Max said he loved me? As I took in all of his words, the hole in my heart started to fill up; fill up with his words, his love for me, and his tears that fell on my cheek. The clarity of all that had happened was like a Band-Aid over my wounds.

My Max was crying. He needed me. I should have stayed and listened, but anyone in my position would have run…I think. The irony of all this was that it could have been avoided, just like when Max took off when Luke kissed me. Misunderstandings and bad timing had definitely gotten in our way a couple of times. We had to stop this. I needed to tell him how I felt, and move forward with our relationship.

He was right. We were not broken. This could be fixed…if only I could just wake up. And the thought of me being paralyzed scared me to death. What if I was? I would have to let Max go. It wouldn’t be fair for him…though if the roles were reversed, I would still be with him. I couldn’t be…oh please God…give me one more chance. Then something worse came to my thoughts. What if I never woke up? Please God…not now…I want to live. I want to live a full life with Max. My parents, friends, and Max needed me, and I needed them. But I couldn’t think anymore, I couldn’t hold on any longer. I fell back to sleep, or worse…coma.

I don’t know how or why it suddenly happened, and I don’t know how long I was out, but my toes and fingers twitched. Max must have felt it while he continued to hold my hand.

“Jenna?” He sounded excited. “Can you hear me?”

I couldn’t speak right away, but I managed to squeeze just a little.

“Squeeze me again,” he ordered.

With all the strength I could give, I did.

Max let go of my hand, cupped my face, and kissed me on my lips softly and tenderly. “I’m calling the nurse.”

By the time the doctor came into my room, I was groggy and weak. Blinking my eyes to open them, my vision slowly became clear. Focusing on the person in front of me, I felt disappointed to see a doctor instead of Max. Where was Max? Was it all just a dream?

“How are you feeling?” the doctor asked, flashing something bright into my eyes, blinding me.

“I think I’m okay.” My voice sounded hoarse and hardly audible…at least to my ears.

“Can you move your legs?”

It was difficult to do so, but they moved and I could feel them. What a relief! As the doctor asked more questions, he examined me, and informed me that I was out for two days. From my peripheral vision, I could see Becky smiling at me, her eyes sparkling from the tears pooling in her eyes.

After the doctor left and told me I would be just fine, I breathed a sigh of relief, and Becky did not waste a second to give me the biggest hug, along with some tears.

“You’re going to be okay,” she assured me. “Nicole and Kate came by. I just called them, so they know you’ll be fine. We were all so worried. Why didn’t you listen to me? I was on my way to pick your dumb ass up.”

“Sorry,” I said, looking up at the IV bag. I felt so bad for causing trouble and making everyone worry.

“Anyway, the doctor said he wants to observe you for twenty four hours, and then you can go home. You have a very bad concussion. You were drifting in and out of a coma, and we didn’t know if you would come out of it. But you’ll be fine. Thank God…I couldn’t even call your parents.” Becky took a deep breath.

Seeing the worried look in her eyes disappear, I felt much better and less guilty…sort of. “Becky…where’s my car?”

“Jenna…you’re gonna need a new car.”

“That bad, huh?”

Becky nodded. “You’re so lucky your body didn’t end up looking like your car. Don’t think about that now, okay? You need to rest.”

Nodding, I agreed. I also didn’t want to think about the cost right now. It would only upset me even more. “Becky…was Max ever here?” I asked timidly. I was wishing with all my heart that it wasn’t a dream and all that he had said was real.

“Yes. But I told him not to be in here when you woke up. I didn’t want his presence to affect your recovery. I thought if you saw him first, you would purposely slip back into coma,” she giggled lightly. “Before you think anything, it wasn’t what you thought had happened. Please…just listen to what he has to say.”

Hearing Becky’s words confirmed that Max had explained his side of the story to Becky. Now I understood why she wasn’t mad at him when I was able to hear bits of their conversation. And happily, everything I heard from Max was real.

“Okay…can you tell him I want to see him, and can you give us a moment?”

“Sure. I’ll go get him,” she smiled, then speedily left the room.

**

“Hey,” Max said softly, standing by the door with one hand inside his pockets, and holding a small brown paper bag with the other, shrugging sheepishly. He looked so tired and worn, just like Becky. His stubbles along the line of his jaws were enough to bring out my sex drive, so I focused elsewhere.

Clearing my throat, I suddenly got really shy. A part of that shyness was due to my stupidity of running away instead of…but what could I have done? “Why are you standing there? Come closer,” I said softly.

Seeing Max pace toward me after he closed the door behind him made my heart race, and if the heart monitor was still attached to me, I’m sure it would have warned the nurses. Max’s smile was gone when he placed the brown paper bag behind him and placed his bottom on a chair. He sat close to me, but not next to me, as if he was afraid I would hurt him, or maybe that he would hurt me.