Surviving

Zachary nodded, "I'm aware of that." He folded his hands together, "Thank you for taking such good care of her. I know it's our job, but you're a great doctor and I wouldn't trust her in anyone else's hands."

He began to pray that she hadn't suffered brain damage, that he'd gotten there in time to protect her head when she hit the hard floor. He saw a large bruise on her forehead and he hoped that it wasn't anything serious. "When can I go see her?"

Seth heaved a heavy sigh, then glanced around before leaning forward. "Put your coats and ID's on... if you do that, you can go into recovery where she's waiting to wake up."

Michael wasted no time in pulling on his lab coat, then clipping his ID to the lapel. "So we can go now, then?"

"I don't see why not... you're doctors, you know the rules. By the way, that bruise on her forehead worries me... I wouldn't be surprised to see something come of that."

"Thanks, Seth." Zachary still had his coat and ID with him since he'd just come home from work when the incident happened. They followed Seth down a long corridor and to the recovery area where Anissa was fast asleep. Zachary was immediately at her side, though he actually was nervous to touch her. Waiting for her results was going to be as painful as when they had to wait for Victoria's all those months ago.

"I'm here, Anissa..." He whispered, "I'm right here."

Michael shoved his hands in his pockets as he stared at Victoria's soul sister. He was glad she wasn't there to see Anissa like this. She would be so disappointed... so heartbroken. She would be hurt beyond words. He reached out to touch her hair, frowning. She was basically his sister-in-law; she and Victoria had just been that close. A lump formed in his throat. How could she think that killing herself was the better alternative? She had his best friend... his brother. Zachary loved her more than life itself, and yet she'd tried so hard to throw that away. He wanted so badly to get angry with her, but the anger wouldn't come. Only sadness... deep sadness. "Lord, I pray that you bring her through this, and that you would comfort her." He didn't need to ask for God to show Anissa his love... Zachary was already doing a fine job of that.

Zachary stayed at her bedside holding her hand for what felt like ages. "I wanted to wait for a while before proposing... I don't know, I want to marry her, but I just feel like the time is wrong, like I should give it more time before I take that step." He glanced back at Michael, "I want to know her better than I do, I want to help her get through this hard time, I don't want her to... I don't want her to hurt herself anymore." He choked, trying hard to keep his composure.

Michael wasn't sure what to say. The Bible had clear definitions for marriage. "I think you should give it more time as well. God kept her alive for a reason, Zach. He's got to have great plans for her. We just... we have to be patient so that we can see those plans. What Satan meant for evil... God can make it good. I believe He wants to do that for Anissa... similar to your story." He smiled to Zachary. "If you need to cry, man... go ahead. No one will judge you here. We've all been there." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I cried over you when you were in the hospital."

Zachary looked back at his bruised girlfriend and nodded slowly before letting the tears out. Finally he sobbed, and his hands shook as he gripped her smaller hand. He and Michael had been through some terrible things, they'd lost people who were close to them, they had almost lost each other. But Michael was right, God did have reasons for things, He did make things work out for the best. Zachary believed this too, he believed that maybe Anissa would cry out one day, if she hadn't already. He was already crying out for her, even if she wasn't.

"I just love her so much, Michael, but I feel like she doesn't even trust me sometimes."

"She... she may not trust you." Michael replied softly. "But I think eventually, she will. Remember? I was that way too... I didn't trust anybody when we met." He frowned, deep in thought for a moment. "You know, I've been thinking... what if everything we went through when we were younger; what if that was all to prepare us for Anissa?" He asked softly. "No matter how you look at it, the things she's going through now are too similar to our stories."

"I agree, it's all very similar..." Zachary replied, letting go of her hand so he could stand up straight and stretch, "I'm prepared for whatever comes, whatever I have to do to be a better boyfriend, to take care of her... whatever needs to be done." He was reflecting back on his life, his brush with death, meeting Michael, their loss of a mutual friend who had meant a lot to them. He sighed heavily and began to pace, "We've been through a lot together."

