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Ring
Please answer, Nick thought to himself as he stood outside the hospital, hoping one of Emily’s parents would pick up the phone. He needed desperately to talk to them so he could try and fix the trouble he had unintentionally caused. Unfortunately though, her parents had been avoiding his calls like the plague. He thought that calling from a different number might give him a better chance, so he tried from his cell phone this time. Still, the outcome wasn’t looking good. The phone had rung at least six times, and he still had no answer. Nick was about to lose hope and hang up when suddenly he heard a weary voice on the other end.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Mrs. Gasio?” Nick asked knowingly.

“Yes, it is,” she said sounding confused. “Who is this?”

“This is Nick, Emily’s friend.”

There was silence. Neither spoke. Neither knew what to say, but it was Mrs. Gasio’s turn to talk, and Nick was plenty willing to wait for her response. After several moments, she finally spoke up.

“Oh yes, h…how are you?” She apprehensively stuttered.

“I’m okay, but that’s not what I’m worried about.”

“I know,” she paused again. She wanted to talk to Nick and find out everything she could, but she was still so angry, so bitter. She felt that her only daughter had betrayed her, and thinking differently was proven to be difficult.

“I really think you guys should be here,” Nick finally spoke up, trying to make the conversation easier for both of them.

“You wouldn’t understand, Nick. You just couldn’t.”

“Yes I could. I could because she feels the same betrayal towards me. I never meant for that to happen, just like she didn’t, but it did. You can’t just run because you’re mad.”

“You did. You ran because you were scared, and she followed you,” the truth was always difficult to accept, and when it came to hurting Emily, it was even harder for Nick.

“I know I did. I’m not denying I did. I fucked up big time. I realize that, and I understand that. But I’m here now, and you’re not. I’m trying to make things right, or at least as right as they could ever be. You’re still running.”

The conversation had taken an unexpected rout and Nick was beginning to feel awkward. He had no intentions of lecturing the mother of the girl he loved, but her cluelessness was beginning to frustrate him to no end. Nick couldn’t understand how they could sit back and do nothing when their daughter was dying little by little. Though he may have made some horrible mistakes, and he may have let her down time after time, he never completely abandoned Emily. No matter what, though the distance may have been massive, he was still always there. That was more than her parents could say.
Mrs. Gasio remained silent, knowing Nick was right, but refusing to admit it. Hoping to avoid another failure, Nick hopelessly continued on.

“I made a lot of mistakes with Emily. I let her down more than anyone else on the planet. I was an asshole, and I took advantage of her devotion, and I was wrong. I know that now. But she needs me now, and I’m there now. When your husband left that message on my machine; that was the first time I heard that Emily moved to Florida for me. I really and honestly had no idea she did that. She told me it was for her job. Why should I have thought any differently? If I had known…” He trailed off, and was soon interrupted.

“Why wasn’t our daughter good enough for you?”

The question hit Nick like a ton of bricks. He never considered Emily as being “not good enough”, but he’d also never considered her in opposition. He was speechless, attempting to determine if at some point he had refused consideration of Emily because of status.

Out of no where, the voice cut into his thoughts.

“Nick, why wasn’t our daughter good enough for you? Why wasn’t her love enough? You took her from us and never even made it worth it. A blind man could see her undying love for you. Why wasn’t that enough?”

Sounding broken, he quietly replied, “It was. It always was. She was always more than enough. She was too good. And I just wasn’t ready for that.”

“Are you ready now? Is that why you’re doing this? Is that what you’re hoping to get out of this?”

“No,” he felt so defeated, but continued with his answer, “I’m doing this because she’s my friend, and she needs me. I don’t want anything in return. In fact, I wouldn’t even be surprised if when she wakes up, she refuses to talk to me …and I wouldn’t blame her. Whatever happens between us, it will be my fault. I accept that. If she pushes me away, I deserve it.”

“So you want more than just a friendship with my daughter?” Nick couldn’t tell if her voice was curious or bitter, but he knew honesty was his only choice.

