I've Been Waiting Such a Long Time for Someone to Come Along

"What the hell are you talking about, Garrett?" I asked nervously.

My stomach was starting to turn and it wasn't from the martini I had.

"John left to go see you...he's not back yet. Fuck, this is all my fault. I'm so sorry Millie." He repeated.

"Wait, but I never saw him. Where is he now?" I asked, extremely confused.

"We don't know. We thought he was with you but you're here! Millie I need to tell you something about-"

"Oh my God Garrett I know where he is. Get the guys please and I'll text you the directions." I exclaimed immediately as I remembered those ambulances.

I ran through the venue and through the parking lot all the while thanking God that I chose to wear flats. I quickly unlocked my car and hopped in. I didn't even look both ways before backing out and driving off towards the hospital. I bit my lip, hoping that I wasn't right.

After speeding to the Boston Medical Center I got out and walked quickly to entrance. I approached the front desk nervously, trying to smile at the nurse sitting there.

"Hi, can I help you?" She asked.

"Um, yes. I was wondering if you have a patient named John O'Callaghan? My name is Millie Nickelsen." I asked anxiously.

I prayed that she was going to tell me no and I could stop worrying but what she did next almost made me break down right there.

"Are you related to him, miss?" She asked earnestly as she stood up.

"N-no. But I'm his fiancée." I lied. Duh, they won't tell you anything if you're not related.

"Please follow me." She ordered in a grim voice as she walked quickly.

I could hear my heart pounding with every step that I took. This wasn't going to be good.

She led me back through doors that read 'intensive care' and I got even more worried if possible.

She grabbed a man by the arm and whispered in his ear as she pointed to me. He nodded and she walked away.

"Hi there, I'm doctor Frank." He said, introducing himself. He stuck out his hand and I shook it weakly.

"I'm Millie Nickelsen. John's fiancée." I replied.

"Nice to meet you." He said with a half hearted smile. "I'm guessing you'd like to know what happened."

"Yes please." I nodded.

"Let's have a seat in the waiting room."

The old man put his arm around my shoulders and led me to the empty waiting room. I sat down on one of the plastic chairs and braced myself for bad news.

"So, your fiancé John, was brought in here about three hours ago because of a car crash. The car is totaled, but I'm guessing you don't care about that. John has sustained a lot of head trauma. He's unconscious now and we're not sure when he'll wake up or what will happen when he does. He might be fine, we don't know. We might be able to tell a little sooner if we could give him an MRI, but we'd need your permission to do that. In addition to the head trauma he's also received some severe wounds to the chest. I don't want to over dramatize this, but his condition is extremely serious." He told me.

I nodded, not wanting to use my voice as I knew I would end up sobbing.

"Would you like to give permission for us to perform the MRI? It's completely your choice." He told me softly.

I nodded again and signed the clipboard.

"We're doing everything we can, Miss Nickelsen. You may go see him now if you would like. There's a bag of his personal belongings at the nurses station that I believe has something that belongs to you in it." He said before getting up and walking away.

I stood up on my wobbly legs and carried myself to the nurses' station. They gave me a big plastic bag that held all of his clothes and other things. I shuddered at seeing his blood stained t-shirt. I asked them what room he was in and they pointed me in the right direction.

I walked into the room cautiously, like I was going to be walking in on some elaborate prank, but that wasn't the case. Instead, I saw John's pale body attached to as many machines as one could think of. I couldn't hold back my tears any longer and they all spilled out at once. I took the seat in the chair next to his bed and held his hand.

"I'm s-so sorry, John." I sobbed.

He looked like he was one step away from death. I couldn't bear to think how I was responsible for all of this.

"I l-love you so m-much." I cried. My shaking hands were gripping tightly onto his as I rested my head on the guard rail of his bed.

I couldn't even pick up my phone to call anybody. I felt like I was going to pass out or throw up from what was going on.

I looked at John again. He looked so helpless lying there. I brushed the hair out of his face and stroked his cheek. I thought maybe it would help wake him up or something, but no.

Finally after the sixth phone call from Garrett I picked up.

"Hello?" I asked in a whisper.

"Where are you? Is John okay?" He asked.

"Boston Medical Center. Room 113." I answered before hanging up. If I would have talked any longer I would have broke out into sobs again. By now I was down to just a few tears.

I heard a knock on the door and a nurse walked in. She was pretty young. Maybe 25.

She came in and pressed some buttons on one of his machines and smiled at me.

"Could I get you anything? A drink? Some food?" She asked sweetly.

"No th-thank you." I answered.

She gave me another sympathetic smile and walked over to where I was. She took my hand in hers and looked me in the eye.

"I could get in trouble for this but I'm going to do it anyway. When the paramedics brought him in he was a mess. He kept screaming something and we couldn't understand what it was. Then when you walked in and said your name was Millie we all knew what he was screaming. He was crying out for you. He loves you so, so much. I don't know if you're religious but I think that everything happens for a reason, so don't lose hope yet."

And with that, she squeezed my hand and left.

I started bawling thinking about what she said. He was probably so cold and scared. He was in a foreign town with no family. If I would have stopped to see where those ambulances were going I could have been there with him.

I looked through the bag of his belongings for something to comfort me and while I looked I grasped onto what the doctor must have been talking about.

The ring.