Baumer woke up three days later in the hospital. When his vision came in focus, he realized he was looking at a different colored ceiling than his was. Where was he? He turned his head slowly to the left and saw balloons, cards and a little stuffed teddy bear. He put the pieces together and figured out he was in the hospital. But what did he do to get himself in here? He slowly turned his head to the other side and saw Nina sleeping in the chair.
His eyes widened. Nina. What was she doing in here? What the hell happened to him?
Baumer noticed as Nina stirred and her eyes slowly opened. He fell silent and his girlfriend's eyes met his. He gave her a small smile and wanted to say hi but she immediately wrapped her arms around him.
"Andrew!" Nina exclaimed. "You're awake! I'm so happy!" She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I was so worried! You were out for three days and…"
Baumer cupped her face. He was right. Nina was crying. And he was the reason for it. "Nina, I'm…sorry." The last time he saw her was when he left her in the lobby.
"It's okay, Andrew." Nina wiped her tears away and smiled.
"No! It's not okay! I made you worry and I ended up in the hospital and…" He paused. "How did I get in here anyway?"
"Seth told me you went out in a storm to go surfing." Nina frowned. "All because you wanted to learn how to surf." She looked down. "That's not…how to learn."
"Seth told you?" Baumer's voice had an edge to it and he didn't realize it. "You were talking to him?"
"I went to visit him in his room here in the hospital." Nina explained.
Baumer stayed silent. Could she have visited Seth longer than himself? "Why did you visit him?" He asked.
"I was thanking him for saving your life." Nina told him.
"Saving my…" Baumer was shocked. Seth actually did care about him enough to save his life…
"Why did you go out there in the first place, Andrew?" Nina asked, pulling the chair closer to the bed. She took his hand in hers and locked eyes with him. "If you wanted to learn how to surf, you could have asked me." She smiled. "You know I would have."
"He kept saying how I wasn't good enough for you." Baumer explained. "How I should learn how to surf because it's something you enjoy doing so much." Tears formed in his eyes. "He kept saying how when you talk about surfing with him, you get so happy and with me, you can't because I don't know how to surf." The tears fell silently down his face. "I just got so mad and just went for the beach. It was stupid of me but do you realize how hurt I was when he told me I wasn't good enough for you?" He paused. "I was starting to believe him."
Nina gave him a kiss on the lips. "I love you, Andrew Baumer. You don't have to listen to him because I love you and everything about you. So what if you can't surf? I will teach you! And if you don't like to, it's alright! We don't have to like the same things! I'm sorry if I would speak so highly about surfing, it just brings me closer to my mother." She smiled. "You are good enough for me, Andrew. I choose you."
Baumer hugged her back and gave her a kiss. Those were the words he wanted to hear! And he almost wished Seth was in the room to hear it.