A North Carolina Autumn - Chapter 2: Chapter 2

This had to be a dream. Something like this couldn't happen to Rylie. My Rylie. The sweetest girl in the entire world, the love of my life. Even though nearly an hour had passed, things still felt unreal. My mind didn't want to accept that this was reality.
As Jeremy holds me tightly in his arms, my sobs slowly fade away, but the tears continue to fall. I wonder how I have so many tears in my body. "I didn't get to tell her yes." My voice breaks. "She doesn't know that the only thing I want in this world is to marry her. I only want her." I cry. My heart hurts, tightening as though being crushed by a fist.
"Shh..." Jeremy says into my hair. "She does know that. And you'll be able to tell her when she wakes up." His voice is soft, soothing, but it does nothing to soothe the pain in my heart.
"If she wakes up." Another voice says. I can't even argue with it, because it's what we're all thinking.
"Josh, really?" Alyssa says in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just... it looked really bad." Josh explains apologetically, and I can hear the sadness in his voice.. The other Salty Christians are gathered close together in the waiting room, holding tightly to each other as we wait for news on Rylie. News that we're not sure will be good or bad.
"Do her parents know?" Austin asks quietly from beside me. He and Jeremy hadn't left my side once in the hour that we'd been at the hospital, and I was thankful.
"I called her dad on the way over. He should be here soon. I assume he called her mom, so she'll hopefully be here soon, too." Jeremy pauses for a moment. "I called your mom too, Aspen. I hope that's okay. She said she'll be here as soon as she can."
"Thank you, Jer." I reply before removing myself from his arms in order to grab a tissue and clean up a little bit. I keep the tissue box close by since the tears don't seem to want to stop.
"Did someone grab her stuff from the beach?" I ask, suddenly remembering her bag.
"I did." Sydnee says before passing Rylie's dark blue backpack to me. I take it gently and clutch it to my chest as a fresh wave of emotions hits me. Without hesitating, I grip the zipper between my fingers, slowly pulling it down until the backpack opens, revealing the contents. It's not much, just a towel, sunglasses, sunscreen, and her mint Chapstick. I pull the Chapstick out and hold it tightly in my fist. Even though it may not be much, it's Rylie's.
"Thank you." I tell Sydnee, and she gives me a small smile.
The minutes seem to drag by for the next 30 minutes until finally, Rylie's dad arrives. He's wearing green swim trunks and a T-shirt, combined with tennis shoes that look like they were tied in a hurry. He was a surf instructor, and I figure that's where he's coming from. Brad's blue eyes are wide and rimmed with red, but the moment they land on mine, a small amount of relief flashes through them. He crosses the rest of the room in three big steps before pulling me into his arms.
"Are you okay?" He asks, pulling back to study my eyes. I can only shake my head, but he understands. "Yeah, me neither."
He pulls a chair into our little circle, and I sit back in mine before pulling my knees up to my chest. "Is there any news?" Brad asks in a shaky voice.
Jeremy is the one to answer. "No. A nurse came out a while ago and said she still wasn't breathing on her own, and they couldn't get her body temp back up."
"How long was she..." Brad stops, unable to ask the question.
How long was she gone for. I finish his question in my head, hating the way it sounds.
"Nine minutes." Jeremy says solemnly.
Brad says nothing before running a hand over his exhausted face. He was young, only 38, but in that moment, he looked much older. When he finally speaks, his voice is tight with emotion. "She'll be okay. She has to be."
I was pretty sure those were the words running through everyone's minds.
When a doctor enters the waiting room an hour later, Brad and I are the first to jump to our feet. "How is she?" Brad asks nervously.
The doctor's face is wiped of emotion, giving nothing away, and I wonder if he has to be that way all the time, or if he just has bad news. I pray that it's not bad news.
"She's alive, but that's about the only good news I have." He says bluntly. "She was gone for long enough that we don't know what other damage has been done. We managed to get all the water out of her lungs, and her body temperature back up, but she is still not breathing on her own. She's hooked up to a machine to keep her breathing."
Brain damage. That's what he means by other damage.
"Will she wake up soon?" I ask in a small voice.
"We don't know. Frankly, we don't know why she's not already awake. We've done everything we can, now it's up to her body to do the rest." The doctor explains in a soft tone. "We will keep you updated on when you can see her." He finishes before walking out.
