Love Like A Tidal Wave

~Lyla’s Point Of View

It must have rained since I had been asleep, because the ground was freshly wet and steam was rising off of it. Rain never made California cooler, only made it more difficult to plan your wardrobe. I stomped across the parking lot and tried to stop crying, crying seemed to be the only thing I did nowadays. I didn’t know where I was going or who I was going to talk to, I just wanted to see Vic. The sliding doors opened for me and I walked past the front desk without signing in. Up and down endless hallways until I ran into someone and almost fell over.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa little lady, what’s wrong?” Mike towered over me, at least a foot taller than me. He had on a shirt from the hospital gift store that said “It’s a girl!” in pink bubble letters. His eyes were red and he was holding a Rockstar, probably the only thing keeping him awake.

Should I tell him about Jaime? He was drunk and didn’t mean it. He wouldn’t remember it once he was sober and if I tried hard enough I could forget it too.

“Nothing. I’m just still upset.” I twirled the engagement ring around my finger.

“Let’s go sit down then. We can go see Victor in a few minutes, they’re changing his bedding and stuff like that.” Mike led me over to a jumble of couches. It seemed he had tried to fit three of them together to make a makeshift bed to fit his large, lanky frame. “He almost had a panic attack while we were picking out that ring, ya know.” Mike smiled and touched the diamond.

“You went with him?”

“Of course. I know what the ladies like.” He winked at no one in particular and threw his head back to finish his drink.

“Oh shut up.” I laughed and fake punched his arm. I adored the ring. It was the most beautiful ring I had ever laid eyes on, and more than I could ever imagine receiving. The band was thin and then in the middle a large diamond surrounded by tiny emeralds took center stage. Underneath the diamonds, where only I could feel it, Stay was scripted in elegant letters. “I think I should get him a ring, too.”

“That’s an awesome idea! Let’s go pick it out tomorrow.” Mike genuinely smiled for the first time since the accident and it gave me hope.

“Mike.” My voice was barely over a whisper. “Do you think he’s going to be okay?”

“I believe he will. And that’s all we can really go by at this point. These kinds of things can be unpredictable.” He sighed and scratched what little stubble he was capable of producing. I leaned my head against his shoulder. I looked up to the ceiling and silently begged my tears to turn around.

“Excuse me, you can go in and see him now.” A nurse with hair so red it almost looked purple tapped Mike on the shoulder with a friendly smile. He tipped his snapback at her.

Mike nudged me, saying I should go in alone. I walked slowly into Vic’s room and almost collapsed. The bruises on his face had turned into giant patches of purple and his eye had swelled so big if he were awake his eye wouldn’t be able to open. But everything has to get worse before it gets better, right? I told myself this as I took his hand and sat at my usual post next to his bedside. He was hooked to more tubes and machines than usual and that made my heart sink. He was not progressing, things were getting worse or not reacting at all. The doctors were giving no hint as to which direction his recovery was going so I only had my heart. And my heart wasn’t giving up on him.

Mike came in eventually and sat on the other side of the bed and watched cartoons on mute until the sun set again. How many days had we spent in this hospital? It was like a scary, realistic episode of Twilight Zone. Mike said he was going to sleep on the bus, he had been sleeping on those couches
since we had got here. When the doctors had left for the night and the only light was the soft glow from the TV I crawled into bed beside Vic.

Since the day we met there was never a night we spent apart, and I could bear it no longer. His warm breath wasn’t there on my neck and his soft lips weren’t kissing the top of my head, but he was still there. His arms weren’t encircling me but I knew I was his, and he was mine. The ring on my finger told everyone so. I pushed a bit of hair off his forehead to see his face more clearly. Despite the bandage covering most of his forehead and obstructing my view I could still see my Vic underneath all these injuries. I missed him.

My fingers grazed a raised spot on my neck: a hickey. From none other than Jaime. I decided to talk to him about it tomorrow and maybe that was all it had to be: a mistake.

I sighed and rested my head on Vic’s shoulder. I could almost feel him wrap his arm around my shoulder. But this time almost was not enough.

…..

“Little one… Hey wake up. It’s time to go.” Mike was shaking me softly. Tony and Olivia stood against the wall, their eyes open in shock. This is the first time they had seen Vic. Tony had stayed behind to handle some things with press.

I looked to my right and Vic was laying, still motionless. His bruises had begun to yellow and the swelling had gone down slightly, he looked better than he did last night at least. I got up and tried to fix myself as much as possible. Olivia hugged me, an obvious attempt at empathy. I managed a smile and walked out of the room. We walked silently down the halls and were almost to a rental car when Mike broke the silence.

“What’s on your neck? A hickey! What the hell have you been doing, Lyla?” Shit. He was angry. Mike was very scary when he was angry.

“L-listen to me. I can explain. Don’t freak out.” My words caught in my throat. He crossed his arms, he was waiting. “Last night when I went back to the bus I got really upset and I got drunk. Jaime was there and he put me to sleep and then I fell asleep for awhile and when I woke up Jaime was drunk. He pinned my hands down and I was too weak. All he did was kiss me. He was drunk and he said he was lonely. I really don’t think he meant anything.”

Mike pounded the roof of the car with his fist. “That bastard. He always does this when he’s drunk. Okay. I’m not going to say anything to him, that might turn ugly. But if that hickey is still around when Vic wakes up you better do a damn good job of covering it up.” Mike buckled his seat belt and put the car in reverse.

Well, it could’ve been worse.

My day spent with Mike was something I was in dire need for. My hopefully soon-to-be brother in law knew just what to say and not to say. To carefully only bring up healthy Vic and our bright future together. Not the alternative, which I can’t even bear to imagine.

After a lunch turned mini food fight Mike took me to the jewelers where they had bought my ring. Display cases lined each wall and were in rows leading to the back wall where a middle aged man with dark hair stood. Everything in the room combined was probably worth more than everything I had in my entire house.

“Ahh, Mike! Back so soon? And is this the lovely lady you were shopping for just a week ago! It’s a pleasure.” The man had a professional sounding voice. He extended his hand and I shook it.

“I’m Lyla.” I smiled and played with my ring.

Mike explained what had happened to Vic and what we were doing now. A range of emotions that would even make a psychologist confused flashed across the poise man’s face. I distracted myself by looking at all the sparkling items in the display cases. Everything in those glass boxes were every girl’s dream, but mine was laying in a hospital bed more broken than any heart could ever be. I didn’t need a ring to know I loved him but it showed everyone else I did.

I had walked the length of the room before I found it. A single golden band with tiny grooves engraved along each rim. It was the same color gold as mine and looked like a piece of jewelry that would still look beautiful buried in the mud. I called Mike and the jeweler over to claim my prize. The jeweler took the ring into the back room and came back with it wrapped in a pretty blue box.

“There’s a surprise on the inside.” He winked as he handed it to me.

We thanked him and walked back to the car. On the ride home it began to rain and I leaned my head against the window. Mike was drumming on the steering wheel and rapping a song I didn’t know the words to. I smiled as the car drove in and out of street lights.

I tried to put together a speech in my head of what I would say once Vic woke up. Every time I would make the tiniest bit of progress the judgmental side of my brain would say it wasn’t good enough. My love for him was like the raindrops outside: endless and incapable of words.