Part 5-DAWN ARRIVES
Speed headed back up to the ICU, his mind spinning with what Racer X had said. He rode in the elevator thinking Wow, all this time and I never knew that Racer X was carrying all this sadness around with him. I guess it's true, still waters run deep. But a girlfriend who died, poor guy! And they were engaged. Trixie and I aren't engaged, at least not yet, but I do love her very much and I wonder if I could be as strong as he is if I lost her.
The elevator door opened and he stepped out and headed toward Trixie's room. He slid open the door and walked in as a nurse was taking readings and getting Trixie's vital signs. She smiled a greeting as she continued doing her work and he took up his seat next to Trixie.
The nurse took Trixie's respiration, pulse and blood pressure and with a pleased look made notations in her chart. Her reaction caught Speed's attention and with his heart pounding asked, "Excuse me nurse, but how is she?"
The nurse smiled and replied, "Her vitals look much better than before."
"Is that a good sign?" Speed inquired hopefully.
She nodded, "Yes, sir it is." She turned and exited the room.
Speed turned back and reached his hand to gently stroke Trixie's forehead. "Are you starting to come back to me?" he said softly. "Are you getting ready to open those big beautiful green eyes that make my knees turn to jelly every time you look at me. Are you getting ready to speak to me in that voice of yours that's sweeter than any music I ever heard? Are you, Trix?"
Oh Trix, I need you so much! You are everything in my life that's right and
good. I wake up in the morning and you're the first thing I think about. When
I'm driving or racing and you're not riding with me, I think about when I can
see you again. I can talk to you about anything and even when I'm a jerk,
you forgive me and give me another chance. Which reminds me, I'm sorry
that I ever made you feel badly when I was attracted to other girls. I know
that it really bugs you and sometimes I took you for granted so please forgive
me, baby. I'm a sucker for pretty faces but you should know this, as pretty
as I might have thought those other girls, I think you are by far the most
beautiful girl I have ever seen. I'm so glad that you're mine.
And all though you may not think it, and I don't show it when I've seen other guys
look at you part of me wants to brag and gloat and say hands off, that you're mine
and the other part wants to knock their blocks off. Remember the time we met
Dr. Fantasy and he drooled all over you? I know he was an older man but the
way he looked at you made me want to pop him one. And Prince Omar who me
and Kim Jugger rescued with you when we were in the Sahara Desert? I saw
how he was so attracted to you and deep down it really bothered me. I've even
seen Sparky checking you out and it really ticks me off sometimes, we've even
talked about you and I swear he'd have gone after you if I hadn't beat him to it.
And when we ran into to Rusty Muffle, I saw his eyes on you after I introduced
you and it bugged me the way he smiled at you. Then that creep that was
working with Freeload during the Junk Car Grand Prix that had nabbed you,
I told him to take his filthy hands off you and I swear I wanted to tear him apart
for threatening you.
So it boils down to this—You have to get well—I need you by my side because
although I know I would continue racing if you were gone, it would never be
the same. I would always remember you and me fighting and racing together.
You're a part of me, Trixie and I'm a part of you, separate but together even
though we're not married, I feel that we are soul mates, that there isn't another
girl out there that is made for me like you. So please, please baby, come back
to me!
Speed laid his head on Trixie's bed, hanging on to her hand like a drowning man clinging to a piece of flotsam to keep from sinking. His eyes were transfixed, drinking in the sight of her piquant, lovely face in repose, the bow shaped mouth, upturned nose, and long sooty lashes now resting on porcelain cheeks like a prone, delicate china doll. How could I even look at other girls when I have this beautiful girl right in front of me? She's mine but I don't deserve her so maybe that's why I'm at the brink of losing her, I'm such a fool he mentally lambasted himself as he drifted to an uneasy sleep. Speed was then dreaming, he and Trixie were at the beach and they were both in the waves laughing and carefree like children. He was chasing her, and her musical laughter danced on the salty breeze as he spotted her as she ducked under a wave to disappear. Smiling, he came forward to reclaim her for a sea-sprayed kiss but she was nowhere in sight. Getting panicked when he could not find her, Speed repeatedly dove under the water to frantically search for her and then finally he spotted her. As he swam to get her, just as he was about to grasp her hand, she floated away, her eyes staring and her body lifeless. He cried out in fear, "Trixie! Trixie!"
"Trixie!" Speed called hoarsely as he started awake. He lifted his head up and glanced around to get reoriented and discovered that he was still in the hospital at Trixie's side. He shook his head to bring himself to full awareness and glanced at the clock, 3:45 AM. He sighed as he realized that it was now three days since the crash and that Trixie was still in her comatose state.
Speed sighed again as he got wearily to his feet. He stretched and walked over to the window to look out at the world that continued moving at its breakneck pace, outside the hospital walls. He scanned the night sky, studded with stars visible due to the fact that Trixie's room faced the back of the building where there was a wooded area with no other light source. He watched the stars as his mind wandered and wondered what lie ahead. He heard Racer X's voice as he shared his wisdom earlier.
"When you have the real thing with a special woman, you never make her feel that those you look at are more important than she is."
"A grown man doesn't throw his dream away even in the light of the greatest loss of his life."
"No matter what tragedies happen in our lives, none of us can escape our destinies."
"You possess what everyone in this profession aspires to but only few can lay claim to, a true racer's soul."
"Remember Speed, it's always darkest before the dawn."
