The doctors are going to take him out of the coma. I sit by his side, watching the snow flurries fall outside the window. Everything turns white and gray, without a speck of light. I think back to our time in the Caribbean and how everything there was bursting with all of the colors of the rainbow. Bright pinks. Deep yellows. The turquoise waters that seemed like they came from another world altogether.

“We’re going to go back there, honey,” I whisper. “I’ve been thinking. And that’s where I want to get married. I want to walk along the soft white sand barefoot. I want to drink brightly colored drinks with little umbrellas in them. I want to dance with you under a million stars. You just have to get better and we will go back there. You’ll see.”

I look at his face. Expressionless as if he were made of glass. I wait for him to squeeze my hand, but nothing happens. He hasn’t had what the doctors called an involuntary response for a few days now.

“Come back to me,” I say. “Come back.”

Brie and the nurses come in a few minutes later. They are going to take him to another room where they will do the procedure. They’ve talked to all of us about this already. They need to do the procedure and they need to be prepared in case something goes wrong.

“How often does something go wrong?” I ask.

“Occasionally.”

What a non-answer. I resist the temptation to roll my eyes.

“These are the best doctors,” Arlene reassures me. “If they can’t do it, then no one can.”

I nod as if I agree. Personally, I don’t see a significant improvement. At least, Dr. Briggs and her team checked in on me every day. Came in with updates. These doctors barely make an appearance. Still, Arlene is certain that they are better just because she found them. I don’t have much of a position to argue from, so I avoid the discussion altogether.

Brie and I wait outside with Arlene and Dean during the procedure. Arlene and Dean sit in adjacent chairs, looking nervous. I don’t know why this is a surprise to me. They’ve only acted in their own self-interest this whole time, hardly paying any attention to Aiden at all. And now, looking over at them, I feel sorry for them. There’s a heaviness on their shoulders. If they aren’t praying, they are hoping. Just as I’m about to reach out to them and say something, the nurse calls us inside.

“Everything went well. He should be waking up now,” she says. I spring to my feet and burst through the door. I don’t know what I’m expecting to see, but I just see him lying there.

“He’s still…asleep,” I say, taking his hand. “Aiden?”

“It may take him a few minutes. Or some time. It’s different for every patient.”

“And then…he will be okay?” Arlene asks.

“We will have to see how much of his brain function will come back.”

My heartbeat skips around frantically as we wait. My hand shakes holding his, but I don’t dare let go.

“Come back, Aiden. Come back,” I whisper over and over.

Come back! I yell inside my head. Please come back!

Time moves like molasses. Seconds become minutes and then I lose track altogether. I don’t know how long this is supposed to take, but I just wait, staring at his blank face.

“Please, please, please,” Arlene says, taking his other hand and pulling him out of my fingers.

“Please, don’t shake him,” I say.

“I’m not!”

“Yes, you are,” I insist. Our agitation and anxiety over the situation is finally spilling out and onto each other. Intellectually, I know that this is going on, but emotionally I cannot stop it.

“Ellie, look,” Brie whispers. I look over. Aiden is slowly opening his eyes. Oh my God. The whole world stops all of a sudden. No one says a word. His eyelids open cautiously and then squint at the bright lights. He licks his lips.

“Aiden? Aiden?” I ask. Arlene pulls on his other arm, trying to move his face toward hers. I want to push her away, but I try to compose myself. This moment is about him.

“Come back to me, Aiden,” I whisper.

* * *

“Ellie,” he says a few moments later. He’s looking right at me. “You’re here.”

“Yes, yes, of course, I’m here.”

“I love you,” he whispers.

“I love you, too.” Tears stream down my face. I can’t stop any of them even if I wanted to.