Dreams of the future

I close the door after I step inside. I haven't even taken a few steps forward before I hear tiny steps and my three year old son comes running to me. It's late at night, so I'm a little surprised that he's awake.
"Daddy!" He shrieks as he grabs my leg.
"Hey, buddy, where's mommy?" I pick him up and ruffle his hair.
"She's sleeping on the couch." He laughs as rests his head on my shoulder. I walk into the living room and he's right, she's asleep on the couch with various toys around her. Her hair is in a neat ponytail, and she's wearing grey sweat pants and a plain white t-shirt.

I chuckle as I gently set him down. "Have you had dinner yet?" I whisper, so I don't wake her up. He grabs the collar of my shirt with his tiny little fingers and stares at me with his bright eyes which resemble mine, "Yes, but I woke up and I want my milk bottle!"
I smile and kiss his forehead. "Let's go take care of that, then."
He wraps his arms round my neck as I pick him up again, "But, what about mommy?" He bites his little finger.

"Let her sleep for a little bit longer, she looks really tired." I take him to the kitchen and look for his milk bottle. I hear her wake up and walk into the living room, having found it.
"Hey, babe."
She rubs her eyes and smiles at me, "Why didn't you wake me up when you got home?"
"He wanted his milk, so I took care of it, I didn't want to wake you up."
As she stands up, I pull her into my arms, hugging both of them, the two most important people in my little world.

Rules.

I wanna rock with somebody,
I wanna take shots with somebody,
I wanna leave with somebody.

First rule: Trust no one.
Rule broken.

Walking everybody knows what's good,
But some gonna hate, what's new?
We just do our thing, no time to waste.

Second rule: Do not get too close to anyone.
Rule broken.

And at the end of the night when the lights go out, will we turn down?
And when they try to make us leave, we turn to say we're never going home,
And you know just what I want to do.

Third rule: Do not fall in love again.
Rule not broken.

Keep it that way.

It's the clarity that comes after two week's of migraines that is scary and useful.
It's the train of thoughts that comes when I'm exhausted, having finally beaten migraines with medicines and relaxing with friends.
It's the analysis of where I am-an analysis made while driving.

I agree with the three rules. I will not suffer again.

Cheesy.

We've been together for almost three years now. We haven't had the perfect relationship. We’re both really different, which causes our personalities to clash sometimes. To top it off, we're both extremely stubborn. We get into little arguments every now and then, but we're always able to work it out and move on. We're getting ready to go to an anniversary/formal dance party that two of our friends are having. The party started at 8, and I wanted to be there right on time, but she came home late, so she's still getting ready and it’s already 8:30.

She's upstairs in our room, getting dressed and I'm downstairs waiting for her, getting impatient. I slowly walk up the stairs to her.
"Hey. You know we're late, right?"
She turns to look at me, sighing, but getting angry at the same time. I can't help but stare at her; it feels like I'm looking at perfection.
"Yes, I know. Why don't you go? I'll arrive when I'm ready."
"No, I'll wait for you. We always go together. We should arrive together. So I'll wait on the stairs."
I smile at her, trying to be a little more patient, and go back downstairs. She comes down a few minutes later, in a white dress and looking unbelievably perfect.
"Let's go."
She says it softly, almost as if she's tired, and I'm completely starstruck-even after a few years of being in love with her-and it takes a minute to focus.
"Hm. Yeah. Let's go."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's hard to concentrate on anything with how gorgeous you always look."
I smile at her as I say it, lost for words again.
When we arrive and park, we can see the fountain and hear the music playing around the park. She takes my hand as we walk in. I smile and laugh at a joke that one of my friends makes as he teases another friend. We walk around, talking to friends we haven't seen in a while and making our way towards the dance floor, and congratulate the hosts on their anniversary. 

