Monday morning I woke up to the sound of rain. Turning to the Weather Channel, it looks like rain for the next few days. Dragging myself out of bed, I take a shower and get ready for work. Traffic is horrible because of the rain. Luckily the day goes by with no problems.
Heading to work Tuesday, the traffic has finally made it back up to the posted speed limit after passing an accident. All of a sudden, the car in the lane to my right swerves into my lane, and to avoid hitting it, I swerve to the left. The last thing I remember seeing was the median going by me upside down. Then everything went black.
"Hello?"
"Vin, this is Jennifer. I know it's early but Gwen's been in an accident."
Sitting up in bed, he asks, "What happened?"
"She was driving to work when someone cut into the lane ahead of her, and instead of hitting them, she swerved and ended up flipping her truck."
Fear gripped him. "Oh my God. Is she alright?"
"She's unconscious. The doctor said that there may be some swelling around her brain and that's why she's not responding."
"What hospital?"
"Methodist here in Houston. She's in ICU."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
Vin hangs up the phone and immediately calls Tony.
"Tony, this is Vin. Gwen's been in an accident and I need to get to Houston. How long will it take you to make all of the arrangements?"
"Give me 15 minutes. I'll meet you at the hangar."
Getting out of bed, Vin throws some clothes in a bag. He has no idea if he has everything he needs. If not, he'll get it when he gets into town. Grabbing his laptop, he gets in his Escalade and drives to the airport. It's miracle that he didn't get into a wreck himself.
Arriving at the hangar, he finds that Tony has made all of the arrangements and they are ready to take off.
"Do whatever you can to make up time." he tells Tony.
"I'll do my best."
Using his cell phone, he calls Mike and gives him the news.
"I don't know when I'll be back. If you need anything, call and leave a message on my voice mail."
"Vin, I'm sorry about Gwen. Keep me posted."
"I will."
Sitting in the darkened cabin, he finally has time to process everything. Gwen's been in an accident and has not regained consciousness. Millions of questions run through his mind. He has never been this scared in his entire life. He silently curses me for swerving instead of hitting the idiot, but then if I had done that, what would the end result be? He curses God for bringing me into is life and then trying to take me away from him. He curses himself for not being there. His emotions are like a tennis match, bouncing back and forth between fear and anger. Silent tears begin to fall.
The flight seemed like it would never end. He decided that he'd clean up a little, considering the fact that he would be meeting my family for the first time. Walking into the small bathroom, he grabs his shaving cream and razor and cleans up, then went out and collapsed on the couch again. Finally, when he thought he'd go insane, Tony let him know that they were approaching the airport.
"I've called ahead and made arrangements for a cab. It should be at the hangar when we arrive."
"Thanks Tony."
A few minutes later, they land and true to his word, a cab is waiting to take Vin to the hospital.
"Stay here. I'll call you when I know something." he tells Tony as he exits the plane.
Giving the driver instructions to take him to Methodist, he sits back and watches the city go by. About 20 minutes later, they pull up at the hospital, where Vin makes his way up to the ICU.
Jennifer has been watching the elevators and sees him. Walking up to him, she gives him a hug. "There's been no change since I called you. They've taken her upstairs for an MRI and some other tests to see if they can tell what’s going on."
They walk back to the waiting area where several people have gathered. Jennifer introduces him to my parents and sister. This is not the way I had intended on everyone meeting, but things don't always go as planned. I had told my family about him, and though they were skeptical at first, now seeing him here makes them realize that this is not just a passing thing.
Jennifer and Vin are talking. "I talked to the nurses and told them that you'd be coming and that you're presence here does not need to be public knowledge. They understand."
"Thanks Jennifer. I'm glad you're here."
"I wouldn't be anywhere else. She has taken care of me more times than I want to admit." Digging in her pocket, she pulls out my jewelry. "They took her jewelry off of her when she came in." Handing it to him, she says, "I'm sure that she would want you to hold on to it for her."
Vin holds up the ring he gave me. "Funny that one small piece of gold can mean so much. You know, she cried when I gave this to her."
"I know, she told me about it." Seeing the worry on his face, she assures him, "Vin, she's going to be ok."
"God I hope so." A little while later, the doctor comes out to let them know that I was back from the tests.
"I'll have the results back in a little while."
"Can I see her?" Vin asked the doctor.
"And who are you, besides the obvious?"
"I'm her fiancé," Vin replies, with a grin.
"Oh, is that so? Well, in that case, yes you can see her, but I need to warn you that she's pretty banged up."
"Thanks," Vin replies, and follows the doctor over to my bed. He was not prepared for what he saw. I had cuts and bruises on my face and my left arm was bandaged up.
