"A serious car accident happened along the US-1 highway at around five o'clock in Coral Gables, leaving its sole victim in critical condition. The twenty-year-old female, identified as Aria West of Sunny Isles Beach, is currently being transported to the South Miami Hospital after she lost control on the road and collided with a pole due to flooding brought about by heavy rains earlier in the morning..."

At that moment, Keon forgot how to breathe. He refused to believe that the person involved in that car accident was Aria. His Aria. No, it can't be her, he teared up immediately. It can't be my girl.

That's when he received a call from Marianne, Aria's mother.

"Keon..."

"Marianne..." he spoke shakily.

"Aria was in a car accident... she's in the hospital right now," she hyperventilated through the phone.

"I'll be on my way soon."

After hanging up, he received another call from Estelle.

"Keon, I can't believe this is true," she wept in worry. "She was on her way to a restaurant to have dinner with me... please, tell me that this is a nightmare and Aria is alright."

"I wish I could, Estelle," he choked back tears.

"I feel so guilty. I shouldn't have let her go alone. If only I had offered to pick her up at her house, maybe this wouldn't have happened"

"Please, don't blame yourself. No one is at fault for this."

"Hm..." her voice trailed off as she continued to sob.

"Listen, I'll see you at the hospital, alright?"

"I'll see you there, then..."

The first people Keon saw at the hospital were Aria's parents standing at the corner of the emergency room; it was obvious they had been crying a lot. He then walked over to them and gave them lengthy hugs.

"Keon... thank God you're here," Marianne sighed, squeezing him tightly.

"How is she?"

"The doctors are doing tests on her right now," Nick explained. "She's in bad shape, Keon, she was barely breathing when they brought her in."

"Gawd, this is awful," Keon teared up once again. "To think that I had a nightmare about her last night, and now she's injured..."

After talking to Aria's parents for a few more minutes, Keon headed to the cafeteria, where he saw Estelle, Ronan, and Austin. Soon after they spotted him, they ran to him and hugged him. It took a lot of strength for Keon to not have a breakdown in front of them.

"I can't believe it..." he sniffled. "The fact that I had a nightmare about her last night makes this even more painful."

"I sure hope we don't end up losing her," Austin spoke. "We lost Cash and Hunter already, I don't want us to lose Aria as well."

"Don't even mention it," Estelle cried.

"I can't wait until they finish those tests on her," Ronan shook his head. "I swear, I'll lose what's left of my sanity if nobody tells us anything about her condition any time soon."

After some time, Marianne arrived to give them all an update on Aria's condition.

"The tests are done..." she sniffled, looking concerned. "But she's not out of danger; we went to see her, and she's... she's not doing well."

"What do you mean?" Estelle's face dropped.

"She broke two of her ribs," Marianne explained. "She also had a traumatic brain injury. We don't know how severe the damage is... all we know is that she's in a medically induced coma until the swelling in her brain goes down. And she's not breathing on her own."

Please, God, please don't take her away from us, Keon prayed in his head. "Can we see her?" he asked a few seconds later.

"They will only let one person come inside the ICU at a time. But yes, you can go see her. She's in room 701."

"You can go first," Estelle told Keon.

After thanking her, he walked towards the end of the hall and ascended the elevator to the seventh floor, where the intensive care unit was located.

"How can I help?" the nurse at the counter looked at him.

"I'm here to see Aria West," he mentioned.

"To the right."

"Thanks."

Keon's heart broke into a million pieces after seeing Aria in the hospital bed. She was connected to several machines, had various bruises and cuts all over her body, and was wearing a neck brace. Additionally, she was in a coma and had a breathing tube down her throat.

"Aria, baby..." Keon stifled a sob as he moved closer to the bed. "What happened to you?"

He held her hand, caressing it slowly with his fingers while listening to the heart monitor beeping and the ventilator whirring in the background as it breathed for her. "Angel," he kneeled by her side, holding back his tears. "I love you so much. Come back to me when you can. I have faith that God and the doctors will heal you. It's just a matter of time, my love."