Michael nodded. "More than most." He stood straight when he saw Seth hurrying to them quickly, holding what looked to be Anissa's chart.

"I had the tests ordered STAT, you're not going to like what they show, Zach." Seth frowned. "Well, neither of you will like it, to be honest."

"Please, cut to the chase." Michael urged, politely.

Seth cleared his throat, motioning for the two of them to follow him to the counter at the nearby nurse's station. He laid the chart down and frowned at the contents. "It looks like there was trauma to the occipital lobe, most likely from the start of the convulsions. It looks to me like fell forward, hit her forehead on something, then fell backwards and that's when the convulsions began. If she landed on the back of her head, that would explain the trauma." He cleared his throat. "She'll most likely be blind when she wakes up. If she isn't, it'd be a miracle."

Zachary's heart dropped into his stomach when he heard the news, "If she's blind, what can I do to help her?" He asked, "I know I should know this, you can laugh at me... but right now I'm a boyfriend, I'm not in my right mind, I'm sorry." He raked his hands through his brown hair and tried to keep himself relaxed, worrying even more that she would panic once she woke up, especially if she couldn't see.

Michael placed a hand on Zachary's shoulder to help comfort him. This would prove to be a very trying time. He didn't say anything as they waited on Seth to reply. "Well, she will need to be with someone for a while, at least until she gets more accustomed to the blindness. If she doesn't want to use a cane, then you might consider investing in a service dog. You'll want to space furniture in such a way that it's easy for her to count her steps, and to be able to run her hand along walls." Seth smiled. "My sister is blind... so I've had a bit of experience. If she lives in a place with stairs, I recommend that she move someplace else until she's more comfortable walking around. From the comfort perspective... get her a puppy, and buy her all of her favorite things. You'll probably need a lot of chocolate ice cream."

Michael chuckled. "I agree on the chocolate ice cream."

Some time later, Anissa was officially released from the hospital. Zachary led her into the apartment, having already rearranged things a little for her, everything was spaced out and it would be easy enough for her to get around. "Welcome home... let me sit you down, I have a surprise for you." Zachary kissed her lips and then rushed off to another room. When he returned, he set something fluffy in her lap and placed her hands against it.

"I know you can't see... so I'll describe her to you." He smiled, "Her name is Mika... she's a German Shepard, she's going to be your seeing eye dog." He explained, "I think she already likes you!"

Anissa's eyes filled with tears. "Y-You didn't..." Her voice cracked as she felt the little ball of fluff roll around in her lap excitedly. She carefully picked her up where she could cuddle the puppy to her chest. She received chin kisses for her efforts. "Oh my goodness!" She gasped, giggling through her tears. "Sh-She's so sweet, Zach! Aw, Mika... so soft. How old is she? How will I train her? What do I do? Does she have a vest yet?"

"I have to take her back to be trained, but the let me borrow her today so I could introduce you... she is a little too small for a vest, but she'll grow fast and soon enough you'll have your seeing eye dog. I'm going to be helping you get around as much as I can, I've made some changes to the kitchen and your living room for convenience... I hope it helps." He kissed her lips, "I just want you to feel safe and comfortable."

Anissa set the puppy back in her lap where it squeaked a little before turning around in a circle and laying down. "You spoil me so much. I never have to worry about going without." She reached for him, quickly finding the collar of his shirt. He must have been leaned over, watching her. She tugged on his collar until their lips met again, then after the kiss ended, she placed her hands on his jaw, feeling of his face. He had a bit of stubble, revealing that he hadn't shaved in a day or two. "You've made this transition easier than it should have ever been."

"I didn't want you to be scared or have to struggle too much... I just want to take care of you." Zachary wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek lovingly, "If there is anything I can do for you at all, let me know. Also... I set up your phone so that you can call me just by speaking into it! Anytime you have an emergency, I'll be just a call away... anyway, I really hope you enjoy having Mika around, she'll be all yours in a couple months."

