This Is My Love

I walked through the ICU with a cup of coffee in my hand as I made my way to Pete's room, wincing at the sounds of people groaning and crying in their rooms. I had always hated hospitals, ever since I spent so much time in one in the last month of my mom's life, but now I refused to leave one. Pete had been in his coma for a full 24 hours now, and they were the longest hours of my life. Not much had changed, the doctor's still didn't know when he would wake up, but they were hopeful he would be okay. Pete's parents and my Dad had all arrived that morning, and after visiting the hospital, seeing Pete and talking to the doctor I urged them to go back to Pete and I's place and rest up. I still hadn't told anyone else of my pregnancy, for I wanted desperately for Pete to be the first to know. I just hoped he would wake up soon.
I walked into Pete's room and sighed sadly. He was hooked up to machines, an I.V. was stuck in the back of his hand and the top of his arm was still wrapped up, but healing well. His skin color was returned to normal, but his lips looked dry and were parted slightly to accommodate his breathing. He looked like he was simply resting, but I knew better. I sat down in the chair next to Pete's bed and took a sip of my coffee before placing it down on the table next to me.
"Oh, Pete," I whispered as I grabbed his hand in both of mine, careful to mind the I.V. The doctor's said that studies have proven that some comatose patients could hear what was going on around them, and so, with that hope, I made sure to talk to Pete constantly. "You look terrible. Look at that hair," I teased as I reached up and placed my fingers in his hair before flexing them against his scalp. I sighed again and placed my hand back over his.
"I would rather die a thousand deaths than see you go through this," I whispered as I examined his gorgeous face, a face so precious to me that I would surely die if I was unable to see it again. A few tears began to stream down my face as the memories of the events after the gun went off ran through my mind. The sickly thud of Pete hitting the floor, the look of pain on his face and the sight of blood... So much blood... Everywhere. Pete's blood. The life source of the father of my unborn child. Automatically, I placed a protective hand over my belly.
"Damn it, Pete, you have no idea exactly how much you laid down your life for, and I love you so much for it... But, I need you to come back now. There's a very important job waiting for you," I whispered hoarsely before taking my hand from my belly and placing it on his forearm. I stroked my thumb back and forth over the soft skin there. I decided I had to get it out, I had to tell him. What if he didn't wake up... Ever? And what if he could actually hear me? He deserved to know. So, I took in a deep breath and began.
"Yesterday morning, while you were at the press conference, I found out something incredible..." I took a moment to gather myself, for I was now fully crying. I stroked my fingers up and down his arm to soothe myself, relishing the fact that he was still warm beneath my finger tips. I would never take the fact that he was in my life for granted again. "Pete, you're going to be a father," I whispered through a smile, loving how it felt to say the words out loud. "I'm pregnant, so, you see? You have to wake up. We need you."
What happened next shocked me out of my chair, literally. Pete's fingers flexed ever so slightly around my hand, and the machine monitoring his brain began to beep loudly. I sprang up from my chair, but continued to hold onto Pete's hand.
"Nurse!" I yelled out the door before returning my focus to Pete. I bent down over Pete, my breathing heavy. "Peter, can you hear me?" I asked him. His fingers flexed again, lightly grasping my hand. I slapped my hand over my mouth as tears streamed down my face. "Oh, Pete... Wake up, baby, wake up for me."
The nurse ran in behind me and straight to the machine and studied it for a moment before pulling out her cellphone. She sent what looked like a text before snapping it shut and moving next to me.
"What happened?" She asked me. Tears were streaming down my face now as I looked up to her.
"He squeezed my hand... Twice. He did it the first time and after I asked if he could hear me, he squeezed it again." After I explained this to the nurse, he squeezed my hand again. I gasped. "He just did it again!"
The nurse took a flashlight out of her chest pocket and bent down over Pete before clicking it on and pulling up his eyelid. She flashed the flash light back and forth over his eye. While she was doing this, Pete groaned. I gasped again and the nurse quickly took her flashlight away from his eye. His lips began to move, as if he was trying to say something. The nurse bent down and put her ear close to his lips.
"What's that, Mr.Hernandez?" She asked. Pete's lips began to move again, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.
"What is he saying?" I asked the nurse. She straightened back out and looked at me with knitted eyebrows, confused.
"I could only make out one word, 'father'," she informed me. A sob escaped my throat and I basically shoved the nurse out of the way to get closer to Pete. I bent down and placed my hand on the top of his head, using my fingers to stroke his hair.
"That's right, Pete, you're going to be a Father, so come on back to me now," I whispered, beyond excited. Just then, the doctor burst into the room.
"I got your page. What's going on?" He asked the nurse as he walked over to the other side of the bed.
"He started having major brain activity then started squeezing her hand and trying to speak," the nurse informed the doctor. The doctor nodded his head before looking down at me and smiling.
"Great, he's waking up," he informed me. I bit my lip to keep a relieved sob from escaping my throat. The doctor looked back down to Pete. "Ah, here we are!"
I quickly looked down to Pete to find that his eyes were fluttering open. I watched as they opened and closed a few times, obviously adjusting to the lighting of the room before searching around for a moment to land on the doctor. The doctor smiled.
"Mr. Hernandez, welcome back," the doctor greeted him. Pete furrowed his eyebrows, looking confused before flexing his hand against mine again. When he felt me squeeze back, he flicked his eyes over to me to have them land on my face. I smiled happily.
"Ano," he whispered dryly. I nodded my head and placed a kiss on his forehead.
"Oh, thank god..." I whispered against the skin of his forehead before bringing my face back into his view. He had his eyes closed again and my heart skipped a beat, my mind automatically going to the worst conclusion, but he was only enjoying the feeling of my lips, for he opened them back up and smiled when I pulled them away.
"Here, this should help him speak a little easier," the nurse said from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to find a container of ice chips being offered to me. I took it and gave her a look of thanks before turning back to Pete. I tried to take my hand out from Pete's so I could feed him the ice chips, but he tightened his grip. I let out an airy laugh.
"Bruno, I need my hand if you want to be able to speak," I spoke through a teasing smile. He frowned.
"Here, I'll take care of that," the doctor whispered before taking the container from my hand. I smiled in thanks.
"Take some ice, Pete," I whispered as I gestured to the doctor. The doctor used a pair of little tongs to take the ice chips out and place them in Pete's mouth.
After taking a few ice chips, Pete was able to speak. He looked over to me and smiled.
"So, I didn't dream it? I'm going to be a Dad?" He asked as he glanced down to my belly. I let out a happy laugh as fresh tears began to form in my eyes. I nodded my head and bit my lip. His smile grew larger and he closed his eyes as he let the idea sink further into his head.
"Mr. Hernandez?" The doctor asked. Pete opened his eyes and looked up to him. "What do you remember?"
Pete thought for a moment.
"I remember everything up until I passed out in our house," he informed the doctor. The doctor nodded in approval.
"Good, so there's no amnesia," the doctor said thoughtfully.
"Pete, how long could you hear around you for?" I asked him. He looked over to me and smiled.
"Well, I remember that I could hear the whole time, but it's sort of like when you wake up and know that you had a dream, but you can't remember it... The first thing I remember hearing was you saying something about my hair." He raised his eyebrow at me playfully. I giggled and shrugged innocently. Pete smiled.
"And then you told me the news," he moved his eyes to my stomach and smiled, "and I knew I had to wake up."
I closed my eyes and let a few tears stream down my face. He was awake... He was here, and the world was slowly turning right side up again.