smiled, and suddenly we were all hugging. Luce sobbed, Tom wiped his eyes, and I held onto Alun’s friends. His amazing, loyal, wonderful friends. God, how I owed them.
We surrounded Alun’s bed, and for the first time in way too long, I tangled my fingers through his. Luce pressed a soft kiss to his forehead and stroked his hair, while Tom squeezed his arm.
“Alun, baby.” The words stuck in my throat. “I’m here. We’re here. And we need you to wake up.”
“We need to tell his parents,” murmured Tom.
I nodded. “Will you? Please?” I couldn’t leave Alun’s bedside. Not now. Not after finding him again.
****
The night passed in a blur of interviews with the nursing staff and the police, and with phone calls. Tom broke the incredible news to Alun’s parents, while I rang mine. I also made a short and emotional call to Sasha. One day, I would have to thank him in person.
It would be good to do that with Alun. Having lost him, and then found him again, I refused to believe he might not recover.
“Comas are tricky,” explained the doctor. “Sometimes the brain just needs time to heal. Talk to him, play him music through earbuds, and touch him.”
I nodded. I would do all that anyway. No matter how long it took.
****
The hospital quickly became my new world. They moved Alun into a private room, since he now had a continuous stream of visitors. Apart from food and bathroom breaks, and sporadic attempts at sleeping, I didn’t leave his side.
Night after night, I fell asleep, but he didn’t visit my dreams. I clung to the belief that if he did, it would mean he was improving again.
We developed a routine, Luce and Tom and I, and our families. Long games of Scrabble played on the end of his bed, endless hours of listening to his favorite rock bands, and quiet time when I curled up in the chair next to his bed and just held his hand. I talked to him. A lot. Told him I knew about his animal side, and how it didn’t matter in the slightest. Over and over, I told him how much I loved him, how I wanted to marry him, how beautiful his gift to me was. How he needed to wake up.
I told Luce I didn’t want to know any more about the wolves. I hoped to learn everything from Alun, when he woke up, and she smiled and hugged me. “That’s as it should be, Livvy.”
My job interviews went on hold. Nothing else mattered right now.
We’d been there two weeks, when I heard a strange noise in the corridor. Singing? Christmas carols? The duty nurse appeared at the doorway. “The local church choir are touring the hospital, collecting donations for the homeless. Would you like them to come in to Alun’s room?”
It was Christmas already? The past weeks had all blurred together. I was there with Pam, Alun’s mum, and we looked at each other. She nodded and smiled. “He might enjoy it, and I think I would.”
They gathered in the doorway, and sang two traditional carols, their voices soaring, as though they carried all our hopes skyward. It was beautiful, and Pam and I both donated generously to their collecting tins. I sat holding Alun’s hand, and thought about our original plans for Christmas Day. We’d spent it the previous year at my mum and dad’s, and this year we’d planned to spend it with Alun’s parents in Tanygrisau. I might well be spending the holiday with them, but here in London instead.
I ran my fingers through Alun’s hair, and pressed a kiss onto his cool cheek. “It’s nearly Christmas, babe. The present I want most of all is for you to wake up.”
I played more Scrabble with Pam, read some stories aloud from the newspaper, and then we talked about leaving for the night. We were staying with some distant relatives on Alun’s side, and luckily it was just a short cab-ride away.
Pam yawned. She looked exhausted, and I suggested she go back early and get some sleep.
Alone in the room, I curled up in the chair, and held Alun’s hand. I’d stay a little longer,
We surrounded Alun’s bed, and for the first time in way too long, I tangled my fingers through his. Luce pressed a soft kiss to his forehead and stroked his hair, while Tom squeezed his arm.
“Alun, baby.” The words stuck in my throat. “I’m here. We’re here. And we need you to wake up.”
“We need to tell his parents,” murmured Tom.
I nodded. “Will you? Please?” I couldn’t leave Alun’s bedside. Not now. Not after finding him again.
****
The night passed in a blur of interviews with the nursing staff and the police, and with phone calls. Tom broke the incredible news to Alun’s parents, while I rang mine. I also made a short and emotional call to Sasha. One day, I would have to thank him in person.
It would be good to do that with Alun. Having lost him, and then found him again, I refused to believe he might not recover.
“Comas are tricky,” explained the doctor. “Sometimes the brain just needs time to heal. Talk to him, play him music through earbuds, and touch him.”
I nodded. I would do all that anyway. No matter how long it took.
****
The hospital quickly became my new world. They moved Alun into a private room, since he now had a continuous stream of visitors. Apart from food and bathroom breaks, and sporadic attempts at sleeping, I didn’t leave his side.
Night after night, I fell asleep, but he didn’t visit my dreams. I clung to the belief that if he did, it would mean he was improving again.
We developed a routine, Luce and Tom and I, and our families. Long games of Scrabble played on the end of his bed, endless hours of listening to his favorite rock bands, and quiet time when I curled up in the chair next to his bed and just held his hand. I talked to him. A lot. Told him I knew about his animal side, and how it didn’t matter in the slightest. Over and over, I told him how much I loved him, how I wanted to marry him, how beautiful his gift to me was. How he needed to wake up.
I told Luce I didn’t want to know any more about the wolves. I hoped to learn everything from Alun, when he woke up, and she smiled and hugged me. “That’s as it should be, Livvy.”
My job interviews went on hold. Nothing else mattered right now.
We’d been there two weeks, when I heard a strange noise in the corridor. Singing? Christmas carols? The duty nurse appeared at the doorway. “The local church choir are touring the hospital, collecting donations for the homeless. Would you like them to come in to Alun’s room?”
It was Christmas already? The past weeks had all blurred together. I was there with Pam, Alun’s mum, and we looked at each other. She nodded and smiled. “He might enjoy it, and I think I would.”
They gathered in the doorway, and sang two traditional carols, their voices soaring, as though they carried all our hopes skyward. It was beautiful, and Pam and I both donated generously to their collecting tins. I sat holding Alun’s hand, and thought about our original plans for Christmas Day. We’d spent it the previous year at my mum and dad’s, and this year we’d planned to spend it with Alun’s parents in Tanygrisau. I might well be spending the holiday with them, but here in London instead.
I ran my fingers through Alun’s hair, and pressed a kiss onto his cool cheek. “It’s nearly Christmas, babe. The present I want most of all is for you to wake up.”
I played more Scrabble with Pam, read some stories aloud from the newspaper, and then we talked about leaving for the night. We were staying with some distant relatives on Alun’s side, and luckily it was just a short cab-ride away.
Pam yawned. She looked exhausted, and I suggested she go back early and get some sleep.
Alone in the room, I curled up in the chair, and held Alun’s hand. I’d stay a little longer,
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