Chapter 18 - I Knew I Loved You “Lily… Hey, Lily, wake up.” “Turn off the light.” I answered sleepily, without opening my eyes. “Lily, come on, get up, the doctor wants to ask you some questions.” “Huh?” I opened my eyes. At first, I wasn’t sure where I was. Then it hit me. We were in the waiting room of the hospital. We’d been there since about 5:30 that afternoon. I had been asleep, with my head resting on Nathan’s shoulder, and he had his arm around me. I got up carefully so I wouldn’t wake him up. I turned around and looked sleepily at Jake, a friend of Nathan and Haley’s. “What time is it?” I asked, yawning. “About 1:30.” He answered. “Have you heard anything yet?" “No, but the doctor wants to ask you some questions about Haley. I don’t know her as well as you do, so I probably couldn’t answer them.” “Ok.” I followed him down the hall and into a small dining room. There was a doctor sitting in there with a clipboard. He stood up and offered me his hand as I walked in. “Hello, I’m Dr. Burke, Haley’s doctor.” “I’m Haley’s friend Lily.” I said, shaking his hand. “Oh, good, then maybe you’ll be able to give me some information so I can help her, since we weren’t able to reach her parents.” “I’ll tell you anything I can.” I said compliantly. “Ok. Full name?” “Haley Lynn Alderman.” “Date of birth?” “July 15th, 1987.” “Any Allergies? Particularly to medications?” “Not that I know of.” “Ok, does she have any medical problems? Or is there anything we should know about her?” “Well… She’s pregnant.” Jake looked up at me with a surprised look on his face. Apparently, Haley hadn’t told him about that. “Pregnant? Hmm… well, that’s certainly a good thing to know.” He scribbled something down onto the clipboard. However, he looked slightly worried now. “Do you know how far along she is?” “Umm…” I thought for a minute. Nathan and I had gotten together in the first week of May, so… “About 3 months.” Three months. It seemed like so much longer. Jake interrupted my thoughts. “It’s not Nathan’s, is it?” “Yeah.” “I’m sorry Lily, I know that must be hard for you.” Jake said, looking at me sympathetically. Jake had known about Nathan and me the whole time. He’d been sitting next to Nathan at Haley’s party. Dr. Burke cleared his throat. “Well, I believe that’s all the information we need for now. I will let you know if I have anymore questions.” He turned to go. “Wait…How is Haley doing?” He hesitated slightly. “Well, she’s got a few broken bones, and she lost a lot of blood. We have her in stable condition now, but… She’s in a coma.” “When will she wake up?” “I couldn’t tell you that for sure; every patient is different. She may wake up tomorrow, or it may take a few months. And I will be honest with you… Some patients don’t wake up.” I sank back down into the chair, shocked. Never wake up? But… that wouldn’t happen to Haley… it couldn’t… Jake left, and Nathan came in a few minutes later. “Hey,” he said softly, wrapping his arms around me, “You ok?” “It’s our fault, Nathan.” I said softly. “We did this to her. We’re the reason she’s lying in a hospital bed that she may never get up from.” He sighed heavily. “I know.” He said, his voice shaking slightly. “I know.” There was a long pause. “She loved you, you know.” I broke in. “What?” “Haley. Right after… Umm… After you guys broke up, she told me that she was in love with you.” He looked mildly surprised. “She… She never told me.” “I don’t think she ever had the chance.” He sighed. “No… I guess not.” “Hey Nathan?” I said suddenly, thinking about the questions the doctor had asked. “Yeah?” “What’s your middle name? I knew Haley’s, but I don’t know yours. And considering supposed to marry you, that’s kinda sad.” He laughed slightly. “David.” I smiled. “Nathaniel David Blackstone… It fits you so well.” “Why? What’s yours?” I rolled my eyes. “Rose.” “Lily Rose Arquette…” He grinned. “Yours fits you even better then mine fits me. So I take it your parents were really into the whole flowers thing?” I rolled my eyes again. “Yeah. My brother got the cool name. Damien Riley Arquette.” Then I remembered that this was the hospital where Damien had been taken. Nathan broke the silence. “So, what is Haley’s middle name?” “Lynn.” I said absently. “Really? My sister’s middle name is Lynn, too.” “Really? I never knew you had a sister.” “Yeah, her name is Amy. I don’t see her very often though.” “How old is she?” “Twenty-two, but she’ll be twenty-three in December.” It seemed strange that Nathan and I could be having such a normal conversation when, a few rooms away, Haley was fighting for her life. I resumed the conversation we’d been having before. “Nathan?” “Yeah?” “If you had known Haley was in love with you, would it have affected your decision when you had to pick between us?” He looked at me with a slight smile. “What do you think?” “I don’t know.” I said truthfully. “Well, then look at it this way. Which would you pick, the girl that was in love with you… Or the girl you were in love with?” he kissed me. I smiled. “Well, if we’re talking about me specifically, I’m kinda hoping that neither of them exist.” He laughed. “But seriously Nathan, I mean, I know you love me now, but back then, you barely knew me. So wouldn’t you have picked her?” He kissed me again, more deeply this time. “Of course not.” “But-” “Shh…” It was quiet for a minute. Then, Nathan started singing softly to me. I had never heard him sing before. He had a great voice. “Maybe it's intuition... Some things you just don't question... Like in your eyes I see my future in an instant and there it goes I think I've found my best friend I know that it might sound more then a little crazy, but I believe… I knew I loved you before I met you, I think I dreamed you into life, I knew I loved you before I met you, I have been waiting all my life…” That's when I knew that everything would turn out ok.