“Yes, but I’m not gonna push the issue. If it happens, it happens and I’ll be the best I could possibly be for her. But that’s not what I’m worried about right now. Right now all I care about his Emily’s health, and her parents forgiving her for falling in love with a jerk. You guys really need to be here. It’s not fair to her.”

“Right now, Nick, we aren’t ready for this. We have issues we need to resolve before we can forgive her. I know you don’t understand, and I don’t expect you to, but we’re comfortable knowing you’re there, and she’s taken care of. When we feel that it’s right, we’ll be there.”
Nick heard the click of the phone, and the conversation was over. He didn’t get the results he was looking for, but at least he made progress, and that was all he could truly ask for.


“Why does everything I do have to be so difficult?” Nick was feeling hopeless again. Even though he was finally able to talk to one of Emily’s parents, he was still disappointed that he couldn’t convince them to travel to Florida to see their comatose daughter. The severity of it all made Nick wonder how the choice could be so hard for any person, let alone parents. Luckily though, over the last few weeks, Nick and Sam had become much closer than they were before, and he was always able to vent his frustrations to her.

“You said it yourself Nick, nothing good ever comes easy. She doesn’t care when you fail, you know?”

“What?” Nick asked, unsure of what Sam had meant.

“You could fail at everything you do, and Emily wouldn’t care. What matters to her is that you tried. I don’t think that will change.”

“I think I might be the one exception.”

“What do you mean?”

“I messed up way too many times to get the slack of ‘trying is enough’. I could try and be a better person, but if I fail, she’ll never forgive me. Right now, her forgiveness is all I’ve got going for me, and I don’t even have it. I feel like I’m falling apart.”

Nick’s confession seemed to come from no where, yet it steered Sam in the right direction in terms of Nick’s emotional state of mind. While he had been much more open minded about talking and sharing his feelings, admittance was still only borderline. He continuously kept most of his thoughts and feelings to himself, and refused to show the effects everything had caused. In some ways, Nick was much more emotional, but at the same time, he was a lot more emotionless. He shared more, but it was more of the little stuff. The things inside that really hurt and really made him want to break down he kept to himself. Now, though, he had admitted to feeling helpless and falling, and Sam wondered if she would be able to help him through the hardest times of his life. This was always Emily’s job, and now Sam was left to conquer a wall built up miles high, without even knowing how to get there.

“It’s ok that you feel that way, Nick.”

“I don’t want to feel this way,” he wanted to cry, but refused. “I want this to all end. I want it to be over. I feel like I’m being punished and it’s never gonna end. And it’s all at her expense. This isn’t fair to Emily. I should be in the coma!” Nick was nearly yelling. The anger within him had become so intense that he was finding it difficult to control. He wanted to yell and scream and just let it all out, but at the end of the day, he knew he’d still be miserably alone, with everything he ever wanted lying silently next to him.

“Nick…” Sam desperately wanted to help him, but she didn’t know how. She didn’t know what she could say to comfort him. She didn’t know Nick well enough, and she didn’t want to say the wrong things. But still, she tried her best, and hoped that it would be enough.

“I know this is hard for you. It’s hard for me too. I may not be in love with her, but I do love her. She’s my best friend. I don’t want to lose her any more than you do. You just have to stay strong, because you’ve been so strong throughout all of this. Sometimes I wonder if I’d be able to go through all this alone.” Sam’s confessions were surprising to Nick. “I’m really glad you’re here. Selfishly, I’m glad. Emily needs you so bad right now and you’re always here; always. But in some ways, I need you too, because I could never handle all of this as well as you. I know this is hard, Nick, but just hang in there. I think it will be worth it in the end. I think you’ll end up so happy…”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, Sam.”

“I know, Nick. I know it’s not. But you will, and she will too. You guys are so meant for each other. She needs you just as bad as you need her. Just don’t give up, Nick.”

“I won’t. I promise I won’t. I’ll never give up on her for the rest of my life.”

Nick was in love with Emily. There was no hiding it, and no denying it. He was in love with her, and all he wanted was to tell her.