My eyes fluttered open and I was shocked to see I was still alive. Everything seemed so blurry and there was bright white light flashed all around me.

I could hear voices, dozens of them, but I couldn’t recognize a single one. I tried to move but it was like being trapped in a different person’s body – nothing I did seemed to work. Even when I tried to move my eyes all I could see was a blank sea of whiteness.

When I tried to move my head, I felt a searing headache split my whole body and I nearly fell back to an unconscious pit. I was struggling to breathe and I couldn’t even move my lips. When I tried to roll my tongue all I could feel was blood dripping from the sides of my mouth.

More lights flashed and I heard a few more voices. Then something plastic covered my face and I fell unconscious.

I woke up and fell asleep again and again over a cycle of minutes or hours. I couldn’t really tell the passing of time anymore.

All I knew was that my whole body hurt.

Everything didn’t seem like they were in the right place. My joints ached more with each passing moment and my neck was so stiff it was a miracle it didn’t cement itself in place.

Whenever I fell asleep I dreamed of Cherry. Whenever I was awake I dreamed of dying. Maybe I was dying. Maybe I was already dead.

Time just seemed to pass so slowly but the pain that plagued my body only seemed to have gotten worse. I could feel sores on my joints and bruises swelling in places I never even thought could swell so badly.

It was only after some time that I gathered I was in a hospital. I was still alive – somehow – but I didn’t know how or why I couldn’t move or see anything. There was nothing but bright whiteness every time I tried to open my eyes.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, my vision started to clear. When I woke up again I realized I was staring up into the bright room lights of a hospital room. This time I knew I was alive but the pain across my body instantly told me I was in horrible shape.

“H-hello?” I tried to call out. I tried to speak the word but it didn’t come out as clearly as I thought it should. My tongue felt like a big fat roll of meat in my mouth.

Fortunately, I heard footsteps and a man leaned over so I could see his face. He was in his mid-forties with short hair and a thin pair of glasses. He looked like he could have been a doctor on television, one of those really hot type of lead actors, but I knew he must have been a real doctor… well, maybe. I hoped so.

“Ah, Mr. Bernard you’re awake,” he greeted. “My name is Richard Cassian and I’m your supervising physician. Let me start by telling you it’s a miracle you’re still alive. Most people who go through accidents like yours don’t make it out as well as you did.”

“I…I don’t understand,” I slobbered and mouthed. I think he got what I was saying though so I pressed on, “What happened?”

Cassian diverted his gaze from me and began checking the machines hooked up to me, “Well, you were driving drunk and smashed right into a delivery truck. The truck driver made it out pretty fine except for a fractured leg. You, on the other hand, smashed through his truck and straight into a light post on the side of the road. Your car flipped and skid across the highway. When the authorities arrived everyone already assumed you were dead. There was so much blood on the ground. Yet here you are, alive and well.”

“How bad is it?”

The doctor sighed and told me the truth without holding anything back, “You broke twenty-three bones in your body, Mr. Bernard. This includes fragile pieces in your neck, lower back, ribs, and legs. You’ll be paralyzed for quite some time, Mr. Bernard.”

I panicked and quickly asked, “I-is it permanent?”

“I don’t know,” the doctor told me and his answer seemed even worse than a flat yes or no. “All I can tell you is that you have to be strong and don’t let this beat you. To be honest, I do think you’ll be okay. It might take months or years even but if you keep that woman by your side I can only see a bright future for you – just slow down on the alcohol.”

Wait, what woman?

“Doc, what woman?” I asked him.

Dr. Cassian explained with a casual expression, “Oh, Ms. Vergara was here earlier and the day before. She’s been here since they first brought you in.”

“How long have I been here?” I was feeling both relieved to know Cherry was here with me and scared sensing how long I might have been bed-ridden now.

The doctor didn’t even try to soften the blow, “It’s been two weeks now, Mr. Bernard. You’ve been shifting in and out of consciousness for a while but I suspected you wouldn’t regain eyesight for a few days. The blow to your head and neck weren’t fatal but they were devastating, to say the least.”

Two weeks?

I was out of it for two whole fucking weeks?

My mind was exploding with so many questions but even just thinking about them hurt. A headache was ripping through my skull at that very moment and before I knew it I was moaning in pain.

“D-doc! Fuck, my head hurts!”

“Don’t move, it’ll only get worse!” Cassian instructed but even with his warning, I began to thrash and wiggle as the pain became too much for me to tolerate. The pain then began to surge across my whole body and for the first time since the accident I felt deep wounds crack and snap in pain.

I howled and Cassian didn’t waste time. He quickly got to work and with a press of a button he called in a staff of nurses to help him. It took quite a long while but after some time I finally managed to shut my eyes and relax as the pain receded. It never truly left but it was becoming tolerable at least.

Within another hour I was drugged and lapsing in and out of sleep once more. I didn’t know how long this continued but when I managed to gain consciousness, even for another moment, I saw Cherry sitting by the side of my bed just resting and watching.

By the time I woke up with a strong sense of awareness and stability Cherry was in a different set of clothes. I could only guess that it was a different day now. She was seated by the bed but she was busy scrolling on her phone.

“Cherry?” I called out to her.

She quickly put her phone down and rushed to get closer to my face, “Dylan! Oh my God, how do you feel?”

“Like a champ,” I tried to smile but it only hurt my neck. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being here,” I told her. “I’m sorry for everything I told you before. I didn’t mean all that stuff.”

She hushed me and said, “Don’t say anything. You just need to focus on resting.”

“N-no, let me finish,” I insisted. “I said a lot of mean things to you. I should be burning in hell for the things I said. No one deserves to be treated like that.”

A tear flowed down from Cherry’s eye and she leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek. She then caressed my face and said, “Dylan, I forgive you. I forgive you and I’ll always forgive you. I love you. I tried to live without you but I can’t so please… please let me in.”

I nodded back and asked, “Where do you want me to begin?”

“From the very beginning,” she answered. “I want to know everything there is about you. What was your life like growing up? What about past relationships and how you got so successful the way you are now? I want to know all of that and more.”

There was so much to tell.

My life had never been an easy one and I had dark secrets just as anyone had. Unlike most people, however, I wasn’t comfortable confronting those secrets. I wanted to bury them so deeply in my mind that even I’d forget the finer details. Now it was time to open those caskets up.

Yet for the first time since forever, I felt happy and relieved to do so.

“I will tell you everything later. Right now I have one important thing to tell you.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“Cherry,” I called her name.

“Yes?” she asked as she looked down at me with those gorgeous bright eyes of hers.

I finally summoned the courage to say what I needed to say. This was the moment, I knew it was.

“Cherry Vergara… I love you.”