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Ring. Ring. Ring.

The phone kept ringing but no one answered. This had to be the sixth time Nick tried reaching Emily’s parents today. He left three messages already, and the frustration was beginning to build. He had to leave for the hospital soon and he would have preferred to arrive baring good news. Unfortunately, this didn’t seem to be the case.

Optimistically, Nick tried the number one more time.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Now feeling angered, he left for the hospital. He was disappointed that he couldn’t reach Emily’s parents. He knew it wasn’t his fault, and there was no way he could make them take his call, but he still wanted so badly to please Emily. It wouldn’t fix everything, but it would be a step in the right direction. Any chance he had to do something right for her, he’d take it. Right now, all he could do was hope that tomorrow would bring better luck.

When Nick got to the hospital, Emily’s doctor was in the room. Usually, he would only stop in once a day, just for routine purposes, and it was never so early. His random appearance brought an overwhelming feeling of fear into Nick’s heart. He couldn’t help but wonder if something had gone wrong while he was away for the night. There was no way he could live with himself if something else had happened to Emily, ever.

“Hi,” Nick nervously said.

“Hi, there, Nick. How are you today?”

“I’d be better if I knew why you were here right now. No offense, but it’s unusual.”

“Oh, don’t worry about a thing. I’m just checking Emily’s brain activity and comparing it to two days ago. I check it every day at the same time for consistency, but I need to compare it to when she first arrived, so I’m getting it a little early today.”

“Why, what will that do?” Nick worriedly asked the doctor.

“For Emily, nothing, but we may be able to get a better idea of if and when she’ll wake up. So far, everything looks good. Her brain activity has been relatively high for a trauma-related coma patient, so the general feeling is optimistic. However, if there’s a significant negative difference between right now and three days ago, we’ll have to reassess our evaluations.”

“What does that mean? If her brain activity goes down you’ll just give up on her,” Nick snapped, feeling offended and hurt by the doctor’s comments.

“No, Nick, that’s not at all what I mean,” the doctor explained patiently. “We are obligated to give accurate information to the best of our abilities. Now, if her brain activity has significantly decreased, you should know about it. Normally, this information is only given to a related family member, but since no one here claims to be related to her, and you’ve been here the most, you’re the one I’ll be dealing with. This is not standard procedure, and I could easily be sued for this, but I’m hoping that things won’t work out that way.”

“I appreciate what you’re doing. I really do. I’ve been trying to get a hold of her parents, but no one’s answering. I don’t think she’ll mind that you’re keeping me informed.”

“Well, that’s not what I’m worried about, Nick. My problem is if her parents or another family member shows up, and they find out I’ve been telling you otherwise classified information… things could get a little ugly.”

“Well, at this point, it’s not an issue, but if they do show up, I won’t tell them about it.” Nick paused, thinking about what the doctor said, “What if it’s the opposite?”

“…the opposite of what?”

“What if her brain activity has increased?”

“Well, I personally have never heard of that, so I’m not even sure where to begin figuring that out. But it isn’t too uncommon for brain activity to be consistent. Right now, that’s what you should be hoping for because it has the best chances.”

Nick considered the argument, “Emily wouldn’t settle for that. Her expectations, especially of me, are a lot higher. So, I’m hoping it’s increased.”

“Fair enough.” The doctor reached out his hand to shake Nick’s. “I’ll be back in about an hour with the results.”

“Thanks.”

He left the room, and Nick stared at Emily.

“I hope your expectations are as high as mine.”

Nick impatiently waited for the doctor to return, and after two hours, he was beginning to feel like insanity was taking over. The fact that these results could potentially dictate Emily’s future had Nick feeling anxious and uneasy. Much to his surprise, Sam walked in earlier than usual.

“Nick? Are you ok? You look really freaked out about something.”

Nick looked up at Sam, “The doctor is doing a brain activity comparison between today and when she first came in. He said if it’s had significant negative changes, we may not have as much hope for her.”

“Oh, Nick…” Sam walked over and put her arms around the troubled young man. The feeling was awkward, yet sincere. For the most part, she never liked the guy, but after getting to know Nick over the last few days, and after seeing the sides of his personality he usually kept hidden, she had begun to think of him more as a friend. She knew this was hurting Nick more than he’d ever admit, though he’d never deny it either. Sam knew he loved Emily, whether he admitted it or not, and anything that threatened her recovery chances ripped Nick apart inside. He was forcing himself to be the strong one, but he was so weak inside even he was having trouble convincing himself of his strengths.

“I’m really scared, Sam.”

Nick’s honesty surprised Sam. She sat down next to him and put her arm around his back. He allowed his head to fall into his hands, trying to mask the pain.

“I’m really scared too, Nick,” she said softly, “but you know Emily as well as I do, if not better. She’ll get through this. She’s too stubborn not too.”

Nick couldn’t help but to let out a tiny laugh. Sam was more than right, and he didn’t doubt Emily’s recovery. He was more afraid that it would take longer and be harder than he expected. No matter what, though, he would deal with it, but he wasn’t sure if he would really be able to handle the pain he knew he was destined to feel.

“I just wish she would wake up so I could talk to her.”

“What would you say,” Sam asked curiously.

“I’d tell her how sorry I am, and I’d promise her I’ll never let her down again.”

“You wouldn’t tell her you love her?” Sam knew she may have been crossing lines, but she wanted to see how honest Nick would be.

He laughed at the question, feeling surprised by her boldness. “Why do you keep pushing that issue?”