"The good news is that there are no broken bones. We'll have to see what the tests show about the swelling. I'll be back in an hour or so to check on her."
Vin shakes his hand. "Thank you for everything you've done."
"We're not out of the woods yet. I'll be back in a little while."
Leaning down to kiss my forehead, Vin says, "Hey sweetheart. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."
He settles down in the chair, holding my hand. The nurse comes by to take my vitals and smiles when she sees Vin.
"She's holding her own. Her vital signs are normal."
"What happened to her arm?"
"Cuts from the glass. You know, she's a very lucky woman. If she had been driving a car instead of a truck, things would be much worse. I'll be back in a little while."
He sits with me for awhile, until my sister, Kay, comes in.
"Why don't you go get some coffee and something to eat. One of us will sit with her."
"I don't want to leave her. What if she wakes up?"
"Vin, you need to eat something or you won't be worth anything if she does."
Knowing she's right, he reluctantly gives up his place. Kissing me again, he says, "I'll be right back," and he heads out to find Jennifer so they can go to the cafeteria.
The doctor reviews the tests and waits until everyone is back together to give them the news.
"The swelling is not as bad as we had originally thought and there is no brain damage. The reason for her being unconscious right now is because her body is trying to heal. It may be awhile before she wakes up, but all signs point to the fact that she will."
Everyone is relieved, but none more than Vin. He comes back into the curtained area and takes up his place again. Hours pass and still no change. Everyone takes turns sitting with me, and they practically have to drag Vin out when his turn is over. Deciding to take a break, everyone except for Jennifer and Vin leave. Jennifer has everyone's phone number so she can call if there's a change. Vin calls Tony and gives him the news, telling him to fly back to LA and he'll call when he's ready to come home. Calling Mike, he gives him the update.
Hours pass with them taking turns sitting and talking to me, even though I couldn't answer. Vin was sitting with me, holding my hand, when it moved a little. He called the nurse over and explained what had happened, and she called the doctor. He came down and gave me a quick check-up, and told them that it was a good sign and that I was coming out of it. Vin never left my side after that, and Jennifer understood.
Later that evening, I felt something wet on my hand. Fighting my way through the darkness, I slowly opened my eyes and looked down to see what was going on. Vin was holding it and he was crying. Unable to say anything, I gently squeezed his hand. He looked up and when our eyes met, I have never felt more loved than in that moment.
"Hang on baby, I need to get the nurse," he says, making his way down to the nurses station.
He comes back with one of the nurses, who checks my vitals and goes to call the doctor. Both Jennifer and Vin are by my bed when the doctor comes in. He checks everything and tells them that everything is fine, and now they can move me to my own room soon. They want me to stay for a few days for observation.
"Why am I in a hospital and why do I feel like someone beat the shit out of me?"
Vin is holding my hand and can't speak. Jennifer recounts what had happened earlier that morning on the way to work.
"I remember the jackass who swerved into my lane and I swerved so I wouldn't hit him. Then everything went black. Oh man, my truck. What happened to my truck?"
That's when Vin finally said something. "Your truck? That's all you're worried about is your truck? Damn it Gwen, I almost lost you and you're worried about a fucking truck. Your truck can be replaced but you can't." He is close to losing it.
Jennifer is trying to get him under control. "Vin, calm down. She's going to be fine. You can yell at her all you want to later, but right now, shut the hell up!"
The nurse comes to let us know that they've got a room ready upstairs for me and that someone will be coming by in a few minutes to move me.
Leaning over and giving me a light kiss on the cheek, he says, "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
The orderlies came in, packed up all of my things and wheeled me down the hall to the elevator, with Vin and Jennifer following. We went up a few floors and they took me to my room. Vin puts his things down while Jennifer starts making phone calls to let everyone know that I'm doing ok and that they've moved me. Everyone said that they would come by the next day.
"Why don't you go home and get some sleep. I'll stay with her." Vin tells Jennifer.
"Thanks."
Walking over to the bed, she leans down and gives me a hug. "I'm glad that you're doing better. Now I can go home and collapse."
Vin walks over and gives her a hug. "Thank you for everything you've done. She's lucky to have you."
"Take care of her. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that Jennifer left.
He walks over to the bed and takes my hand, pressing a kiss to it. He's shaking.
"Vin, what's wrong?"
"I thought I'd lost you. When Jennifer called me this morning and told me what had happened, my heart feel like it had been ripped from my chest. I've never felt like this about anyone before and it scared the living hell out of me to think that I'd never be able to hold you again, to love you. I wish that you had come back to LA with me after Cozumel, but I was too afraid to ask. I thought it was too soon, but looking back, it's what I should have done."
"Hind sight is always 20/20. Nobody can predict the future, you know that."
