He visited her daily. Every day since it happened. She hadn't woken up in exactly 296 days, but he still had hope. Hope Winters had been attacked by person or persons unknown 296 days ago, and had received a head injury. That was all. A head injury. But it had been sufficient to send her into a motionless coma for 296 days. A day never went by that Aaron didn't wish he had arrived earlier. If only he had fixed his bike before hand, he wouldn't have had to walk to the woods. He found her. Lying there, in her favourite blue dress, her brown satchel by her side.
Aaron had checked for life signs, and they were there, but faint. And fading. He can't remember how many times he swore when he saw he had no credit and no signal on his phone. At least a dozen more as he tried to calm down. It was then that he knew what to do. He put her bag around his shoulder, and then lifted her up into his arms. Aaron wasn't the strongest of guys, in fact, he was thin and tall and barely in shape. He carried her, constantly swearing the way to the village. When he got there, Hope's sister pulled up in her car. Aaron begged her to help, and of course she did, Aaron lay Hope in the car and sat next to her, cradling her head in his hands. Her sister asked him constantly what happened, but Aaron didn't know. He had found her there, and tried to help her. That's all he knew.
They reached the hospital, and Hope was once again in Aaron's arms as he carried her into the huge white building, her sister close behind. Dr. Mary-Jane came to their aid at once, and she was taken to a room equipped to handle coma cases. Hope was its first victim in 20 years. After only a few minutes, Dr Mary-Jane insisted that only family remain. Hope's sister called their father. He would be there soon. Aaron left the room, and leant against the wall, lowering himself down to the floor. It was only then when he allowed the tears that had been building up inside him to emerge. He constantly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He didn't want anyone to see. He moved slightly as Hope's sister left the room. He thought her name was Grace. Hope didn't mention her often. As he moved, a box fell out of his pocket. Aaron looked at the box, and then got up and ran down the corridor, crying furiously.
It was then that their father arrived. He watched Aaron go. He marched down the corridor. "Did he have anything to do with this?" he growled to Grace, as he looked through the glass window of the door at his youngest daughter. "He saved her." Grace whispered. "Dr. Mary Jane said she only had a few minutes. Dad..." she paused.
"What?" he said, his mind still distracted. Grace had opened the small box. She handed it to her father. "He dropped this." Inside, on a small soft velvet cushion was a ring. It was gold, and shone of expense. It had two jewels inside, a red ruby and a white diamond.
"Birth stones." Grace murmured. The girl's father took the ring out and looked inside it. It was the date they had arrived in the village, and a little inscription: At first sight. Her father replaced the ring, a snarl on his face. He hated Aaron. He marched back the way he had come.
By this point, Hope had been set up to spend a while in that room, with wires and tubes and machines all around her. Grace walked in again, carrying the box. Grace loved her sister, and knew that she loved Aaron. A single shining tear had fallen from her pale face as she placed the ring on the heart monitor beside Hope's new bed, and then she sat in a chair, and stayed with her sister.
Every day he went to see her. Sometimes, when he should have been at work. But she was more important. Her father had threatened him so many times whenever they'd seen one another at the hospital, but Aaron was determined to change. He had a job now, he managed Hope's favourite shop, the book shop. He'd managed to get enough money to buy the small piece of land where there was a pond. The pond he took her fishing last year. Every memory he could save, he saved. The investigation had proved to be futile. Nothing came of it. There was a bird watchers' film camera in a tree which showed only Hope falling backwards. At the same time, a traffic camera had an image of Aaron, next to a speeding car still in the village. Even though this proved it wasn't his fault, Hope's father still blamed him for it. Aaron blamed himself. If only he'd been earlier. Maybe if he'd run, not walked, he could have helped her. Grace was the only one who understood, and she didn't blame him. They'd become better friends over the past 296 days. And today they had a new experiment to try with Hope. Lavender. Hope's favourite fragrance. Grace lit a Lavender candle and passed it under her nose. Her heart rate increased. The nurse walked in. She took Hope's temperate. Hope's finger moved. She opened her eyes.