It had been five nightmarish days for Hanna since Caleb had been fatally shot.
The hospital had treated his gory wound, and it had been stitched with care and precision. From noon to midnight and midnight to noon, Hanna spent every moment at the hospital - waking and sleeping; she would not budge.
Hanna lived at the hospital. Between waiting at Caleb's bedside, with one of her slim hands always on his rough ones, and pacing in the waiting room as nothing happened, Hanna had her share of disappointment and loathing; not to mention concern. She was full of unanswered questions and furious anxiety. It appeared to her as though she was just a small part of a 1,000 piece puzzle, and she didn't know where even one other piece belonged. She seemed clueless. She was helpless and tragically miserable.
The time spent at the hospital moved at a snail-like pace. Everything seemed overwhelmingly slow. Even eating seemed to take hours. Eventually, Hanna couldn't stand it. She was getting no sleep whatsoever; she stayed up all night tossing and turning in the hospital waiting room chairs. Her mother repeatedly reminded her that was acceptable for her to return home, but Hanna stubbornly refused. She was bored out of her mind and itched to go shopping or out with the girls – something – but she knew that the pain that she would feel if Caleb awoke while she was gone would be unbearable, and so she stayed. All five days, Hanna stressed over the fact that he hadn't woken up, and she bit her lip until it was rubbed painfully raw.
Finally the hospital switched him into the extensive care unit, instead of the emergency room. It took some time, however, – and some extreme yelling – before the hospital allowed her to visit him. When they did, she burst into his starch-white hospital room, her shining blue eyes zigzagging wildly before landing on his still figure beneath the bleached bed sheets. It had been five days since she had laid eyes on him, and he had been in a serious condition then.
Caleb's dirty brown hair was pulled back from his olive-toned face and his gentle eyelids were closed, accenting his extremely long eyelashes. He looked like an angel, dressed in an all white hospital gown. The features of his face were more relaxed than Hanna had ever seen him; he appeared to be at peace. His soft breathing was shallow, but was still there and steady.
Hanna smiled tightly. If he weren't in such critical condition, she would be content to stare at him like this forever and ever.
He was beautiful, and Hanna loved him with all her heart. Since the first day she ever laid eyes on him, he did not slip her mind for even one moment. Despite all she'd been through and experienced with him, she still unconditionally loved Caleb. Although she was slightly angry with him for coming after Emily – she didn't want him to put his life in danger – she was also grateful that he saved one of her best friend's lives. But it was just so hard. She didn't want him to be hurt. He didn't deserve it.
She knelt down beside him, tears gleaming in her eyes and threatening to spill out. Hanna sniffled, grinning a sad smile. It wavered and she mentally collapsed; the tears streamed down her face in rivers.
"Why, Caleb?" She whispered sadly. Her voice was congested, and it sounded awfully unlike her. She swallowed and wiped at her tear-stained cheeks, trying to erase the proof of sadness. Her mind was blank with lament, and she poured her heart out to her one love.
"I missed you. They wouldn't let me see you for five days," Hanna frowned as she related the tale to Caleb. "It was pure agony. I don't understand why you did it, Caleb. You could have stayed with us. But thank you for saving Emily. She keeps repeating to me how she's going to always be in your debt. It's vaguely amusing, actually.
"Caleb, I love you so much. You can't leave me. Not like last time; not at all. You can't die on me. I've stressed over you for five days; it would be selfish of you to leave me now. Come back. Please?" Hanna whispered shakily. Her hands gripped Caleb's rough ones, and she gladly noted that they were fairly warm. She brought the hand up to her lips and softly kissed it. More tears gushed from her eyes and they soaked his still hand. She pressed her lips together to keep from crying out.
Her eyes skipped around the room, hardly really looking at all. They glided across the window and the emerald trees sighing in the wind outside. They skimmed over the pristine and depressed furniture. Everything in the room was extremely bleak and washed-out. It contained a grey tinge that wore out the eyes. Hanna scowled tiredly.
Getting up from her place next to Caleb's bed, she leaned over him, her long and curled blond hair bobbing over his chest as she kissed him softly. A small smile appeared on her lips, bright with hope. Hanna's eyes glimmered with excitement as she called Spencer and the girls. After only one ring, Spencer picked up. As Hanna told Spence the plan, she could hear Spencer's smile growing over the phone line. Excited, Spencer promised to be over with the others soon.
Thirty minutes later, Spencer, Aria and Emily were trekking into the hospital with bright roses, daisies and at least ten other types of flowers. Emily was carrying a bag full of Caleb's clothes; Hanna had kindly asked her to grab it for him, and Em agreed willingly. Aria was piled high with balloons and games while Spencer directed them all to the room.
