Till death do us part

Chapter 10: I lost my wife - Present time

Cora's POV

I looked at Rose and noticed she was yawning frequently. She also started blinking often, seemingly battling fatigue.

I smiled a bit. "Why don't you get some rest?"

She shook her head. "No," She yawned again then. "I want to hear the story."

I put my hand on hers, squeezing hers a bit. "I'll continue the story after you've gotten some rest, ok?"

She yawned again. "Promise?"

I nodded. "Of course, Rose."

She laid back then. She closed her eyes and seemingly fell asleep.

I looked at her when she did. She seemed so peaceful right now. I could watch her for hours like this but I couldn't help to feel worried. The odds that she'd forget my name again were so big. I'd have to introduce myself again...

Suddenly the door opened. The nurse entered. "She's asleep?"

I nodded and got up, stretching a bit. "I told her to get some rest," I then looked at Rose. "I hope it'll help."

"She needs to rest to regain strength but we don't know if she'll ever become the old one again."

I sighed and looked down. Doctors and nurses had said that several times to me. I kept hoping though, I wanted my wife back. The one she was before she entered the hospital.

The nurse checked the equipment that was connected to Rose. "She seems fine," She then looked at me. "Why don't you get some rest too?"

I quickly shook my head. "I need to be here for her."

"She's in good hands here," She said, making me look at Rose. "If anything happens, we'll call you."

I gulped. "I'll go for a walk, but I'm not leaving the hospital," I nodded while looking at Rose. "She needs me."

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I had gone for a small walk. I was gone for a total of 25 minutes. It felt great to walk around a bit. These days, I mostly spent my time sitting down next to Rose's bed. I didn't mind doing this for her but I felt the effects.

Rose was still sleeping. She had been asleep for 40 minutes or so. I could easily wake her up and continue the story but I figured she needed it. Usually, she wakes up on her own.

Seeing her like this, seeing the state she's in... It often made me wonder about our future. I wondered what it would look like. If Rose never gets better, what do we do then? Would she be able to have a life like before? Or does she need to be with someone constantly?

It's so odd how our lives went from perfect to this. In one instance, everything changed. It's not fair. This shouldn't have happened to her.

I got startled by a knock on the door. I looked at it. "Come in." I said softly as to not wake up Rose.

When the door opened, I smiled. I got up to hug Anthony and Noah. "It's nice to see you guys," I looked at Anthony. "It feels good to have a familiar feeling."

Anthony seemed to feel my pain and pulled me in for another hug. He held on pretty tight. "It's going to be alright, Cora," He patted my back in the process. "It has to."

I pulled back a bit. "I don't know," I sighed and looked at Rose, who was still sleeping. "She doesn't remember anything still," I looked back at Anthony. "It has been 2 weeks, Anthony..."

He looked apologetic at me, then at Rose. "Maybe it takes time."

Noah nodded. "Maybe we need to find a trigger," He said, gaining our attention. "Something that'll make her remember."

I sighed and went to sit down again, right next to Rose. "I don't know what," I looked at Rose again. "I've told our story every day since the day she woke up," I sighed again. "Nothing seems to work."

"Cora," Anthony said, gaining my attention. "We're all very sorry for what happened with Rose, and we hope that she'll recover," He paused. "But we're worried about you too."

I raised my eyebrows.

"You've been here for the past couple of weeks," Noah explained. "We understand you want to be with her but you can't forget about yourself."

I sighed and looked at Rose, the equipment that was connected to her came into my view. I gulped. "I'm fine," I looked at the machine that was monitoring her heart. "I didn't forget who I am."

"Cora - "

"You have no idea how hard this is!" I looked at them. "I spent weeks next to my wife while she was in a coma, I waited and hoped for her to wake up and when she did..." I sniffled. "She didn't even recognize me..." I sniffled more. "She didn't know who I was..." I gulped. "Everyone keeps telling me how good my wife is healing but I lost my wife in that accident." I then started crying.

Anthony walked to me and pulled me up, he pulled me into his arms again. He comforted me and tried calming me down but it was no use. He knew I just needed Rose back. The real Rose.

"H-hello?"

I pulled back and wiped my tears away. I turned around. "Hey Rose," I sat down with her. "Did you sleep well?"

Rose looked around, I could tell she once again forgot everything.

"Do you remember them?" I asked her.

She looked at them, she seemed to think about it but shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," I forced a small smile. "You tried."

Anthony came closer to Rose. "Hey, Rose," He waved awkwardly and showed her a small smile. "I'm Anthony, I'm Cora's brother."

She blinked, seemingly confused.

"I'm Cora," I said, gaining her attention. "I'm your wife."

"I'm sorry, I forgot."

I nodded. "It's alright, you tried."

She looked at Anthony again. "Anthony," She nodded. "I'll try to remember."

Noah stepped forward. "I'm Noah, I'm Anthony's husband."

She nodded before looking at me. "Were they my friends?"

I slowly nodded. "You liked them both," I smiled a bit, trying to fight tears. "They came especially for you, to visit you."

"That's nice," She then looked at them. "Cora was telling me a story," She then frowned before looking at me. "The prom, right?"

When she said that, my jaw opened a bit. "Yes," She remembered... "You remembered."

She smiled a bit. "I tried."

I leaned in, kissing her head. "You did well," I then leaned back. "I'll continue the story after this visit, ok?"

She nodded and looked at them. They were telling stories of adventures we had with them, in the hope to trigger something. It never really worked, but we kept trying...