Chapter 2: Awakening

When I first woke up, I felt scared, and unsure. I tried to sit up, but my body was betraying me with fatigue and remained laying down. I could feel my lungs taking in air at a quickened pace as my eyes darted around the room looking for any clues. I knew I was in a hospital, but things felt different. I was trying to take in all of my environment as quickly as I could to try and remember it in case I needed to use it to my advantage. I also needed to find somebody to help clue me in.

"You're awake!" I saw the man look up from the book he was reading quickly and alarmed. As he stood up, things started falling off his lap. So, he started frantically setting things down and trying to wrap his mind around what he should do. His raked his right hand quickly once through his disheveled hair causing it to stand up more in places and look even more messy. He looked like he had slept over here last night. His eyes and face also looked tired like he had barely slept at all.

I kept trying to speak and I heard him cursing to himself and pacing back and forth. He had decided to go get the nurses and the doctor to come see me. I don't know why he didn't go get them right away. What was he hesitating for? What was holding him back?

He turned to look at me one more time, sighing, with a look of relief, agony, and surprise on his face. I didn't know who he was but I felt myself being drawn towards him and attracted to him. My heart was thumping inside my chest as he looked away, and opened the door to go into the hallway.

He didn't speak to me directly, but I felt like I knew who he was and I couldn't remember. He obviously knew who I was, so when he got back, I needed to get some answers to my questions. Maybe my life would make a little sense for a while.

As soon as he got to the nurses station, I saw one of the blonde hair nurses look over at me with sudden alarm shouting at a few people to come in here and to call the doctor back to the hospital. It must be late for him not to be here. I glanced at the clock on the wall and it read two-thirty a.m.

"Damn," I whispered in my mind. This was going to be a big hassle and trouble when he got here. I could feel it.

The blonde hair nurse got off the phone and quickly came in the room with three other people. They quickly proceeded to do some tests, ask how I was feeling, check the monitors, and ask me if I was hungry or thirsty. Everything was happening at a alarming pace, so I just nodded my head. My throat was a little dry so I didn't mind.

I heard one of the nurses whisper to another one that it was unbelievable that I was awake and it was a 'miracle'. To me, that didn't sound like a good sign. I wanted to speak and ask them what they meant, but some for reason, my voice still wouldn't let me speak to them.

With all the nurses running around me and doing their tests, I still managed to see the man sneak back into the room. There was no way I would miss him. There was something about him that made me drawn to him. I had never felt this pull to anyone before. I hadn't even talked to him but I already felt this connection to him. It was strange, scary, and yet exciting at the same time.

One of the nurses finished writing things down and I saw her turn to him and say." You must be very excited that your wife woke up today. I know you've been waiting for it to happen for a very long time. It's such a happy day for you both. I'll call her mother and let her know the good news too."

I was married. When did that happen? I was searching through my memories and could not remember that at all. It must have happened before my accident, but all of those memories were gone to me. I pulled my hand from under the bed, and saw the glistening ring on my finger. I guess I was married after all, but the last memory I could remember was me back in high school.

He glanced at me again with that same look of relief wash over his face. Then I saw another emotion cross over his face. It was a sad look, and yet it looked like it was full of love. It took my breath away. No one had looked at me like that before.

He spoke again to her in a powerful, deep, Russian accent," Yes, it is a wonderful day indeed. You have no idea how long I've waited for this day to happen. Please call her mother and her friend Lissa and let them know the good news."

The nurse nodded one time and left the room. I saw her ushering to the other nurses to leave the room as well. They obviously wanted to give us some privacy.

When the nurses all finally left, I saw him sigh, and run his hand through his hair again. It must be a habit of his when he's exasperated, anxious, or nervous, I quickly noted to myself. He took a seat next to my bed, and just looked at me again before he began to speak.

"Rose, you have no idea how long I've waited for you to wake up. It's unbelievable. I sat here everyday, watching you, wondering how I would react if this moment were to happen. I kept rehearsing in my mind this event, and I kept wishing to myself that today would be the day you opened your eyes and came back to me. Everyday I would wish that, and everyday it wouldn't happen. It finally happened, and I'm so happy. I would look at you and tell you I loved you and I would wait for you as long as I had to. Sometimes the nurses had to pull me away at night because I couldn't leave. I didn't want to miss one moment just in case you woke up. I wanted to be the first person here."

He loves me? I guess that emotion didn't register as big of a shock to me as I thought it would. I was waiting for him to say it, and I loved that he did. We were married after all. I didn't know why I was feeling like this. My emotions were conflicted. I barely knew him after all! How was I feeling like this towards him?! I searched through my emotions wondering if I loved him too.

He looked over and me just waiting for a response in return, but I couldn't give it to him. I didn't know what was wrong, but for some reason, I couldn't speak at all. I put my hand to my throat and tried to show him that I was having a hard time speaking back to him. He took that as a sign that I was thirsty and quickly handed me a glass of water that was sitting, waiting on the bedside table beside me. I took the glass from his hand, and gulped the cold liquid down. I really was thirsty after all. I tried to speak again and it still wasn't working. I tried to motion to him again that I couldn't speak. I put my hands around my throat again and tried to signal that I couldn't speak.

I think he finally realized after a while that I couldn't respond back to him, so he stood up, went to the door again and strode down in large strides to the nurses station. I saw him look back and me and wave with his hands what was going on. The nurse picked up the phone and called the doctor again. I heard her say that all my monitors and tests were fine but I wasn't speaking and wasn't responding to anyone. He must have given her directions because she came back in the room and told me the doctor would be here shortly and if I needed anything from her just to push the blue button that was hanging above my head.

The man walked back in my room and sat down next to me. He somehow had acquired paper and a pen and handed it to me. I felt him put the pen in my hand and the paper in the other. I instantly took it from him and my hands just started writing again as if I had never quit. It felt just as natural to me as it did before my accident. My hand was writing as fast as I could. I was writing down all the questions I wanted to know. How did I get here? Was I in an accident? How long had I been in a coma and how long had we been married before the accident? Where was Lissa and when was my mom going to get here? Was I okay?

I handed him the paper and he scanned the list of questions on the paper. When he looked up, I saw a glimmer of a smile on his face and he looked back down at the paper.

"The first question is 'how did you get here'," he said to me," You got here because you were in a car accident with me, and when we hit the other car, you were ejected from your seat out the windshield. You weren't wearing your seatbelt, Rose. I told you before we left that you should have put it on, but you didn't. You told me things would be okay, and they weren't. You hit your head so hard on the pavement that you were unconscious. I thought you were dead, and tried to do CPR on you until the ambulance came to take you away. You almost died on the way to the hospital because your pulse was so weak. I almost lost you." The look on his face was sad again.

"Your second question to me was 'how long have you been in a coma"," he spoke to me again," You have been in a coma for four years now and we would have been married for five years. Do you not remember me at all or that we were married?" The look one his face was hopeful. He was hoping that I'd say yes and that we could resume our lives just like we did before all of this happened.

I shook my head no and I saw the devastation on face. He couldn't contain it.

"If you don't remember me, what are we going to do?" he said again as he looked out the window.

A/N: Hi =) Please review and let me know what you think. I deeply appreciate if you would. Btw, I'm looking for a beta reader, so if any of you are interested, let me know through pm.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the story itself. I only own the plot.