Mayfly Melodies

Forty-Eight

Noah

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years—Abraham Lincoln

There was pain. It was the only thing he was really aware of. Radiating out of his chest and his head, down his arm and the length of his torso. Pain and the words spoken softly, as if they were being uttered from a thousand miles away, were all he could concentrate on. He wanted to open his eyes but he couldn't figure out how to do it. He didn't even think he could lift a finger or wiggle his toes.

"He's still unconscious..."

"His body needs time to heal. He went through quite an ordeal."

"But he'll be fine?"

"He's stable. It's hard to know more until he wakes up. It doesn't appear that there was any injury to his head but he lost a lot of blood. Another few minutes—"

He succumbed to unconsciousness, the words fading away into the fog of darkness.

*~*

"How is she?"

Ethan? Was that really Ethan? He tried to fight off the fog, tried to move something, anything, but his entire body felt heavy and aching. His eyes and mouth stayed resolutely shut but he could still hear. He was stuck in the dark, blind and mute, but thankfully not deaf.

"Which one?"

"Either. Both."

A sigh. He didn't know who it had come from. He knew that he recognized the other voice but he couldn't place it. Not with his head so muddled and thoughts so hard to process.

"Bailey's in the cafeteria getting coffees. She hasn't left the hospital since we got here. She's hardly even left his bedside." That was the second voice. The one he couldn't place.

Bailey was here? Bailey was fine? Oh, thank God, he thought. Thank God.

"And Caroline?" There was a quiver in Ethan's voice.

"She's fine. A few minor burns and a sprained ankle but otherwise okay. She's getting the bandages changed now and then I'm gonna take her back to the hotel to get some sleep. She needs rest."

Caroline, he thought. Caroline is alive. Caroline is okay.

The relief was enough to make him fall back into the darkness again.

*~*

"I'm not leaving him."

Bailey! She's here. He felt relief shoot through his system and tried to force himself awake so that he could see her but he couldn't figure out how to open his eyes with his muddled brain.

"You need to get some rest, kiddo."

"No, dad. I'm fine. I'll sleep when he wakes up."

"I can sit with him. It's the least I can do after..."

"I'm fine."

He could hear the firmness in her tone and remembered the stubborn set of her mouth when she'd put her mind to something. He wanted to see her face now. Wanted to see the expression he could so clearly picture in his mind.

Rob Grant released a heavy breath. "He's going to be okay, Bailey. You're allowed to take a break. You're allowed to have a moment for yourself. As much as I hate to think about it, you were almost killed. You're allowed to freak out if you need it."