Chapter 3

What will I do?

If Will lives? If Will dies?

Alicia thought to herself as she lay in bed. The sun had risen and was beginning to shine through the blinds over her window. She glanced at her clock, even though she had already hit Snooze once. It read 6:42am.

She grunted as she pulled herself out of bed and glanced at her phone. She had no new messages. She sighed in dismay.

Will had been in a medically-induced coma for, as of today, thirteen days. Not that she was counting or anything. Alicia had been to visit Will almost every day after work, but his two sisters had been slightly suspicious of her. They knew she was the First Lady of Illinois, but she wondered if Will had ever told them about her. Probably not. Will hadn't been in contact with his sisters much since he had graduated from Georgetown.

This particular morning was a Friday, and on this particular morning, Zach and Grace had beat her to breakfast. They hadn't made their lunches or gotten dressed yet though. "Morning," Alicia said sleepily as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She had a feeling that this wasn't the last cup of coffee she was going to consume today.

"Morning, mom," Zach and Grace replied, almost simultaneously. "How'd you sleep?"

"Alright," Alicia replied monotonously. "I've got to get to work early because I have an early deposition. Will you lock up for me when you leave?"

"Sure mom," Zach replied graciously. "Have a good day."

"You too," Alicia said as she hugged her two children. "Are you guys okay with pizza tonight? I'll be home late."

"Works for me," Grace said, and Zach nodded in agreement. "Will you be working late?"

"What?" Alicia said, caught slightly off guard.

"Or are you going to see Will?" Grace asked.

Alicia paused, sighed, and then said, "Okay, yes, but the doctors might be taking him off the sedatives today."

"It's okay mom," Grace smiled, "Do what you need to do."

"Bye, Grace. Love you too, Zach." Alicia smiled as she walked out of her apartment and headed for the elevator.

Alicia's day ended up being much longer than she expected. She had three depositions and two court appearances before 4pm. She was tired, and was drinking her third cup of coffee when Cary approached her desk back at the office. "Robyn said someone called your office phone earlier."

Alicia immediately looked up. "Did she know who?"

"Don't think so," Cary shrugged. "She would have said if she did, right?"

"Okay, thanks Cary," Alicia sat down in her desk chair and pressed the Voicemail button on her phone. The call was from Diane, made a few hours ago.

"Hi Alicia, it's Diane. I'm sorry that missed you, but I wanted to let you know that Will's doctors agreed to start bringing Will out of his coma. He'll be conscious within the next 48 hours. Hope to see you soon." BEEP.

Alicia slammed the phone down, pulled her things together, chucked out what was left of her to-go coffee, and told Cary "I've gotta go. See you next week," as she sprinted into the elevator. She didn't care about any work that wasn't done – all she cared about right now was seeing Will.

Seeing Will alive.

Alicia parked in the first parking spot she found, ran into an elevator that was half closed, and walked down the hallway to room 324 on the third floor. The paper under the room number still read Will Gardner. As she approached the room, she saw the door propped open and saw Diane outside the room, sitting in a chair. She stood up as soon as she Alicia coming.

"Hi," Diane said kindly, giving Alicia a hug.

"Hi," Alicia replied anxiously. "Any updates?"

"They've taken him off most of the strong sedatives. There's only a couple of nurses in there right now, so you can go in if you like."

Alicia turned towards the door to the room, and then turned back to Diane. "Thanks," she said. She turned around and entered the room. She rounded the blue curtain just as two nurses passed her to leave. A vitals monitor was loudly beeping away at a constant rate. The ventilator was gone, replaced by a nasal tube that looped around Will's ears. One less IV, too.

She didn't care about the rules that had been laid out on Will's first night in the hospital. She pulled a chair up next to the right side of his bed, sat down, and grabbed Will's right hand. She didn't hear any change of sound in his vitals monitor, and she sighed as she looked at Will's face. The bandaging on his neck had been redone, and didn't look as thick as before.

"Will," she began to say, "I've been worried sick about you. I don't know if you can hear me, but I want to say this anyway. I care about you so much and…" she began to tear up, "I don't know what I would do if I lost you, so I've been here almost every day, praying that you'll come through this." She paused, then continued. "I need you Will."

Before she could say anymore, her phone vibrated in her coat pocket. She glanced at the text. Hey mom, Zach and I have ordered pizza. Let me know when you'll be home. Love you. –Grace. PS: Hope Will's doing ok

Alicia smiled, and put the phone back in her pocket. "Alright," she stuttered, "I'd better go. See you soon, Will Gardner." She sniffed loudly to hold back the tears in her eyes, and stood up to leave. Only that she couldn't move her left hand.

She locked down with confusion, and saw that her left hand was still holding Will's right hand, which was partly covered in bandages and IVs. Her hand was loose, but Will's hand was not. She felt some pressure on her hand.

What? Alicia thought. She squeezed Will's hand lightly, thinking that it was just her imagination.

And then he squeezed back.

Alicia gasped in shock, and called out to Diane. Diane came to Will's bedside, and just as Alicia was about to speak, Will's vitals monitor began to beep faster than it had before.

One of his doctors rushed in seconds later, and saw Will's hand intertwined with Alicia. "Let go, please," he told Alicia. "I can't," Alicia said, "He's squeezing my hand."

The doctor checked his pulse. "His heart rate's increasing fast. I think he's waking up."

Alicia and Diane exchanged surprised and hopeful facial expressions, and Alicia squeezed Will's hand again.

He squeezed back again.

Less than a minute later, Will's mouth opened as he gasped for air. His body took a few deep breaths, and his eyes slowly opened.

Will's eyes slowly drifted around the room. He didn't speak. He paused when he saw that he was holding Alicia's hand.

Diane and Alicia were close to tears. Diane clasped her hand over her mouth. Alicia grabbed Will's hand with her other free hand, and sat down to get closer to his eye level. She was so close to crying with joy that she could barely speak. His doctor stood still as Will's heart rate monitor returned to a slower rate of beeping.

Alicia stared into Will's eyes. "Will?"

Will looked to where Alicia's voice came from, and made eye contact. His mouth broke into a tiny smile.

"Alicia."