Finding A Way Back (Chapter 7)
A DAY LATER
Nathan sat by Haley's bed and held her hand softly. He knew it wasn't really his place to be by her side but with their recent confessions that they still loved each other, he couldn't imagine being anywhere else right then. It was amazing to him how nearly losing someone you love put things in perspective. Nathan had realized that he didn't want his life in California anymore. It wasn't even really his life. Sometimes he felt as if he were stuck on the inside looking out.
He was a spectator in his own life. He acted like a robot in California. Took the occasional class, kicked butt in basketball and spent a night with some nameless girl. His life ended the day he left Haley and started the minute she walked into his hospital room and uttered the sentence, "You've got to be kidding me" in such disdain that it made him fall in love with her all over again.
If, by some miracle, Haley woke from her coma, he would not let her leave the hospital until she agreed to take him back. He would even go so far as to buy a tent and camp out in the hallway. But the doctors didn't know what was wrong with her. When she had first been wheeled in, they had assumed that she had tried to kill herself again. Nathan had wondered the same thing until he remembered that she'd actually been sick. So the Dr. Shane had ordered a few tests and nurses came and went. Nathan was the one constant person in the room and he intended to keep it that way.
A few minutes later, the doctor walked in and looked a little upset. Right away Nathan could tell that the news was bad. Noah Shane walked over to him slowly and looked at Haley and then Nathan. "Just tell me," he said. Noah nodded.
"Haley has a pulmonary embolus which is a block in the arteries of the lung. In this case, it was caused by a blood clot in an artery. It's fairly common and I will warn you that it can be fatal, but in most cases it's treatable," he said.
"How?" Nathan asked.
"Thrombolytic therapy using something called TPA. Then there's Anticoagulation therapy with is basically using medications like IV heparin and oral warfarin. They're used for preventing clots. There's also oxygen therapy which we'll do until we're sure that the injury to the lungs has been resolved," he said.
"Will she live?" Nathan asked.
"Yes," Dr. Shane replied. Nathan smiled.
"Thank you," he said.
"We care about her too. Haley's like part of the family here," he said. Nathan nodded.
Haley slowly opened her eyes a week later. She looked over to her left and wondered what Nathan was doing there. Wait a minute, she thought to herself. Where am I? She wondered. Then she recognized the hospital and realized that she was a patient. She tapped Nathan on the shoulder ignoring the throbbing pain in her hand. He woke immediately and looked around and then saw her. "Oh, thank God," he said, smiling. He grabbed her hand and held it to his forehead. "I was beginning to think you were going to take your sweet time," he said, laughing.
"What happened? Why are you here?" she asked.
"You had a pulmonary embolus," he explained. Haley looked at him in disbelief. But she knew he was telling the truth. Otherwise, where else had he learned that name?
"Why are you here?" she asked again. He chuckled.
"Why do you think?" he asked.
"Nathan, no riddles. Just tell me," she said.
"I stayed with you," he said.
"What about classes and basketball?" she demanded.
"You've been in a coma for a while, Hales. And it's given me a lot of time to think," he said.
"Oh, boy. What did you do?" she asked, looking at him.
"I left California State and transferred to Raleigh College," he replied.
"You what!" Haley exclaimed.
"I moved back to North Carolina," he repeated.
"But your life in California…" she started to say.
"Was not a life. Or at least, it isn't the life I want or the one I planned on having," he said.
"And what life do you want?" Haley asked.
"I want a life with you," he said simply. Haley froze and looked at him in disbelief.
"Nathan," she started to say, but he covered her mouth with his hand.
"If you're going to try to convince me to go back to California, don't bother. I've made up my mind," he said.
"Why on earth would you do something like this?" she asked.
"It's pretty simple when you think about it," he said. She looked at him. "I want you back. Life without you was miserable and now that I've found you again, I can't go back to that. So the question is: Do you want me back?" he asked. Haley was stunned.