I smiled. “You’ve never admitted it out loud, but I know that’s what you’re thinking,” I continued playfully.
“If you say so.”
I was sure that she was rolling her eyes at that very moment, or thinking about rolling her eyes if she was too tired to actually do so.
“Jax?” I heard her yawn.
“Yeah, Clo?” I found myself yawning back.
“Promise me—” She yawned again and her words came out slower. “Promise me we’ll always be good friends like this.”
“I promise, Clo.”
“Good,” she murmured. “I’d miss you too much if we weren’t.”
“Me too.” My words came out like a whisper.
I could hear her breathing getting deeper. “Should we hang up the phone?” I finally asked.
“No...” she murmured. “Let’s stay like this a little longer...I don’t want you to go yet...”
“Okay.” I smiled and whispered, “Me either.”
As I lay there on my bed, feeling the inviting pull of sleep and hearing her soft, deep breathing in my ear, the rest of the world started to drift away around me and all I could feel was her presence. It felt as if the hundreds of miles between us had disappeared and she was there lying next to me in my bed. I closed my eyes and imagined her next to me. She was smiling at me and she looked so beautiful—her soft, pink lips, those rosy cheeks, and her light brown eyes that always had a way of lighting up any room.
“You’re falling asleep,” I said in a low voice. It came out as a statement but I’d meant it as a question.
“No…” I heard her yawn again. “No…. just one more…” She paused and let out a soft sigh. “…minute...and I’ll get up...not time yet...” Then she mumbled something that was completely incoherent and slurred.
“You’re cute even when you’re not making sense,” I whispered into the phone.
She responded with a deep exhale of breath.
As much as I didn’t want to end our call and lose the feeling of her presence, the heaviness of my own lids began to overtake my willpower to stay awake.
“Good night, Clo,” I whispered into the phone. “Sweet dreams.” Sweet dreams of me, I hope, I added to myself. Then I clicked off.
As I drifted off to sleep, I imagined her sleeping peacefully in my arms as I inhaled the sweet smell of her hair. If there comes a day when she’s really falling asleep in my arms, I know I wouldn’t be able to let her go. That was the last thought I had before I fell asleep.
“Honey?” came a soft voice. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I opened my eyes to see Aunt Betty looking down at me.
I looked over to my left and saw Chloe lying motionless on the hospital bed and reality quickly set in. That had been a dream—a flashback to a moment in time that’d happened almost ten years ago, to a moment in time when Chloe wasn’t lying unconscious in a hospital room.
“Sorry, Aunt Betty, I must have drifted off.”
“Nothing to apologize for, Jackson. You’ve been here since she was brought here yesterday. Maybe you should go home and take a nice relaxing shower and get some sleep. I haven’t seen you leave her side for longer than a few minutes.”
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Nah, it’s okay. I took a quick shower here already this morning when Uncle Tom brought over some change of clothes for me and I got a few hours of sleep last night on the bench by the window. I know if I go home and try to sleep, I wouldn’t be able to. I’d rather be here for her.”
“Okay, dear. Do whatever makes you feel at ease with things.”
“Yeah, don’t worry about me.” I got up from the chair and walked to the private bathroom in the corner of the room. I filled a wash pan with some warm water and grabbed a washcloth.
“What are you doing?” Aunt Betty asked as she watched me with curiosity.
“I’m just wiping her face and arms. I thought maybe if she could feel the warm, wet towel on her skin, it might trigger a response from her. Or at the very least, it’d help her feel refreshed and comfortable.”
She nodded with understanding. “I know if she could tell you right now, she’d tell you how much she appreciates everything you’re doing for her.”
I responded with a small, forced smile. “It’s the least I can do right now.”
“Well, Tom’s pulling the car around and we’re going to go home and have some lunch. We’ll be back in the afternoon. Just give us a call if you need us to bring you anything, okay?”
“Thanks. I’ll let you guys know if anything changes here.”