Henry and Elizabeth returned to their apartment together, newly engaged.
At the forefront, there was the effervescent excitement of their new life, spread out at their feet. It offered a shimmering haze over the rest, threatening to eclipse it entirely. But, despite Elizabeth's certainty in her answer, she wasn't completely satisfied yet. There was still the nagging question in the back of her mind, and while she was primarily thrilled with Henry's proposal and the life that she was committed to building with him, she knew that for her own peace of mind, she couldn't afford to leave it unanswered.
"Henry, come here," she said, hand outstretched, when they had arrived back home and his toothbrush was back where it belonged. He looked up, and let her pull him into their little kitchen, where she lifted herself up onto the counter facing him.
"What?" he asked, his on-edge uncertainty peeking through the glimmer. She squeezed his hand, hoping to reassure him.
"I just…" she sighed, unsure how to phrase it. Then, she looked up and met his eyes, and it fell into place.
"Tell me why you left," she implored. "I'm- I'm not mad, I'm-"
She paused again.
"Okay, I'm a little mad," she said. "Or, I was, but mostly I just really want to understand. It's so unlike you, and- and if we're, you know, building a marriage and a life together, I want it to be built on being open with each other."
Henry nodded. He understood, and even agreed, no matter how much he wished he wasn't having this conversation. It had been immature of him, he thought, to selfishly hope that the engagement might overshadow his mistake. Elizabeth's blue eyes were on him, pleading, and he was reminded that she was correct; they were starting a life together, and she'd had the trust in him to say yes. He owed her the whole truth. So he took a deep breath and started talking.
He walked her through the whole thing from start to finish; how he'd gotten the ring from his mother, the moment he had known he wanted to marry her, and his Friday morning breakdown with all that it entailed; he fleshed out every doubt for her just as they had come to him in the moment. Then, he told her how he'd gotten in the car and driven to Pittsburgh to clear his head. How he'd spent time with his family and perhaps most importantly, what it had reminded him of.
"Elizabeth," he said, taking her free hand with his so that he was holding both of hers. "As soon as I got back there and saw my family all together like that, even with all the bickering, I realized… that none of that stuff even mattered."
"It didn't?" Elizabeth asked. Henry shook his head.
"What mattered was that you are the only person I want that with. The only person I want to have a life and a family with, the only one I want to mitigate bickering kids with and…see at the end of every day and get older with."
Elizabeth nodded. They looked at one another for a long moment, and she smiled slightly at him.
"Okay, Mr. McCord," she sighed, a teasing smile playing on her face as she reached up and wrapped her fingers around the collar of the denim button-down he was wearing to draw him closer to her. "You make a compelling case for yourself."
"Do I?" he asked.
"Mhm," she answered. "But you might still have to make it up to me."
Henry couldn't contain his smile as he leaned in close to her.
"I think I can manage that," he whispered, and then his lips were on hers and together, they took the first step toward their new life on solid ground- together.
The weeks of the summer passed uneventfully after that; Henry called to tell his family the good news, and they were thrilled- for the most part, that was, given that Maureen could always be counted on to be contrary, and you could set a clock by Patrick's predictable uncertain attitude. Still, it was a joyous moment, and Elizabeth's call to her brother was much the same, albeit short and sweet. The word of their engagement spread slowly amongst their friends and coworkers and the remainder of the summer took on a joyful and hopeful sparkle that was unrivaled by any other time in their lives thus far. They went on hikes, spent hot afternoons on bowling and burger dates, and woke up together each morning.
All in all, it had been beautiful.
Right up until today, a warm one on the verge of the summer's descent into fall right before the start of the semester.
Elizabeth sighed, glancing over at the phone on the end table. She was starting to get a little bit worried; Henry should have been home an hour ago, and yet she was still alone in their little apartment. Looking down at the ring on her hand, she tried to distract herself with the sparkle and not think too hard about worst-case scenarios. But Elizabeth was a product of her experiences; she couldn't help but remember the way it had felt to be home alone that afternoon, wondering where her parents and her little brother were and why it was taking them so long to get back. She felt the same sickening sense of dread now as she had when the doorbell had rung and she'd gone to answer it only to find a distraught and dirty Will, accompanied by two police officers with grave faces. She shook her head, trying to focus on the book she was reading and not think that way. Henry was fine, she told herself. Soon, he would walk through the door and apologize for being late, and he'd be prepared with a story that would make perfect sense. He would be a little bit of a mess, thanks to his rush to get home to her, and she'd melt a little bit at his wayward hair and then he would kiss her in that warm, familiar way and everything would be okay. She'd feel silly for worrying, but Henry would think it was sweet and he would hug her and reassure her that he was fine and then they would have dinner together and everything would fall back into place exactly the way it was supposed to.
Even as she told herself all of that, and hoped desperately that it would be true, something tugged at her chest and she couldn't quite convince herself to believe it. She slammed her book closed and sighed, biting her lip as she looked over at the phone again. She was on the verge of standing up to pace back and forth solely so that she would have something to do when suddenly, the phone started to ring. She'd been half-anticipating it, but she still jumped at the sound in the otherwise silent apartment and dove for it, reaching for the phone and putting it to her ear as quickly as possible.
"Hello?" she said into the phone, breathless and hoping that it was Henry.
"Elizabeth Adams?"
At the unfamiliar and professional voice speaking her name, Elizabeth's heart dropped.
