A date on the Eiffel Tower

Chapter twenty four:

My eyes took a second to adjust to the light but when they did I saw a grey hospital bed with white bed sheets and a body underneath them. I could feel my breath shaking and tears falling. He has wires and tubing coming from him and an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, the heart rate monitor to the side was beating normally showing his consistent heartbeat.

I slowly placed one foot in front of each other walking towards him, dragging a chair from the window and pulling it to his side. I sat down staring at him, his face almost in line with mine, I took hold of his hand and felt his warmth, I was expecting it to be stone cold. He looked dead but peaceful.

I took a few more shaky breaths before opening my mouth to speak to him. Apparently you can hear things when you're in a coma. I hope so because if you can't and he doesn't wake up. No, I can't think like that.

"Thomas?" My first word to him and my voice is already cracking. "Thomas I'm sorry for everything. I got your letter and flowers and everything. I read to the very end of the letter and saw everything. You love me? I thought you liked me a bit but never love." I tightly squeezed his hand, placing the jumper on my lap and moving my other hand to his arm, feeling the rush of tears to my eyes.

"I didn't know what I felt for you until then. I love you Thomas and I can't lose you, you are the most important thing to me and I can't have you just walk out of my life. I don't want you Thomas, I need you. I need you next to me again." I found myself sobbing, leaning forward resting my forehead on his hand.

"Please don't leave me. I need to tell you how I feel properly. I need to look you in the eyes when I say it. I need you to know I mean it. Please Thomas, don't leave me." I cried into his arm for what felt like hours. I only stopped when I couldn't breath and I had run out of tears.

I stood up leaning over him looking down at his closed eyes. He looked so peaceful it almost felt cruel to want to wake him up. I gently pulled off the oxygen mask and placed it under his chin, then leant forward pressing my lips against his. Even as he lay lifeless I could still feel the rising of butterflies in my stomach at his touch. I pulled away looking into his emotionless face., gently returning the mask and running my hands through his hair, gliding my thumb across his cheek.

I softly kissed his forehead before standing and picking up his jumper waiting until the last moment to let go of his hand. I didn't want to leave him ever again but I knew Ethan would want to see him. I walked out the room, the door swinging shut behind me. Ethan stood up quickly and ran over to my side.

"You can go in now." I was staring down at the floor as he placed his hands on my shoulder. I felt him lightly push past me and walk through the door.

I was left staring at the floor on my own in the middle of the hallway when suddenly I felt arms around me, I looked up to see Mia embracing me in a hug. I hugged her back and started crying all over again. I got a warm feeling in my stomach knowing that someone was here for me. After a while she pulled away and looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

"Wanna grab something to eat?" She questioned trying to look me in the eye but I avoided her gaze which she understood. I nodded in reply as she put her arm around my shoulder and gently pulled me in the direction of the cafe.

Once we finally got there I didn't feel hungry in the slightest. I queued up behind Mia as she ordered a small pot of chips for us to share and two soft drinks knowing neither of us would eat much. I thanked her as we sat down on an empty table away from everyone.

We sat in silence but it wasn't an awkward silence, it was comfortable and gave me a feeling there were people there for me. She ate a couple chips but left most of it while I didn't even touch it. We both had our drinks though which we finished quickly before returning up to Thomas.