(We're back in present time)
I almost started crying again, from the relief. Herc and Laf hugged me tightly. I'm gonna kill him when he gets out of here. I smile a little though. I was just glad he was still alive. But I'm still going to kill him. What the hell was he thinking?
"Can we see him?" I ask, standing up. The nurse gently shakes her head, and my face falls a little.
"Not yet dear. He should wake up tomorrow, if he does you can see him then." Laf puts his hand on my shoulder.
"We should go home, mon ami." He says. I sigh and nod.
"Fine. Let's go." I say quietly. And so we head out into the night. It was cloudy, so there weren't even any stars to cheer me up a bit. I loved to look at stars. They held so much beauty. I remember that story I once read. 'Here's to all of the stars' is how it ended. What did they say about stars again?
I look over at Herc and Laf, who were whispering to each other. Right. We only see the bright stars. The ones that are alive. And we never notice the ones that suddenly blink out. I stare straight ahead as we walk, feeling a bit numb inside. Lost in my thoughts. I don't want Alex to be like that. I want him to get better.
It felt like someone else was listening in at that point. I looked up again, and I could see two stars in the sky. Side by side. It's gonna get better. The more I think about it, the more I believe. It'll all get better.
"Hey, guys?" I ask, calling out to the two boys.
"Yeah?" Herc turns around to look at me. "What's up?"
"I'm gonna stay at the hospital. Here, I mean. I'll stay here. I wanna be here." I didn't care that I probably wouldn't get any sleep. I would be there for Alex when he woke up. I would be the one to tell him he's an idiot. But then I'll tell him I'll love him forever, even if he is an idiot. Then eventually he'll get his act together and stop scaring me every other day. We'll graduate together, and hopefully one of us would propose to the other. It'll probably be him proposing to me, to be honest. He'll get a job in law, and I'll be a veterinarian. We could adopt a kid or two. Live the perfect life together. It'll be perfect. Nothing will go wrong ever again. I wouldn't let it. Neither will Alex.
It's gonna get better. Then it'll stay that way.