Over the next few weeks, Chloe continues a steady recovery. I continue to stay with her, and we have a lot of fun together. At first, she can’t even sit up in bed, but she can hear everything so I spend my days reading to her. I discover that she doesn’t have too much of an interest in anything serious or disturbing. Current events and hard-boiled detective fiction is definitely out, but Emily Brontë and Michael Crichton go over nicely. I’ve never read either, and I really enjoy Wuthering Heights, even though it runs a little bit too long for me. I do, however, enjoy Crichton immensely. Sphere is my favorite, even though Chloe is partial to Timeline. In addition to reading a lot of books (or rather, me reading and her listening), we also spend a lot of time watching Netflix and old movies like Beetlejuice. By the time we get to Beetlejuice, Chloe is already sitting up in bed and eating on her own. She has some movement in her neck, but her head is still bandaged up.

“That was so funny,” I say turning off my iPad. My stomach aches from laughing so hard.

“I can’t believe I’ve never seen it before,” she says. “It was hilarious.”

I look over at her. Her face is still puffy, and her eyes are like two little slits, but I love the smile that pushes her bandages apart.

“My nose hurts,” she says.

“Oh no, why?”

“From laughing,” Chloe explains. Her nose got broken, and they had to reset it. There’s a big bandage on top of it, with some sort of hard metal thing underneath. I can’t lie. It doesn’t look pretty.

“My eyes are actually watering,” she says wiping away tears from laughter.

I look at her. She doesn’t like me staring at her too much, but I can’t help myself.

“What? What’s wrong?” she asks.

“Nothing.”

“So why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I’m just so happy that I can enjoy this moment with you. I sat here for a week when you were in a coma not knowing if I will ever talk to you again. Or if you’ll even recognize me again. And now, you’re here, laughing so hard you’re crying. It’s just amazing. You’re amazing.”

“Don’t say that,” Chloe casts her eyes away. I can’t really tell if she’s blushing, but I have my suspicions. “Besides, even if I hadn’t recognized you, I’d know who you were. You should hear what all the nurses are saying about you behind your back. You’re a rock star.”

“A movie star,” I correct her.

She rolls her eyes. “Ouch.”

“Serves you right for rolling your eyes,” I smile.

“Finn…can I ask you a question,” Chloe suddenly grows serious. I turn to her and wait.

“What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Why are you here every day? I mean, I really enjoy your company, and it definitely makes me one of their favorite patients. But don’t you have something better to do?”

I’m taken aback by her comments.

“Do you not want me here?”

“That’s not what I said. I love that you are here.”

“I’m here because…because I want to be. When I first heard what happened, I thought I was going to pass out. I was so scared. Terrified. And coming here and staying here with you made me feel better.”

“And now that I’m better?”

“And now that you’re better, I want to spend time with you. I know that I didn’t get the chance to explain this properly before, but I was a total jerk before. You were right to get upset. I’m just sorry that I never got the chance to make it up to you. I shouldn’t have lied. I don’t have a good excuse. It was totally stupid and immature, and I just hope that one of these days, you can give me another chance.”

“Another chance?”

“Another chance for another date. I’d like to take you out again, Chloe.”

She smiles and lights up the whole world.

* * *

Finally, the big days is here. Chloe is getting discharged tomorrow, but she’s getting the bandages taken off today. She has been uneasy about this for a few days now. Agitated and uncomfortable. Lila is in the room with us, trying to calm her down.

“Everything is going to be okay, Chloe,” she says. “You’re going to look great.”

“Yeah, I’m not so sure about that,” she shakes her head. “What if it’s all disintegrated underneath there?”

“Well, it’s going to be good just to get them off, won’t it?” she asks.

“I don’t really know. I’m actually kind of used to them now.”

I look at her. So small in her hospital gown and in that big hospital bed. The sun is still up, and the fluorescent lights aren’t on full blast. This is good. No one looks good underneath those things. I’m an actor. I know very little about lighting technology or how it works, but I do know one thing. Lighting is everything. It sets the mood, it makes the more regular people look extraordinary and you do not want to remove bandages and look at your first face for the first time in weeks without having the right lighting.

“You’re going to look beautiful,” I say. “You know how I know? Because you are beautiful.”

She shakes her head and waves her hand dismissively. She’s still doesn’t have full motion of her neck, otherwise, I’d know that she would shake her head as well.

“But if you want to look your best, it’s better to do it now, rather than later. The light streaming in that window is amazing.”

She takes a deep breath. The nurses offered to help, but she said that she wanted to do it herself. She had seen them do it a million times before when they changed the bandages.

“Okay, you two hand me that mirror and look away.”

Lila and I turn around and wait. It feels like an eternity passes before she speaks again. I wait for her to gasp or cry out. Or laugh. But I don’t hear her exude any noise. The suspense is killing me.

“Okay,” she says. “Turn around.”

Lila and I turn around. I see the most beautiful girl in the world.

“You look…amazing,” I whisper.

She smiles.

“Yeah, really, really good Chloe.”

She looks at us and then in the mirror.

“You two are insane,” Chloe concludes.

“What?” Lila asks.

“My hair is matted, my cheeks are still really puffy and I’m ridiculously pale. And my nose…well, other than the bruise, I guess it looks okay.”

“You’re the most beautiful woman in the world,” I say without missing a beat. I’m not acting. In this moment, she is.