No. This can't be happening. Not again. Not Henry, too.
"Yes?" she managed.
"I'm calling on behalf of Henry McCord, we have him here at UVA Hospital," the unfamiliar voice informed her.
"What happened?" Elizabeth asked, closing her eyes and bracing herself for the worst.
"He's been in a car accident."
As Elizabeth made her way to the hospital, those words reverberated in her brain.
He's been in a car accident.
It was like living her worst nightmare over again, except somehow worse. Losing her parents to a car accident had been awful; in fact, it had been the worst day of her life. Yet, as Elizabeth leaned against the wall in a hospital elevator that was moving too slowly, she was struck by the realization that losing Henry might actually break her. It was slightly terrifying, to realize that she was that attached to him. They had just gotten engaged, so of course she had known that she was attached to Henry. What she hadn't quite realized was that she wasn't sure that she could live without him. Now, faced with his mortality in the most brutal way, she was pretty sure she couldn't.
When the elevator doors finally slid open and she was able to step out into the cool halls of the hospital, Elizabeth felt as if she were going to be sick. Even the thought of Henry in this sterile, cold, unfeeling place made her shiver. They hadn't told her much on the phone, and she hadn't really stopped long enough for them to anyway. Now, she found herself half-wishing that she could just stay in this limbo of unknowing forever. That, she thought, as unbearable as it was, would certainly be better than receiving the news that she was dreading. However, she squared her shoulders and approached the desk she'd been directed to. In those moments, forcing herself to put one foot before the other and move forward, Elizabeth found herself praying to whatever God Henry knew that he was somewhere in this hospital, safe and not...well, that was a sentence that she didn't want to finish.
"I'm Elizabeth Adams," she said, and the nurse at the desk looked up at her. "I got a call about my fiance, Henry McCord? He was in a car accident."
Even saying the words made Elizabeth's stomach churn, her voice sounding different to her own ears.
"Yes," came the reply. "Come with me."
Elizabeth wanted to ask, wanted to demand to know what she was walking into. But something kept her silent as she followed behind the unnamed woman who was leading her down the hallway. She wasn't sure what was keeping her quiet, except that when she tried to speak, her words caught in her throat and she had to fight to even breathe.
"Right through here," the woman told her, gesturing to a small room that didn't even have a door, just a cubby with a curtain. Elizabeth just nodded, and the nurse turned to walk away, leaving Elizabeth all on her own. She didn't even notice the way that her hand trembled as she reached for the edge of the curtain and drew it back to look inside. Her heart seemed to stop inside her chest at the sight before her.
Henry was resting on the tiny bed at the center of the room, sporting a bandage on his ankle, which was elevated, and a variety of bruises and scratches in addition to a small array of stitches on his left temple. However, at the movement of the curtain, he looked over at her with familiar hazel eyes that lit up at the sight of her and Elizabeth found that she could barely breathe.
"Elizabeth," Henry said, soft and understanding, and it was as if her whole world had fallen out from beneath her feet, so great was the relief that rushed over her.
"Henry," she choked, tears she hadn't noticed streaming down her cheeks. His bright eyes clouded over with concern as he reached out to her.
"Hey, come here," he said, and she took a hesitant step forward, not entirely trusting of her own body to hold her up. But a moment later she had made it to his side, and he reached out to take her hand. His touch on her skin, it seemed, was the final straw; Elizabeth crumbled into the chair next to him. Had it not been there, she was quite certain she would have hit the floor.
"Okay, okay," Henry said soothingly as she lowered her head to the mattress despite the fact that it smelled like antiseptic. He reached out, burying his fingers in her soft blonde locks of hair, attempting to soothe his sobbing fiance as best he could.
"Henry," she managed again. It was all she could get out, and his heart broke for her. He knew what this must have been like for her; it had been all he could think of since his arrival at the hospital.
"It's okay," he assured her. "It's alright, baby. I'm right here."
"I was- I thought," she began, trying to speak as she looked up and her blue eyes met his. "It- Henry, I-"
"Hey, it's okay," he said. "I know, just breathe. It's alright. We're both here, safe and sound. See? It's okay. Just breathe."
It had not escaped Henry's notice that Elizabeth had been shaking like a leaf from the moment that she arrived in his little cubby, and as he reached out to caress her cheek gently in his palm, he watched her closely. She took a shuddering breath and ducked her head, slowly calming herself.
He's okay, she told herself as she tried to do as he'd asked and breathe. He's fine, Elizabeth. He's okay. He's okay.
She repeated it over and over in her mind, and slowly she calmed down a little bit. Her hands still shook, but she was breathing almost normally and the tears had slowed, if not stopped entirely.
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking up at him with a desperate kind of fear in her eyes. "What happened?"
"I'm fine," Henry assured her quickly. "Just a little banged up, but totally okay."
"Okay," she breathed. "I thought-"
"I know," Henry replied, wanting to cut her off before she got herself worked up again. "I know. Come here," he said, and Elizabeth willingly moved herself into his arms. He wrapped her up against him and smoothed his hand over her hair as he pressed his lips against her forehead.
"I'm okay," he said. "We'll be out of here and home soon, okay?"
Elizabeth nodded against him, letting out a breath against his skin.
"I love you, Henry," she breathed, hoping that her meaning was clear. Henry closed his eyes and held her just a little bit tighter.
"I know," he said, and she felt a rush of relief at the knowledge that he, as he always did, had understood her perfectly.