He placed his hand on Neil’s shoulder. “Someone will be out shortly to escort you back.”
“Thank you, doctor,” he said.
We held each other, and I whispered, “He’s alive. We’re so lucky.”
So many thoughts flooded my mind. No matter what happened, I was in this for the long haul. I would never leave Noah’s side. I didn’t care if he couldn’t remember me or couldn’t speak. I was here to stay.
A nurse appeared. “Both of you can come back, provided she’s family.”
“This is my daughter, his sister,” Neil said without hesitation.
“Follow me,” she said as she led us down the hallway.
“Thank you,” I mouthed to him.
My heart felt like it started beating again at the sight of him. Noah was still asleep, hooked up to an IV. It was a relief to see that he looked pretty normal, albeit unconscious. His chest rose and fell, and I was never so happy to see someone breathing in my entire life.
Tears stung my eyes as I asked the nurse, “How long until he wakes up?”
“It varies. It’s taking him a while, but that’s not uncommon.”
She wrote something down in her chart as if this was business as usual. I wondered if she realized this moment was the hardest I’d ever experienced, that for me, the world had stopped moving every second he wasn’t awake. I didn’t know whether the love of my life was going to be okay, whether he would even remember me. I didn’t know what I would do if Noah couldn’t speak. No matter what, I would be here. I needed to be strong for him.
Neil reached for my hand as we sat and waited for Noah to wake up.
An indeterminable amount of time went by before Noah finally opened his eyes. His dad and I leapt from our seats when his lids fluttered.
His father spoke first. “Son…it’s Dad. I’m here. Heather’s here, too.”
“Hi, baby,” I added. “I’m here, and I’m never leaving.”
Noah blinked.
I knew it would take a while for him to fully come to, but the longer he wasn’t saying anything, the more fearful I became.
I rubbed his shoulder. “It’s okay. Take your time. There’s no rush.”
“You’re going to be okay, son. I just know it.”
I lay my head next to his and began to pray silently. The sound of his breathing grew louder.
When I looked up again, his eyes were almost fully open, and he stared blankly back at me.
Oh my God.
Say something. Please. Anything.
“Hi…hi,” I whispered. “You have no idea how happy I am to see those beautiful eyes of yours. I love you, Noah. I love you so much.”
He didn’t respond, but a lone teardrop fell from his eye. He could hear me. But could he understand? Did he want to speak but couldn’t?
I hadn’t wanted him to see me upset, but I couldn’t help it as my own tears fell.
“It’s okay, son. Everything is going to be okay.”
I reached for Noah’s hand and held it. “We’ll be here with you every step of the way. Your mom is coming, too…and your brother. And Olivia is out there. Oh my God—she and I actually hugged. That’s how much we both love you.”
Please say something.
Please.
I kept talking to him. “I’ll make a deal with you. When you get better, I’m going to let you listen to every embarrassing song on my phone. You know I vowed never to let that happen. But you know what? It will be worth it. And I can’t wait to hear you make fun of me.”
For the next half-hour, Neil and I stayed at Noah’s bedside, offering words of encouragement in a desperate attempt to get him to say something—anything.
Then everything went silent for a while. I turned away for a moment, stepped over to the window to clear my head.
“Hea…”
I whipped back toward him.
Noah pushed the words out. “Hea…Heather…”
“Yes!” I rejoiced. “Yes. It’s me! I’m here with you.”
Neil let his tears fall for the first time since I’d arrived. “Dad is here, too,” he said.
Noah’s voice was groggy. “Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital. You had surgery on your brain,” Neil answered.
Noah turned to me and asked, “Wha…what are you doing here?”
“Where else would I be?”
For several seconds, I waited with bated breath for his response.
He swallowed. “Vermont?”
Neil and I looked at each other. Vermont was such a simple answer, but it meant so much. It meant his cognition was there. It meant everything. It meant Noah was probably going to be okay.
“Do you remember anything that happened?” I asked.
It took him a while, but he finally said, “I remember I love you.”CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT* * *NOAHIn a strange way, Bonnie and Clyde saved my life.
If I hadn’t gone to the supermarket that day to buy their food, I might not be alive. The store near my house never seemed to keep the kale they liked in stock. So I’d gone out of my way to the market across town. It happened to be right around the corner from the hospital. My surgeon was convinced if more time had elapsed before the operation, I might not have made it, or at the very least I would have had brain damage.