With My Own Eyes

"Hey, babe."

I smiled, ruefully, at the hazy image.  I opened my mouth, but my throat burned.  I couldn't talk.  Tears prickled the corners of my eyes, but I smiled through them.

"You know I had to see you with my own eyes."

He squeezed my hand, gently.  Which I just realized he was holding with both of his.

"I brought you this," he said, while holding up a small bouquet of stargazer lilies.  My favorite.

His expression shifted. It was all still blurry, but I could tell what was once a loving look shifted to darkness.  He quietly said, "I should have been there.  I'm so sorry."

He removed one of his hands from mine and wiped away the tear that was falling from my right eye.  He stroked my hair, tucking it behind my ear.  "I love you," he gently whispered, and kissed my cheek.

I opened my mouth to talk, but it felt like sludge was blocking my throat.  It was just too much effort.  He continued stroking my hair, and I drifted back to sleep.

~~~~~~~

I grinned to myself.  He came.  Aaron came to see me.  I knew he'd come. 

My eyes felt so heavy.  I could hear quiet voices talking.  The beep beeping of a nearby machine.

I wanted to see Aaron.

Slowly, my eyes started opening.  Everything started to focus and I blinked multiple times.  I slowly rolled my head to the right, and saw two people sitting on the couch.

I scrunched up my face trying to figure out where I was.  Everything smelled so... sterile.  I blinked a few more times, raising my hand to rub my eyes, noticing the IV stuck in my arm.  The hospital.

The voices stopped.

I opened my eyes again, feeling a little more able to focus.

My mom and dad.  They both stood up and rushed over to me.  My mom spoke first, gently placing her hands on either side of my face.  "Aleah, baby, how are you feeling?"

"I'm so tired."  I paused.  "Why am I in the hospital?"

My mom didn't look fazed.  "What's the last thing you remember?"

My dad interrupted, "I'll be right back."

"Umm..." I closed my eyes, to help me think.  My head was pounding.  "I remember going running.  I was running a longer route than I normally do.  I was in the woods and..."  The visual came rushing back, reminding me of what I last remembered.  I lightly reached up and touched my neck, knowing why my throat hurt now.

Tears started to well up in my eyes.  "Where's Aaron?"

"Honey, Aaron isn't here, you know he's somewhere working."

"No, I saw him!  He was here earlier."

My mom looked at me quizzically. 

"What day is it?"  I was starting to feel panicked. 

"Tuesday."

"I've been out for two days?"

"Yeah... there's some stuff that happened..." my mom trailed off as my dad came back in with a doctor.  He was an older man, with white hair and wearing a bow tie.  I could sense his compassion through his kind eyes, and liked him immediately.

"Hi, Aleah.  I'm Doctor Hudson," he smiled warmly.

I couldn't help but to smile back, despite my panic.

He sat on a roll-y stool and moved close to my bed.  "How are you feeling, dear?"

"I don't understand why I've been sleeping for so long.  I was wondering if you saw my boyfriend, Aaron?  And why is my head pounding?"

He opened his mouth to talk, but I remembered another question.  I whispered, my heart rate quickening, "Where's Luke?"

My dad quickly jumped in.  "He's in jail, sweetie.  No bond."

Dr. Hudson spoke then.  "Well, I'll answer the easiest question first.  You've have many visitors in and out, and if your boyfriend came by, I didn't get the pleasure of meeting him.  I'll answer your next two questions as one big answer."

I nodded.

He continued, "I'm sure the detective will have questions for you, but what he told me I could tell you was that apparently you were choked and unable to breath to the point of passing out.  A couple of joggers heard your screaming and found Luke on top of you, with his hand around your neck, and when the joggers ran up, they yelled at him, he turned, picking your head up by your neck, and then slammed your head back down to the side, onto a rock.  If you hadn't already been passed out, the impact may have knocked you out.  You have quite the laceration on the back of your head.  After you were transported here by ambulance, you woke up, and panicked.  We had to give you a sedative because you were thrashing around screaming, and we were concerned you were going to hurt yourself."

I was shaking, hearing what had happened to me, but I didn't even remember or know.

"Your vitals look good, Aleah.  You'll probably be in some pain, specifically your head and your throat.  We have you on a drip right now, helping ease the pain in your head.  And we're expecting the bruising around your neck to fade considerably.  Tomorrow morning we'd like to stop the drip and see if you are able to swallow some pain pills, and get you home in the next few days."

I nodded, feeling unsure.

The doctor looked in my eyes and my throat, and then left me alone with my parents.

My dad said, "I need to call Brad, and let him know you're awake now."

My mom asked if she could get anything for me, and I asked for some water.  My throat hurt, but also felt dry.  She nodded and left the room.

I took a shaky breath, regretting my decision to run.  I carefully repositioned my head to the side.  I was still so tired.  I started to close my eyes, but they popped open, something catching my attention.

There, sitting on the small table next to the couch, was a vase filled with stargazer lilies.