He gently kissed her forehead and left the room, tears flowing freely from his eyes as he went back to the cafeteria to talk to the others. After some time, he returned home.

"How is she?" Fatima asked.

"She has a brain injury," Keon explained. "They put her in a coma until the swelling in her brain goes down."

"I'm sad to hear that, son. I'll keep her in my prayers. Tell her parents that if they need anything, we'll be here for them, alright?"

"Will do, thanks Mom."

After going to his room, Keon began to think and think about what had happened. He was devastated; seeing Aria be connected to so many tubes and machines was something that shook him to the core. Finally, the pain in his mind and heart overwhelmed him. Keon tried to punch his wall, but something inside of him told him not to do it. He came to the conclusion that Aria wouldn't want to see him hurt himself, so he decided to pray instead, thanking God for her survival so far and asking for her full recovery. After closing his prayer, he tried to rest, for he knew that the upcoming hours and days would be difficult.

The next day, Estelle met with Ronan at the pier —the same pier she had visited with Aria just a few days after Hunter's death— to discuss the accident and her guilt, even though there was nobody to blame for it.

"I don't know why I didn't offer to pick her up, Ronan," Estelle frowned. "The fact that I could've prevented her from suffering is making me lose my mind."

"It's not your fault," he looked at her. "You couldn't have known that she was going to crash against a pole."

"I knew it had rained a lot that morning," she insisted. "I knew it was risky for her to drive."

"But what if you had actually picked her up, and you were the one that ended up crashing? Even worse, both of you would be injured. Not to mention the guilt you would feel since you were driving. Trust me, Estelle, there's a reason why it was best for you not to offer to pick her up."

"I just," Estelle choked up. "I don't wanna lose her too, Ro. I lost Hunter already, I don't want to lose Aria as well. Not like this."

"I don't wanna lose her either, Estelle," Ronan sighed, placing his hand on her shoulder. "But I also don't want you to keep blaming yourself for something that you can't control."

"I'll try," she smiled weakly and embraced him. "Thank you so much, Ro. For always being there for me."

"Of course," he hugged her back. "We're family. It's what we do."

The following afternoon, Ronan called Austin to talk about something that bothered him; the fact that he was beginning to have feelings for Estelle.

"I don't know how to tell you this," Ronan sighed. "But here goes... I think I have feelings for Estelle."

"You what?!" Austin gasped in surprise.

"Austin, please... just hear me out, okay?" Ronan stammered. "I know Estelle used to be with Hunter until he died. I respect that, it's why I'm having such a hard time admitting those feelings. I don't even know what's wrong with me, we've both been friends for such a long time... but now that I've seen her in such a vulnerable state, and now that we've grown closer than ever, I began to feel like that. It feels so wrong. I know it's wrong. It's completely inappropriate for me to feel that way about Hunter's ex-girlfriend, even more so with the fact that they were together at the time of his death. After all, he was my cousin and my best friend, for the love of gawd!"

"I..." Austin paused for five seconds before continuing. "Ronan, I know you can't choose to have or not have feelings for someone, no matter how hard you try. But I believe you should wait at least one or two months before telling her anything, given that Hunter's death is still taking its toll on our emotions. Who knows if she feels the same way about you? Or if you end up changing your mind? A lot can happen during that period of time, which is why I recommend you to wait before confessing."

"I'll do that. Thanks for the advice, Austin."

"You know I'll always be here to give you some."

The days that followed were brutal for Keon. He could only see Aria for thirty minutes per day, but when he did, he spent most of his time holding her hand, watching her chest rise and fall steadily while she remained in a deep state of unconsciousness. He would usually talk to her softly, tell her random stories, play some music for her, and tell her how much he loved and missed her. He had somehow managed to be emotionally strong for four days, but after the fifth, he could not hide his anguish for much longer.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all this pain," he kneeled by her bedside and held her hand, like he always did. "If only I could've done something to prevent you from enduring it..."

