway and turned around. “Dude, I can’t take this anymore.”

“Take what?”

“You and Katy loves each other, and I don’t want to get in the way.”

“Paul, it’s not—“

“No, Alex.”, he sighed. Suddenly, he pulled out his engagement ring with Katy and dropped it into my palm. “She’s yours now.”

“Paul, I know you love her since the first time you met her. I want you to marry her, dude.”

He shook his head. “No. I want to, but she doesn’t. She wants you, only you, Alex. I’m an asshole if I get in both of your ways.”

I looked down to his ring and can’t fight the urge to smile. I looked up back to him and nodded slightly. “Thanks, Paul.”

“No problem. If you guys are getting married soon, don’t forget to invite Me.”, he chuckled.