Forget-me-not

Cynthia

Flora stared down at her best friend in shock. The nurse that called her earlier took her time explaining everything, but Flora could barely focus on the words. She was too busy staring at Cynthia wondering how this could have happened. Out of all the people in the world this could have happened to, why did it happen to Cynthia? 

"Is there anyone else I can contact for her?" The nurse's warm brown eyes studied Flora. She stood in light blue scrubs with a face mask covering her mouth and nose. Her hands were clutched together in front of her. 

Flora's bright red wild hair shook along with her head. "Her parents have been dead for a few years and she has no siblings. She has a boyfriend, but I'll contact him soon. I just..." She trailed off while her eyes studied Cynthia's face. 

"I understand. This is a lot to take in and I'm sure it's quite the shock. Unfortunately, accidents happen with zero warnings. If you need me to go ahead and contact him for you, just let me know and I'll call him. Take all the time you need." The nurse turned and began to head towards the door. 

"Wait," Flora spun around to face the nurse. 

The nurse turned back around. 

"When will she wake up?" 

The nurse's eyes went to Cynthia's face. "Unfortunately, we don't know at this time. It could be a few hours from now or a few days." 

Flora felt her heart fall. The disinfectant smell of the room irritated her nose. She reached up with the back of her finger and pawed at it. "It could be weeks, couldn't it?" 

"I'm afraid it could. We're not sure yet. If there was something we could use to help pull her out of her unconscious state, we would." 

A lump formed in the back of Flora's throat. She glanced back over at Cynthia and sucked in a sharp breath. The stinging sensation of tears began pricking at her eyes. She blinked rapidly trying to hold them back. 

"So," her voice came out hoarse, "she'll just be like this until she wakes up? You're sure there's nothing you can do?" 

"If you'd like me to go get the doctor for you, I'm sure she'd be able to break it down further for you." The nurse's voice was soft. She understood what was happening perfectly, but sometimes a doctor was able to comfort people more. It was a viable option to help bring down some of the distress. 

Flora shook her head again. "No, no, that's okay." She sniffled and wiped at a fallen tear. "Am I allowed to touch her?" 

"Of course. If you want to hold her hand or talk to her, I highly suggest it. It can be a good way to comfort her." 

"Will she be able to hear me?" 

"I don't know for sure. Sometimes patients are able to hear what's happening around them and other times, they're unaware. It's best to go ahead and talk to her anyway. If you need anything, I'll be outside at the nurse's station." 

"Thank you." 

"You're welcome." The nurse turned around and left without another word. She shut the door quietly behind her. 

Flora was left alone with the sound of beeps coming from the machinery besides Cynthia. She sucked in a deep breath and began to approach the side of Cynthia's bed. There were two chairs sitting by the edge of the wall. Flora grabbed one and dragged it to Cynthia's side. 

She sat in it and cautiously leaned over and placed her hand on Cynthia's. Harsh red lines speckled both of her hands. The nurse said something about broken bits of windshield cutting her hands. She slipped her hand down and grasped her fingers around Cynthia's palm hoping she might squeeze her hand back or twitch, but she did nothing. 

"Hi, Cynthia." More warm tears began dribbling down Flora's cheeks. She didn't brush them away this time. "It's Flora. I don't know if you just heard my conversation with the nurse, but I'm here. I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere." 

She blinked away her blurry vision to study Cynthia's face. The cuts on her hands were similar to the ones aligning her forehead and cheeks. They trailed down to her neck. Flying through the windshield wasn't pleasant by any means. 

The side of her face was swollen. The skin around her eyes was puffed up and plum purple. A cut sat on her lip and dried blood compacted around it. The nurses cleaned up most of the blood, but some of it still remained. 

"You're breathing on your own, so that's good. There's not a tube down your throat or anything like that. They said it's up to you to pull yourself out of this." She paused and stared at Cynthia again. Silently, she begged for some type of reaction, but nothing happened. 

"Please come back to me soon. I need you to come back. I can't do this without you, Cynthia. I-I can't," she squeezed her eyes shut. A loud sob escaped her mouth. Her fingers tightened around Cynthia's hand. 

The nurse said she was on a variety of painkillers to numb the pain. Flora was grateful as she clamped down on her hand harder. She sucked in a shaky breath and sniffled. Her top teeth bit into her bottom lip. The sharp pain distracted her from sobbing again. 

Her voice came out in another broken plea. "Come back to me, Cynthia. We promised we'd be there for each other. Please," her voice fell into a whisper, "just come back."