Before the dawn Speed mused as he watched the early morning sphere. The sky was indeed black as pitch, the eastern horizon inscrutable from the western, northern, or southern horizons, dark like a void, a total absence of color.
He whispered a prayer. "Dear God, please let Trixie come back to me. She's everything to me and if I lose her, I'll have no life it'll just be an existence, my joy will be gone forever. I know that I don't deserve her Lord, but if you send her back to me, I promise she'll never have to doubt me or my love again. So please, please don't take her!" Speed beseeched as he stood at the window gazing at the heavens.
Then as he watched, Speed noticed the palest lightening of the eastern horizon, turning the dark to ultramarine, to a soft hue of royal blue then as the light advanced, to a deep cobalt then cerulean as the sun peeked above the lands edge. The dark was receding as the sun climbed slowly up, sending away shadows and bathing the landscape with the light of a new day. Speed stood there, mesmerized by the spectacle until he heard a dearly familiar soft, husky voice.
"S-Speed? Is that you?"
At first, Speed thought that his lack of food and sleep had caused him to hallucinate that he was hearing Trixie's voice. Then he heard it again.
"Speed?" Trixie called weakly.
The first thing he saw as he whirled around was her eyes, fluttering lashes that uncovered her sea green orbs as she moved her head with excruciating slowness. Broken from his trance, he rushed to her side, his vision blurry with tears of gratitude as he leaned over her.
"Trixie? Baby?" he asked timidly, afraid he was dreaming.
She managed a wan smile as she reached for him. Speed needed no further prompting as he wrapped his arms around her feeling the warm life that was emanating from her body. They drew apart slowly and she focused her eyes on him in the dim early morning light.
"Oh Speed, you're crying! I'm sorry to make you cry."
Speed shook his head and gave soft sob with a bright smile. "Happy tears, angel. I thought I lost you." He wiped at the warm rivulets streaming from his cobalt orbs as he sat in his chair and took her hand in both of his. "How are ya feeling?"
"My head hurts."
"No wonder. You took quite a shot on the head."
Trixie nodded, "How about you? Are you okay, Speed?
He grinned at her. "I am now that you're awake."
Trixie took note of the circles under his eyes and his growth of beard. "You look so tired, Speed. Haven't you had any sleep at all?" she asked worriedly.
Speed chuckled, "Listen to you. You're here battling for your life and you're worried about me. But that's just par for the course for you, Trix. You always put others first but now you need to come first. I'm gonna go tell the desk that you're awake."
"Okay. But please come back," she said.
Speed smiled, "You bet. Wild horses couldn't keep me away." He turned and exited the room.
Trixie leaned her head back on the pillow and sighed, her head beginning to throb. The door slid open and Speed, Dr. Wellby and a nurse entered. Speed took his seat beside her bed while the nurse began taking Trixie's vitals.
The doctor smiled and greeted her. "Well, welcome back, young lady. How're you feeling?" He leaned forward and flashed his penlight in her eyes to examine her.
Trixie blinked her eyes. "Tired and sore. I have the worse headache." She reached her hand up to her forehead as Speed's hand caressed her cheek.
"We'll give you something for the pain. In the meantime, we'll observe you for the next 6 hours then have some more tests to see if surgery is necessary. So get some rest, okay?" He turned to the door to leave.
The nurse took her temperature, pulse, and blood pressure then checked her respiration and heartbeat. She marked everything down in Trixie's chart then said, "I'll be back with a painkiller as soon as the doctor prescribes it. If you need anything else, just ring for us." She opened the door and took her leave.
Speed and Trixie were silent, their eyes trained on each other as if they both were afraid the other would vanish. Trixie breathed softly and asked, "Speed?"
"What, sweetheart?"
"Would you do me a favor?"
"Uh-huh. Name it," he replied, brushing her hair out of her eyes.
Trixie gazed intently at him. "Would you please go home and get some rest?"
Speed returned the regard. "I'm okay, Trix. Stop worrying."
"Speed please. You look like death warmed over. I'll be okay and I'll rest better if I know you're getting some rest," she insisted.
Speed protested, "I don't want to leave you, honey. You just came back to me." He grasped her hand and planted at kiss on it.
"You need to get some rest, Speed. Or am I going to have to have you thrown out?"
Speed sighed, acquiescing, "Okay, okay, you win. But I'll be back later." He leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her cheek. "Is there anything special you want me to bring?"
Trixie nodded and replied softly, "You."
Speed grinned, "You got it. Bye, baby." He reached and gently captured her lips in another gentle kiss then turned and left.
Satisfied, Trixie closed her eyes and drifted off.
Speed headed into the elevator and when the door closed he leaned back feeling a myriad of emotions rush through him. He was exhausted but elated and relieved as he closed his eyes and mouthed a silent "Thank you," his head cast upward. The door opened and he walked toward the exit.
He headed toward the parking lot, hesitating as he spotted the Mach 5. It was there where it had been 24 hours before when he took out all his anger, frustration, and fear. Strangely, it bore no sign of the abuse Speed had heaped upon it in his emotional outburst but just stood there patiently as he drew closer, waiting like an old, faithful friend.
Speed reached in his pocket for the key and then he leaped over and into the driver's seat. He inserted the key and turned, and the engine answered with its usual purr, as always responding to his touch. He breathed deeply and spoke.
"Forgive me," he said as he stepped on the clutch and shifted gears. "Let's go home." He drove out of the parking lot turned and headed in the direction of the rising sun.