"Dance with me?"
She smiles that same smile that always makes me smile automatically.
"Of course."
She puts her arms around my neck as we dance, staring into my eyes, and rests her head on my shoulder. A few of our friends call us, and we keep dancing, smiling at them. I kiss her cheek, feeling content, as I feel happy to be there with her.
"We're having fun here, guys."
"You guys should get a room! A party is to hang out with other people!"
"I think we're good here."
"Alright, enough, there's a surprise for the two of you, come on."
She looks at me, surprised at what she's hearing, but I shrug, since I don't know anything about a surprise for the two of us. Our hosts are about to cut the cake, and everyone gathers around, clapping as they cut it. I wait until everyone has some cake and it's our turn to go up and congratulate them again, and see how my friends have made a space for us in front of the center fountain. I stop a few steps away from her as we walk to the couple, letting her walk towards them, and get on one knee, smiling as she realizes that I've stopped, and take out the ring as she turns around.

"Will you marry me?"

Don't leave me (Part 3)

The sun is setting, and we're walking together near the fountains. The air smells so fresh and pure, almost as if there's a vibrant feel to the cold December weather. There's a lot of other people here, and they're all enjoying the view, taking pictures, and some children are even running around. I look at you, and I feel proud to have you by my side. It's a wonderful feeling to have someone who will never let go of you.

I close my eyes for a second, and when I open them, I'm standing in a huge open field. I'm not dressed up anymore; I'm wearing a t-shirt and a pair of slacks. It's the middle of the day, and I don't understand what I'm doing here. Suddenly, I feel myself flying through the air and landing hard on the ground. When I land, it's as if my hearing comes back; there's crowds of people sitting in the amphitheater, watching, cheering, and yelling. I look around, and I can see a huge figure advancing towards me; it's seven feet tall and dressed all in black, with a hood over its head. I don't know what's going on, and I don't understand it, until I see the sword in its hand. My hands are empty; there's just sand around me. Something glitters against the sunlight as its thrown towards me, and I realize that it's a spear. I catch it, and face the monster, but it laughs, and the sound makes me cower. Suddenly, it pauses, and then I realize why; you're coming up near me with a shield, and it was you who threw me the spear. There's a second figure laying in the ground behind you, but it seems motionless. The figure in front of me charges at me, but you jump in front, and in that instant, I know that everything will be fine. My vision blurs and I can feel myself falling, but I'm not worried. You're here with me.

I wake up slowly. When I say slowly, I mean really slowly. I don't understand what's going on, but it doesn't feel like a dream anymore. I look around, and I can see you now. You notice my being awake, and the smile that spreads across your face takes away my confusion and my worry. Everything will be fine. That lets me relax, and I fall asleep. When I wake up, it's the middle of the night, and our parents are here, too. My parents still look worried, and I want to ask them why-you're here, and that should make them relax. There's a doctor here, too, and even she seems calm. I realize that I can slowly move, and it seems like I can feel everything. I'm still disoriented, so it takes a bit to find my voice and respond to my parents. It's then that I find out where I am, and how I got here.

It takes a few days, but they finally release me from the hospital. Everyone is here to see me leave the place; it was as if I'm having a going away party or something. And now you're making the joke about how everyone in Desi families comes to pick someone up from the airport or when a person gets sick or something. The fresh breeze outside is so full of like, especially for a December wind. I know December is your favorite month, but it gets too cold sometimes. Oh, and I know my parents worry about me now that I can get back to work soon, but I'm not worried about anything else. Having you means that no matter what, everything will be fine. We'll find a way through everything, and we'll always do it together.

This is from her perspective. Read it again and see if you understand it.

Don't leave me (Part 2)

Guilt kicks in and I start to see,
The edge of the bed, where your nightgown used to be.

It's been three days, and you're still in a coma. Your surgery went well, considering the two fractured ribs, internal bleeding, punctured lung, bleeding ears, and brain trauma. The surgeons had to call in more doctors because the surgeries took so long. It freaked us all out when they did that. They said you're weak, that your body took a lot of damage, and they don't know what will happen now. I didn't move away from your bedside, and I still can't look away from you when I sit here. I'm waiting for you to wake up or move a tiny bit. It feels weird to not hear your voice, and I don't want to listen to the voice mails you left me. That's the kind of thing a person does once someone dies, and you're not dead. You're not leaving me here, not like this. You know how much I need you, but you don't even see me.