Hanna grinned as she watched her friends parade toward her. Heads turned and eyes speculated as the girls crossed the waiting room, making their way to Caleb's room. Hanna clapped her hands excitedly as the girls filed into the room with smiles on their faces. They were glad to be doing something normal like creating a surprise party.
Soon enough the room was filled with bouncing colors. It's as if it never existed any differently; it was bursting with energy. The balloons floated above them, trapped by the ceiling. The colorful ribbons attached to them dangled above the hospital bed like seaweed; they curled and waved with the air conditioning as if in water. The clothes that were in the bag Aria carried were now laid out across the bed. Hanna tapped one finger to her pursed lips as she decided what would best suit Caleb when he woke up. Should she go with the green shirt, or the blue?
All around the patient, life sprang up. It was previously a dying atmosphere before, but now was bursting with life. The hospital room was transformed into a temporary home.
When the decorations were all up - the flowers in vases and the balloons secured - the girls collapsed into the chairs, grinning.
"He'll be alright, Hanna," Aria honestly told Hanna, believing every word that she said.
Spencer nods her agreement, "He can't stay asleep much longer."
Looking down at her folded hands, Hanna reflected on the day that Caleb was shot, and realized something.
No matter how much she hated the actions that he was committing by attempting to take the gun with him, he was still doing it to protect her. To keep her safe. For that she had to be thankful. She'd never had a boyfriend who cared that much about her. No other boy would risk his life to save hers. It's probable that they'd have run the instant they found out about this A person. But Caleb didn't, and he meant the world to her.
Even though she grows agitated with him sometimes, she will always love him; she knows that in her heart. And she also knows that he would never ever leave her; he's hers and she's his forever.
Forever.
Tears were streaming rapidly now, and Hanna rushed to Caleb's side, begging him to wake up. She scooted onto the bed in the small space next to him and closed her wet eyes, her damp left cheek resting on his chest. His heartbeat was sound and steady, and his shallow breathing was relaxing.
Slowly, his shallow breaths became deeper. His fingers twitched, but Hanna didn't notice being that her eyes were closed. Aria reached for Spencer's hand, needing to hold onto something to keep her smile from bursting; Spencer glared at Aria when her smile became too wide and her grip became too firm. Aria blushed and pulled her hand back, pointing dramatically at the movie-worthy scene before them.
As Caleb woke up, Hanna stayed put. She was oblivious to his conscious state and was mourning the events that had occurred in the past; something that she couldn't change.
From her spot on his chest, she cried for all the things that had gone wrong. She cried for his previous terrible home life; she cried for her own terrible family drama. She cried for her friends, and for her school; even for Jenna Marshall, despite how much she hates her. In that moment, though, Hanna could see through Jenna's eyes; walk in her footsteps. She understood why Jenna would be as cold as she was.
Hanna was a blubbering wreck; a plain and simple, brokenhearted disaster.
While she mourned over him, Caleb's brown eyes fluttered open, and his hand twitched. He took a deep breath, and that's when Hanna noticed a change in him.
Her blond head of hair lifted from his steady chest, and her eyes flickered up toward his, catching his gaze. Her expression shifted from sadness to a look of utter surprise and happiness. Her eyes lit up with sudden hope.
"Hanna?" He rasped. Though his voice was raspy, his outfit wrinkled, his body oddly patched up and his hair askew, Hanna was incredibly and undeniably content with what she had at that moment. Absolutely nothing would have made her more joyous than having him wake up. And for her name to be the first thing he spoke? Simply marvelous.
All at once, she was flinging herself onto him. They kissed, softly at first, and then fiercer and fiercer, until Caleb's face twisted into one of pain. He writhed into a more comfortable position beneath her, and had her set her head back down on his chest. She tilted her face up, however, to keep looking into his eyes. His wonderful, brown, deep eyes that she loved. Her grin was brighter than the sun, and her expression delighted beyond belief.
Caleb looked around the room, his eyes taking in all that was around him. When his eyes landed on the clothes set out and the flowers that surrounded him, he grinned, "Thank you. It's beautiful; you're beautiful, Hanna."
She was ecstatic, smiling from ear to ear. Hanna kissed him softly and looked back up at him, memorizing each and every detail of his face and attempting to engrave this memory, this moment, into her mind. She had her Caleb back, and nothing could take them down so long as they were together.
And for that moment at least, the world felt peaceful. It was satisfying, and all was right in the world.
They were, once again, safe from A. For now.