Tough Enough

Within a few weeks of reconnecting and trying to decide what to do now, the universe decided.

While spending the afternoon together planning a trip out of town and running last minute errands a freak accident occurred. While trying to push a car, his hand slipped and slammed through some glass. Thinking that he had simply cut his hand she tried to stay calm. The problem was he was freaking out and there was blood everywhere. More blood than you could ever imagine from a simple cut. She got him to calm down and sit, while she dug through the contents of her car. She found a blouse and wrapped it around his hand and wrist to stop the bleeding, called 911, and waited. She couldn't wait, they were taking too long and he was bleeding through the shirt. She hopped in her car, made him sit in the backseat and sped to the closest hospital. She left him at the ER entrance and went to park the car.

She followed his trail of blood to admitting, he was already being seen, and she needed to fill out paperwork. Standing in a pool of his blood, she overheard an ER nurse say his artery had been severed and his hand was holding on by the bone. The doctor confirmed, that everything at his wrist had been severed, but the bone. He was going to need surgery to attempt to repair and regain use of his hand.

The next five days would change everything for her. First he was transported to a hospital hundreds of miles away, where there was a surgeon who could repair his hand immediately. She did her best to maintain her calm and keep him calm. She filled out paperwork, called his family, and hopped on an ambulance with the clothes on her back and the cash in her purse, to stay by his side. The entire experience was unforgettable, going to the wrong hospital, sleeping in different waiting room, trying to stay calm through his 12hr surgery. It was all she could do to not fall apart.

It was not until after he was in the recovery room and she able to speak to him, that the enormity of the situation hit her. With a brave face she held his hand, smiled, said she loved him and left when the nurses asked. Then she walked away from his parents, over to the empty stairwell, fell to the ground and cried for the first time.

He could have died.

Yea, it was a hand injury, but his artery was severed, he could have bled out, had she waited for the ambulance, or if she had not found a way to slow the bleeding.

He could have died.

Her heart stopped at the idea of never seeing him again, actually never seeing him again. She loved him so much, so much more than she had ever realized.

After he was released from the hospital, she moved in with him, and helped him through his recovery.

This was her test, but there was more to come.