When I fell asleep after the first day, I was hoping I'd wake up to see you looking at me. But that hasn't happened yet. I just have to keep waiting and praying. Our friends texted us, hoping you get better soon, and I couldn't help but go through pictures we take all the time. I need you to wake up soon, so I can take another picture of you. Knowing you, you'll want to delete the picture at first, but you'll come around to keeping it. Relatives kept stopping by, giving flowers and trying to comfort your parents, but their eyes have a haunted look, one that even I haven't been able to do anything about. If you were awake, you'd probably have an amazing idea about what I could do for them.

I went home yesterday to get some fresh air and check on our puppies myself. My brothers have been keeping an eye on them, but you know what dogs are like; they'll get sad if one of us isn't around. It took a while before they calmed down enough to let me do anything around the house. I kept looking at my phone, hoping it would ring, hoping it would be either of our parents, letting me know that you had woken up. I took a nap after cleaning our place, and I dreamt of you. It was just the two of us, on vacation, and we had gone back to your house in India. It was really hot and humid in the dream, and we kept buying water everywhere we went, but I was with you, and it felt so real that I didn't want to wake up.

I decided to stop by the dealership on my way to the hospital today. Your car was totaled, but insurance is taking care of your new car. I keep talking about other stuff because I really need you to wake up. I'm trying to stay busy and do something or another, so I don't think about life without you, because being without you is something I can't deal with. We promised each other that we would always face life together, no matter what, and I need you to hold your end of the bargain. I know you won't leave me here, not like this, not without saying goodbye first. I have faith in you.

Don't leave me (Part 1)

I smiled as I walked into the building where my office was. Today was a good day; it was raining, I had gotten paid last night, and I had found out this morning that my body fat percent had fallen by another percent. I took the stairs to my floor-sixth floor, not that much exercise-and was pleased once again at the fact that I wasn't out of breath at the top. I checked the mailbox outside my door; a letter from my department manager congratulating me on my performance last month, and a letter from the engineering department, reminding me that convocation was in two days. Today was indeed a wonderful day, and I said a prayer thanking God for all His blessings.

I had just taken my coat off when I felt my phone vibrate; I looked at it, and it showed three voice mails from her. I wasn't that surprised; my office was one of the few places in the building that got reception, so I must have missed her calls while I was coming to the office. I opened the first voice mail, and my blood ran cold when I heard it. I was on the phone with her instantly, and ran out as after telling my supervisor that I had an emergency. She was scared, she was crying, she didn't know what to do. I kept talking to her, and while running down the stairs, I dialed 911 from my other phone.
"Hi, my fiance has had an accident, she's at Greenville and Richmond, black Pontiac Solstice, she's been hit badly."

My building was two minutes away, so I pulled up behind her car just as the ambulances and police cruisers did. I remember seeing the EMT's run to her before I could, and saying that she was unconscious; them putting her on a stretcher and rushing her to the ambulance, and an officer calling for a shroud for the other car's driver. The other car had run a red light, hit her, and flipped over. I remember an EMT guiding me to the back of the ambulance, then staring at her while she fought to breathe, and getting out at the hospital and staring at the doctors waiting for us. It was only then that I called her parents and then mine, letting them know what had happened.

I'm sitting in the ER waiting room right now. The waiting room feels cold, like it's an uninviting, forbidding place, but then, no one wants to ever be here. I've been sitting here for the last four hours, praying and just waiting. I just want to hear her voice again, hear her laugh, see her smile at me, I just want to know she's okay. Both our families are here, stressed out beyond belief. No one is talking, because we're all praying, quietly, having faith that God will grant us our wish.