And at that moment, Keon lost it. He let all the bottled-up emotions that he had since the accident go like a geyser. In his lifetime, he has not sobbed so violently as he did that day.

"Angel, I miss you," he wept. "These days without you have been torturous. I miss your smile, your laugh, your voice, your eyes, your love... fuck, I miss everything about you. I love you, precious. Please, come back to me when you can."

After a while, the nurse at the counter went inside to let Keon know that visiting hours were up.

"I have to go, my angel..." he stroked her hand with his thumb. "I love you. I hope you can hear me... squeeze my hand if you understand me."

A few seconds later, Aria squeezed his hand lightly. Keon was flabbergasted; he didn't expect her to actually understand what he had told her, given that she was in a coma. I miss you so much... he whispered, tearing up once again.

A while after returning home, Keon went to his room, where he began to look at old pictures of him and Aria enjoying life and spending quality time together. With each picture he saw, be it of them kissing and cuddling or just being their goofy selves, his heart broke even more. At one point, he found an old voice message that she had sent him, greeting him and telling him how much she loved him. Upon hearing her voice, he threw his phone across the bed and wept. Angel, what am I gonna do if I never get to hear your voice again? What will I do if I never get to kiss you, hug you, tell you how much I love you again? How will I live my life if you ever leave me? he thought, feeling a knot form in his stomach while he wept inconsolably.

Shortly after nine, Keon received a phone call from Marianne. His heart raced as he answered the call, praying that he would get good news.

"Keon! I've got great news!"

"Really?" he gasped.

"Yes! They ran some tests on Aria, and they found out that her swelling has gone down significantly. She's expected to make a full recovery in a few weeks."

"Thank God for that..." he sighed in relief. "Seriously, I'm so relieved to hear that."

"I can't believe it, Keon. Knowing how bad the accident was, she would've been disabled at the very least. The fact that she's going to make a full recovery is a miracle."

"It sure is. Did they take her out of the coma?"

"Yes and no. She's still unconscious, but that's because they left her sedated to let her body rest for tonight. If everything goes well, they will remove her breathing tube tomorrow in the morning, and possibly wake her up from her sedation."

"Marianne, that's amazing! Will I be allowed to see her?"

"I'm sure you will."

First thing in the morning, Keon rushed to the hospital to see if Aria had been woken up.

"Good morning," he greeted the nurse at the counter. "May I get an update on Aria West?"

"Yes, of course. She's already woken up from her coma, and has been weaned off the ventilator."

"I'm glad to hear that," he smiled. "May I see her?"

"You may. But I have to warn you, she's still quite delicate..."

"Thank you, have a wonderful day."

As Keon went inside Aria's room, he noticed that she was asleep. But when he closed the door, she slowly opened her eyes.

"Angel!" he sat by her side, caressing her face.

"Bear..." Aria whispered weakly, her voice barely audible. "I've missed you..."

"I missed you too..." he looked into her eyes, feeling his own eyes well up with tears. "I missed you so much."

"Thank you for being here all these days," she sighed. "I could hear everything. I could hear you talking to me, telling me how much you loved and missed me. It means the world to me... I love you, Keon."

"And I love you more, Aria. More than words can describe."

He lifted her chin and gave her a long, gentle kiss on her lips. That was the moment in which he realized just how much he missed kissing her.

"I sure missed kissing those lips of yours," he caressed her cheek, looking deeply into her eyes.

"I missed your kisses too," she smiled weakly, stroking his hand. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long to kiss me again."

"Don't be sorry, angel. I'm just glad you came back to me."

Keon spent the rest of his visit holding her hand as always; albeit this time, updating her on everything that had happened since the accident and taking her mind away from the pain by showering her with affection. The joy he felt at seeing his girlfriend wake up from her coma and respond so well to treatment was indescribable.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: Thoughts?

I hope you're ready for the rollercoaster of emotions that you will feel in the next few chapters ;)

Also, thank you so much for 600+ reads!

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