"Yes. Who is this?"
"Sir, my name is Jacob Nestle. I'm from the New York State Police. A car registered to your name was in an accident tonight. A BMW, sir."
I jammed my foot on the brake, and the Jag skidded to a dead stop. My hands were shaking too much to hold onto the steering wheel. My mind went blank with terror and I mumbled, "The woman driving the car...what happened?"
I couldn't bring myself to ask how she was, dreading the words he might say.
"Sir, she's been taken to Roseland Memorial Hospital with severe injuries."
The man continued to say something, but I didn't hear him. Every part of my brain shut off, except for the part that screamed for me to get to that hospital. I had to see her.
I stood in the doorway to Nina's hospital room where I'd remained for hours watching each labored breath she took. Someone touched my arm and I looked down to see Jordan standing there next to me.
"Tristan, thank you for sending your car to get me. What happened?"
"It was a car accident. That's all the police know so far. She rolled the car."
Her gaze moved over to Nina and I felt her hand squeeze my arm as the first sight of her injuries settled into her brain. Both arms were bandaged because of cuts and scrapes, tubes and wires seemed to be attached to everywhere on her body, and her head was bloody from where she'd slammed into the windshield. Even worse were the cuts and bruises on her face. She looked like someone had beaten the hell out of her.
But it was the internal injuries—the ones we couldn't see—that were worse. A bruised spleen and kidney. Three broken ribs. And a head injury they couldn't say how bad yet.
Jordan covered her mouth and made a noise that sounded like she was going to cry or be sick. I knew that noise because I'd heard myself make it hours earlier when I'd first entered Nina's room. And even now, I felt sick at the thought that she was lying there hurt and unconscious.
"Is she going to be okay?"
"The doctor told me she'll recover, but they don't know how long she'll be in the coma. She's hurt badly," I answered robotically, as I'd done on the phone with Nina's sister.
As she stood there looking at her friend, Jordan began to cry. "What was she doing in the car alone? You never let her go anywhere alone, Tristan. Why wasn't your driver there?"
I didn't know how to answer her questions. I'd spent hours beating myself up over the very same ones. Why didn't I stop her before she left? If I had, she wouldn't be lying there in a hospital bed hooked up to machines to keep her alive.
"I'm going to get some coffee. I want to make sure someone's here with her all the time, so I can get you some, if you like. I'll only be a few minutes."
Jordan grabbed my arm as I turned to leave. "Honey, are you going to be okay? You sound exhausted. Get some sleep. You look like you need it."
Shaking my head, I said quietly, "No. I can't sleep. It's better that I stay up. I want to be up when she comes out of it."
"Okay. Take your time and get some coffee." She smiled at me and added, "Don't worry. She's going to be okay. Nina's tough."
I tried to smile but my mouth couldn't do anything but stay in the frown it had been in since hearing the officer say she'd been hurt. My body felt numb as I went in search of a coffee machine or a cafeteria. My brain wasn't much better. Nothing mattered but Nina recovering, but I couldn't do anything to make that happen. No amount of money, nothing I could say would help her.
By the time I returned, her sister had arrived. Shorter than Nina, she looked like an older version of her. Looking at me strangely, she had no idea who I was as I took my position in the doorway.
"Kim, this is Tristan. He's Nina's boyfriend. Fiancé, I mean," Jordan said as she introduced us. "He's been here since right after it happened."
I stuck out my hand to shake Kim's and mumbled my hello. I didn't want to talk or socialize. I wasn't good with this kind of thing, and talking was only going to lead to having to explain to her why I wasn't with her sister when the accident occurred.
Kim studied me like I was something foreign she'd never encountered before. "It's nice to meet you. Nina told me just yesterday," she said flatly, but I clearly heard disapproval in her voice.
The two women talked about something I didn't care about. I didn't want to hear about the last time Nina visited her sister or how Kim had been planning to drive out to Brooklyn over the summer but never got the chance. I just wanted to be left alone with Nina, to hold her hand and hope she heard me when I told her how sorry I was and how I would make it all up to her.
Jordan seemed to read my mind and led Kim out into the hallway. I slowly crept over to the hospital bed and reached out to touch Nina's brown hair that laid against the stark white pillow. She didn't move when I ran my knuckle softly over her jaw.
I took her hand in mine. It seemed so small as my fingers surrounded her entire hand. "Nina, I'm so sorry, baby. If you can hear me, I love you. Don't leave me."
All I wanted was to see those soft blue eyes look up at me and to hear her say she loved me. But she didn't move.
Bringing her hand to my lips, I whispered, "Don't make me go on without you, baby. Open your eyes and tell me you still love me."
Nina laid in that hospital bed unconscious as I watched nurses do their best to keep her comfortable. The doctors visited every day and seemed to feel the need to constantly explain how it was normal for patients with head injuries to stay unconscious and how her body simply needed time to heal. I didn't want to hear any of their explanations. All I wanted to hear was that she'd be okay and awake so I could tell her I loved her.
Jordan came every afternoon after school and sat next to Nina holding her hand and telling her silly stories about their time in college. Kim left after the first day, but I knew Jordan made sure to call her with updates every day.
After eight days, her face showed what I knew she was thinking. I was thinking it too. What if the doctors were wrong? What if she never came out of it?
Exhausted, but afraid if I left Nina might wake up and I wouldn't be there, I sat slumped in the chair next to her bed as Jordan joked with her about the first time they met in college. My eyes slowly fell closed as the sound of her voice faded away.
"Nina? Honey, you're awake!"
My eyes flew open and I saw Jordan leaning over Nina. She was awake! I leaped from the uncomfortable chair I'd spent so many hours in and stood behind her. The sweet eyes I loved were open and she was speaking.
"Jordan, what happened?" she whispered.
"There was an accident, honey. But you're going to be okay now." Jordan began crying. "Oh, honey! We were so worried."