The five of us rarely left Scott's side that day. Hunter spent most of the day clinging to Shawn and crying. Shawn held him and told him that everything would be okay. Their love is so strong. At some point Shawn and Hunter got lunch from the cafeteria. I was far from hungry and didn't eat. Shawn didn't bug me about it, either.

During one of her visits, Nurse Greene told us that talking to comatose patients sometimes helps them wake-up. I was the only one who actually spoke to Scott and told him to come back and that I love him. Other than that, there wasn't much talking--not even from Shawn.

Late in the afternoon Shawn finally opened his mouth to say, Kevin, you stink.

I looked at him, surprised by the comment, and said,

I think you need to go home and take a shower, he said matter-of-factly.

No, I'm not leaving Scott. I really didn't want to leave, even though Shawn was probably right about my needing to go home.

Come on, Kev. Sean and Hunter will stay here to watch him, he tried to convince me.

Sean joined in, I promise we'll call if anything happens.

I still refused.

Just go Kev. You need a break, Sean said.

Kevin, your being a zombie isn't going to help Scott at all, Shawn persisted. We'll take a small break at home and come back in a few hours.

Please go, Kevin. We don't want you in a hospital bed, too, because you don't want to rest, Hunter spoke up.

They looked at me with worried eyes and I gave in with an exhausted,

When Shawn and I arrived at my house, we found a big cardboard box on the front steps. The person who had towed the SUV from the site of the accident had been nice enough to bring stuff that was in the vehicle to our house. The registration papers were there along with a few CDs and the groceries that Scott bought.

We took the box inside and went through the groceries throwing away things that had already gone bad like the bananas and milk. Then, I came across something that was triple-bagged. I dug in and pulled out a bottle of shampoo. Scott had it in so many bags as a joke.

I started laughing, but quickly my eyes filled with tears and my laughter turned to sobs. I could see Scott handing me the bag and saying, Here's your precious shampoo with that playful grin. Oh, how I wanted him to wake-up and do those fun things again.

When Shawn realized that I was crying, he rushed to my side and hugged me. I was crying with such force that I could barely stand, so Shawn guided me to one of the chairs at the dinner table. He sat down next to me and kept a comforting hand on my shoulder while I put my head down on the table and cried. Shawn whispered phrases like It's gonna be okay until I calmed down a little bit.

As my sobs became weaker, Shawn helped me to my feet and slowly helped me upstairs to my bedroom. Still shaking with small sobs, I lay down on the bed I shared with Scott. Shawn told me to take a nap, then he shut the door and went back downstairs. I quickly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

*****

The darkness rolled away as I woke up a few hours later. Not wanting to get up just yet, I rolled over to snuggle closer to Scott, but his side of the bed was empty and cold. All of a sudden, I remembered the events of the past two days and my eyes filled with tears. They fell down my cheeks as I got out of bed and walked across the bedroom to the adjoining bathroom.

I took a quick refreshing shower, and headed downstairs to find Shawn.

He was sitting on the couch watching TV. I could tell that he had showered while I was sleeping.

Did Hunter and Sean call? I asked as I took a seat in the big chair that was situated in the corner of the living room.

Shawn replied. Feel any better?

A little, I admitted.

Good. We'll eat dinner then go back to the hospital.

What are we eating?

I ordered from Domino's.

Twenty minutes later Shawn and I were sitting in the kitchen sharing a small, greasy, pepperoni pizza. Not a healthy meal, but it was much better than the hospital food.

We finished eating and returned to the hospital. When I entered Room 321, I was again startled and scared by the sight of Scott in his condition. I ran to Scott's side where I had been before. I lightly kissed his cheek and held onto this motionless hand.

Nothing changed, Hunter said as Shawn sat down next to him.

Kev, would you mind if Hunter and I went to your house and showered? Sean asked.

No, go ahead. Have a good meal, take a comfortable nap, whatever. I knew that those two had to be sick of the hospital food and those lousy chairs weren't at all comfortable.

Sean said and stood up.

Hunter stood, too, and said, Thanks. We'll be back soon. He bent down to kiss Shawn and walked out of the room.

Sean grabbed the car keys from Shawn and left. That's when I noticed that Sean's bounce was missing. He was actually walking instead of bouncing. Somehow, that made everything seem worse.



TBC