Seeing her hadn't crossed my mind. Would I be able to see her? Did I want to see her? I was terrified of what seeing her in whatever state she was in would do to me.
"She's alive." Brad says before collapsing back into his chair. "Thank God."
Minutes later, Rylie's mom and step dad arrive. "Aspen," Kristen says, and I turn at the sound of her voice. Her eyes are wild and red, and her voice shakes with emotion. She surprises me by pulling me into a hug. "Is Rylie okay? What happened? Can we see her?" Dillon stands beside her with a car seat on his arm. A peek inside shows Rylie's half sister, Harper, fast asleep. Suddenly, all I wanted was to hold her in my arms.
I explain what happened, not leaving out a single detail. Brad explains what the doctor told us and when we finish, Kristen's face is pale.
"Oh my God." She says, her voice breaking. Brad quickly leads her over to an empty chair by our group, and she sinks into it, clutching her hands in her lap. Dillon nods awkwardly to Brad before sitting next to Kristen. "So she just won't wake up? Do they know when she will? Can they do anything to just wake her up now?"
Dillon stops her, before speaking for the first time. "Kristen, if Rylie isn't waking up, it means her body needs time to heal. It's probably better, because then her body can focus on the biggest injuries, whatever they may be, instead of everything else it has to focus on when it's awake."
Oh. I hadn't thought of it that way.
"I know. I just want her to be okay. This doesn't seem possible. She's Rylie. Stuff like this shouldn't happen to her."
"I know." Dillon wraps an arm around Kirsten. Small noises begin coming from the car seat to Dillon's left, and he carefully lifts Harper out. My eyes follow his movements, unable to look away from Harper. I feel eyes on me, and look up to find Kristen watching me.
"Aspen, would you mind holding her while Dillon and I talk to the doctor?" She asks. She has a knowing look in her eyes, and I'm thankful she knew without me saying anything that I was more than a little desperate to hold the baby. If anything could make this day slightly better, it was Harper.
Dillon carefully hands Harper over to me and I cradle her in my arms as they walk off to find Rylie's doctor, with Brad following behind, with his hands in his pockets and his head down.
I'm not expecting the sudden flood of warmth that flows through me as Harper's eyes connect with mine. The baby's blue eyes, so similar to Rylie's, are clear and strong, and suddenly a feeling that things would be okay flows through me. I didn't know if that meant that Rylie was going to be okay, but I was willing to hold onto the hope that she would be.
Jeremy and the others begin talking about who should stay or go, and I listen in as I hold Harper.
"I know we all want to stay, but I don't know if there's a point. Especially if we're hungry and tired. We should all go home, get some rest, and come back in the morning when we're rested and when they have new updates."
Several of the others protest, but Jeremy eventually gets them to see reason. Finally, he turns to me.
"Aspen, do you want a ride to your hotel?"
"I'm not leaving." I say simply, keeping my focus on Harper.
"You need rest just as much as the rest of us, if not more."
"I'm not leaving, Jeremy. I can't leave her." My voice breaks as I meet his eyes.
"Hey, I know." He slips his arm around me and I lay my head against his shoulder. "Rylie would want you to get rest and food. She's going to need you to be healthy and rested when she wakes up."
I knew he was right. My head knew he was right, but my heart didn't want to listen.
"How about I stay with you until her parents come back, and then we both go get some sleep?" I take a moment to consider his offer, knowing he wasn't going to back down until I agreed.
"But what if she wakes up when I'm not here?"
"Then you can hurry back here after getting some sleep, food and real clothes." He gives me a small smile, suddenly reminding me that I was still in my swimsuit and coverup.
"Okay," I say finally. "But as soon as there is any news, I'm coming right back here."
"I expect nothing less."
The rest of our friends stand to leave, promising to come back first thing in the morning. Jeremy kisses Ava goodbye before sitting next to me again as we wait for Rylie's parents to return.
My phone suddenly buzzes, and I read the message from my mom before sending her my hotel address. "My mom will be here in a little over an hour, so I'll have her meet me at our hotel."
"I'm glad you won't be alone. I was about to offer to have a sleepover." Jeremy jokes.
"I don't know if Ava would be okay with that." I say with a small laugh.
"She'd be more than okay with it. You and Rylie are like sisters to us."
"Yeah. I feel the same way. Thanks for staying with me, Jer."
"Anytime."