"Do I get to go to the classes with her? I'd rather her be my dog, and not the trainer's dog. Oh! How fancy! A phone I can talk to..." She giggled, attempting to make light of her situation... though it didn't really feel as light as she made it seem. "Um... w-will you do me a favor?" She asked suddenly, feeling her cheeks heat up. "I-I'd... I'd like it if you would read this to me..." She dug through her purse until she found a specific piece of paper with a verse written on it. "I don't know what it says, but Victoria wrote it down and said she wanted me to read it when I felt like it was time. She said something about how she thought it would help me relate to Jesus better, or something."

Zachary took the paper from Anissa, wondering why she'd waited so long to read it or to talk to him about it, but then, back then she'd been a little bit bitter and upset over the situation, especially with Victoria passing away. He unfolded the paper and smiled when he saw the verse on the page, It was John 11:35 and he actually gave a slight chuckle.

"Jesus wept." He read aloud.

Anissa had been petting Mika until he read the words. Her hand froze in place. "That's... that's it?" She smiled a little, then began to giggle. "That's really all it says?" She snorted loudly when he confirmed that it was the entirety of the verse. "Well, I can see what she meant... I do tend to cry a lot." She sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "So, why was he crying? Read me more of that passage."

"Alright, I'll be right back." Zachary wandered off to the other bedroom he'd been using, it had once been Victoria's room, so it felt a little strange to him. He returned with his Bible and opened it to the verse she wanted to hear. What started as wanting to hear one verse turned into reading a couple of chapters, and soon they had been sitting there discussing it until it was almost dark. The verse had been about Lazarus, a man who had fallen ill and died, a man who Jesus wept over and later raised from the dead.

It all seemed to really fascinate Anissa, and this made Zachary smile. "I just heard your stomach growl. Or was that Mika?" He chuckled, "We've been sitting here for two hours."

"Two hours?" Anissa gaped. "Really? I think it was mine, then..." She grinned. "I can feel Mika's snores... so I doubt it was her with a growling stomach." Her mind was beginning to wander again to the passage that Victoria had written down for her. Jesus wept. He wept because he was so greatly moved by the love the Jews and Mary had for Lazarus, her brother. It had been four days since he died, but all Jesus needed to do was call to him, and Lazarus came out of the tomb. Lazarus was alive again. He only resurrected the man because the love of the people touched him. That's something I never knew. Jesus wasn't the stone-cold, bible-talking person she'd believed he was. He was soft-hearted, gentle, and he seemed so kind. Actually, now that she thought about it, he seemed a little similar to Zachary. At least in the way he loved others. Zachary had always been so loving.

"What are you thinking of for food?"

"I'll order pizza, I'm pretty hungry too." Zachary got up to get his phone and his mind momentarily thought of Michael, either at work or home by himself. He sighed sadly and picked up the phone, pausing for a moment and wondering how his best friend was doing. He was always worrying about him since Victoria had passed away, his friend had been lonely for sure, just going with the flow and doing things a day at a time.

Finally after staring at his phone, he dialed the number for pizzas and ordered a couple of larges, figuring he'd save the left overs so neither of them would have to worry about cooking later.

"Oh, you ordered a lot! Is Mike coming over too, or something?" She asked with a soft smile. She'd been trying hard to be happy, lately. It'd been a bit easier since Zachary hadn't scolded her. When she woke up and realized she'd never see again, and when she clearly explained to him what had happened... he didn't raise his voice at all. He'd just kissed her cheek, then wrapped her in a warm hug. Still, he didn't know everything about her. It was probably time to just tell him everything. There was so much he deserved to know. He'd never abandoned her, and he'd never failed her... not once. She definitely needed him to know.

"Well, I thought of inviting him over, but I didn't know if you wanted me to or if you wanted me to yourself." Zachary replied, moving to sit down on the couch next to her. "It's up to you... I was just thinking about him, actually, he's probably sitting by himself right now. It just... I don't know, I get so frustrated thinking about it. I've never seen him like this before, it's unreal." He said, "A-Anyway... is something on your mind?" He asked.