“I didn’t know it was an issue,” Sam smiled.

“It’s not,” Nick lied. “But what I do and don’t feel for her is between us.”

“I never said it wasn’t, Nick,” Sam responded, feeling Nick’s discomfort.

“Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but can we not talk about this? I really don’t think it’s the right time or place.”

“Yea, sorry I brought it up.”

Just then, the doctor entered the room. He was expressionless and glancing over a clipboard full of paper work. Nick tried to determine whether he came with good or bad news, but the doctor’s stoic face was too difficult to interpret.

“Nick, can I see you out in the hall please?”

“Yea,” he looked at Sam, “I’ll be right back.”

Nick’s anxiety again increased significantly in anticipation of the news. He prayed it was good, but the fear of bad news seemed to overshadow any prospect of hope.

“I just got done comparing the results of Emily’s brain activity. Unfortunately, it did not increase, which was not expected, but there also has been almost no change, so things are looking good.”

“Oh thank God!” Nick exclaimed at the sound of the news. He felt like a million weights had been lifted off his shoulders.

“At this point, should Emily wake up, we’re optimistic that she will have no brain damage, and she’ll more than likely have her complete memory. Now, the longer she stays in a coma, her likelihood of a full and complete recovery decreases. It’s still possible that after even two or three months she could wake up completely normal, but the longer it lasts, her chances of a complete recovery lessen.”

“I understand. I’m just grateful it’s good news as of right now. She’ll be fine. I know she will!”

The two shook hands and parted ways. Nick reentered the hospital room and excitedly told Sam about the good news. The two hugged again, thankful that their best friend was fighting inside. The thought of losing her scared both Nick and Sam and they continuously prayed for her recovery.

Finally, Nick and Sam sat down again, still feeling excited by the good news. Shortly after though, Nick’s curiosity took over.

“Not that I mind, because I don’t, but why were you here so early? You don’t usually get here until around 5:30,” Nick asked.

Sam laughed lightly, “I figured since it’s Friday, I could leave work early. So, I took half a sick day and came here. I feel bad that I haven’t been spending that much time here.”

“Ha, ha! That’s funny. I feel the same way,” Nick said jokingly, but actually meant it.

“Nick, you spend all your time here!”

“Yea, between eleven and nine. That’s not even half the day.”

“Nick,” Sam gave him a puzzled look, “I know you want to make things up to Emily, but living in her room won’t do that. You have to wait until she wakes up.”

Nick felt defeated, “I know, but if I didn’t come here every day, I’d feel like I was letting her down. I’d feel like I was telling her that I don’t care enough to even be there for her. How could I do that to her, Sam? She’s got no one else. I’m not gonna abandon her.”

“Nick, I never said you should abandon her. I’m just saying that you being here every day won’t change the past. So if that’s what you’re counting on,” she stopped, considering her choice of words carefully, “just don’t, Nick.”


Around 7:30, Sam said her good-byes and headed home for the night. Nick began to notice that he hated being in Emily’s room all alone, but he also loved his time with her. For some reason though, he felt intimidated by the silence, with only the occasional beeping of a machine tugging at his nerves. When he was alone with her, he always tried to make conversation, despite having no response.

“I was thinking about something today, Em. Do you remember when I recorded that song? The duet…” He asked her knowing he’d get no reply. “I made two promises to you that day, and I kept them both.”

This event had only taken place about a year earlier, and since then, Nick had been putting a little effort into being a better person towards his friend.

Lately I've been thinking about the things that we've been through

“I wish could have kept more of my promises to you.”

And I don't know if I'd be here if not for you

“You always kept your promises to me. All I ever did was hurt you. I’m trying to change, Em. I really am.”

I had to take a little time and try to work things out

“I never meant to hurt you. If I could turn back time, I’d take it all back.”

And you should know that I had never meant to let you down

“I hate myself every moment of my life knowing that you’ve cried before and it was my fault.”

'Cause I, I wanna tell you that I am sorry and I, I

“And now I think about that song, and how it defined our relationship, and how that was one of the only promises I’ve ever kept to you.”

Even when I'm not giving enough
And I'm taking too much
You’re still there for me
Even when I've got nothing at
all and I'm ready to fall
You're still there for me
Even when I can't be there for you,
You are always there for me

“I don’t want to hurt you anymore. I don’t want you to feel pain, and I especially don’t want you to feel pain that I’ve caused.”

Sometimes I know I can be so hard to understand (it's ok)

“I know I’m not an easy person to deal with sometimes, but you’ve been by my side when I was an ass. I’ll never ask you for anything again if you just stay by my side forever.”

Even when I'm lost you show me who I really am

“Everything good in me is because of you, Em.”

Life with me it hasn't always been an easy ride

“Just please don’t give up on me.”
But because of you I've learned to lose my selfish high

“I promise I’ll never give up on you. I’ll never let anything happen to you again.”

And I, I wanna tell you that I am sorry and I, I

“I can never apologize enough for what I’ve done. I just hope that one day you can forgive me. That’s all that matters to me.”

Even when I'm not giving enough
and I'm taking too much
You’re still there for me
Even when I've got nothing at all
And I'm ready to fall
You're still there for me
Even when I can't be there for you ,
You are always there for me

“I need you to wake up, Emily. I can’t live without you. I wish I would have told you that sooner, but it’s better than never at all, right? Please, Em… Please wake up… Please.”

You're always there for me...