My dad slowly pulls away and moves to Harry's side. He stands for a long time, with his hand on Harry's arm and looking at him. He doesn't say anything.

Mrs. Styles interrupts and suggests that her husband take us back to their house to get us settled. When my father tells them he's already checked into a nearby hotel, Mrs. Styles replies quietly, "Nonsense. You can stay with us. We have plenty of room." She nods emphatically at her husband who seems to have no choice in the matter.

My dad agrees that staying with the Styles will be a bit more comfortable than a hotel. "I can't stay long anyway. I will have to get back to work in a few days."

"How did you get the time off so quickly, Daddy?" I ask.

"I told them it was a family emergency," he tells me quietly while hugging me once again. My heart feels a glimpse of happiness at his words. Harry is family now.

Dr. Styles is embracing his wife firmly. He holds her for several minutes and then I hear him softly say, "He'll be fine. Harry is tough. He's a fighter." He kisses her forehead. I haven't seen this tender side of him before. It surprises me to hear how strong he really thinks Harry is. "I'll be back soon. I'll get Ed settled and we'll bring some food when we come back."

Our dads leave and Mrs. Styles and I are alone again with Harry. I'm not really in the mood for conversation. I'm more nervous to tell Harry's dad about our engagement than telling his mom, but I'm not going to bring it up with her just yet. I've spent some time pondering the incredibly awkward dinner at Harry's cabin, and I realized that his mom hadn't been trying to scare me away from a relationship with Harry. I think she knew right away that Harry and I had something special, like my dad did, so she was preparing me, in her own overbearing, over-zealous way. A bit bluntly, perhaps, but she wanted me to know all about Harry so that I could continue taking care of her son. Every time that I had seen her since then, she was always very inclusive and welcoming, like I was already part of their family.

I just cuddle back up next to Harry. I whisper in his ear, softly enough that his mom can't hear. "Hey, you heard the doctor. He said your condition isn't too bad, so I expect you to wake up and talk to me. We have a wedding to plan, you know, and I'm not doing it all by myself!"

Suddenly, I know exactly what I am going to do to keep myself from going crazy. I'm going to start planning our wedding right away. I lay there for a bit, occasionally talking to him about my first impressions of Madison, about wedding ideas, about the last month we spent together, about the weather.

Soon, a smiling and exceedingly friendly nurse comes in and introduces herself. "Hi, I'm Kelli." She writes her name on the white board, K-e-l-l-i. "I will be Harry's nurse for the next 12 hours, so just let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Hi, Kelli. I'm Harry's...fiancée." It's the first time I've said it out loud and it feels wonderful as it rolls off my tongue. But it's the first time Mrs. Styles has heard me say it as well. Her mouth drops open and I decide I will eventually have to try to explain why we hadn't told our parents right away. For now, I manage to stammer a simple informative sentence, "H...Harry and I got engaged."

The look of shock remains on her face for a few moments and then she smiles. She wraps her arm around my shoulder and kisses my forehead. "We'll have to talk later," she whispers. She turns and introduces herself, "Hi Kelli, I'm Harry's mom, Anne."

Kelli proceeds to check on Harry's vitals. She is so bubbly, that, in most situations, I would probably find her annoying. She even writes her name with a little heart dotting the i. However, she is just what we all need right now, a bright, cheerful voice to take care of him and to alleviate some of our anguish.

"So, how long have you two been engaged?" Kelli asks, while she's taking his blood pressure.

"Um, about a week. Wait, no, it's only been a few days," I giggle. "We got engaged on New Year's Eve."

"Oooh," she practically bursts with enthusiasm. "That must have been so romantic! How did he propose?"

I welcome the opportunity to describe the night of our engagement to Kelli and to Mrs. Styles as well. She's probably still in shock from my announcement, but she doesn't seem angry. And Kelli's exuberance somehow comforts me, like it wasn't the craziest thing in the world to get engaged after knowing each other for a few weeks. Not that Kelli knew that, but telling another person about us feels like I'm cementing it into reality just a bit.

When I show Kelli the ring, Mrs. Styles looks over with interest. She smiles when she hears how her son's clever plan unfolded. Kelli tells us that she will come back shortly with a patient care tech to help her to roll Harry on his side so she can check his sutures.

Oh, yeah. Harry just had spine surgery. This morning! It seems like it was eons ago that I got that terrible phone call. I wonder how the procedure went, besides the fact that his heart stopped. There has been no mention of the actual surgery yet, as we've all been focusing on the crisis at hand. But I mean to ask Dr. Carbondale the moment I see him again.

Dr. Styles and my dad return an unbelievably short time later with huge bags of fast food. I realize that I am a bit hungry, so I start munching on a hamburger. After about three bites, I put it down and my dad gives me a concerned look. "You have to eat, honey."

"I know. I will," I give him a less-than-convincing smile.

"Well, at least drink this," he hands me a giant bottle of ice cold water. I chug about half of it down and feel a little bit energized. "You and Harry are going to have to start planning a wedding. You need your strength for that, if for nothing else!" He hugs me.

Dr. Styles raises his eyebrows. "Oh, yeah," I comment, as if I'm talking about the weather. "Harry and I are engaged." I bite my lip as I brace myself for the onslaught of questions and objections.

"Oh...." My dad is at an uncharacteristic loss for words as he realizes that he just spilled a piece of information that wasn't common knowledge yet.

I turn to Dr. Styles and begin what I'm sure will be an awkward conversation. "I'm really sorry that Harry and I didn't tell you. He told me that he wanted to be able to do it without anyone –  um, well, our parents – trying to talk us out of it. We got engaged on New Year's Eve." I scan my gaze over everyone in the room. No angry outbursts so far.

I let Mrs. Styles have a closer look at the ring, and then I show her husband as well.

"It's beautiful, Kate," Anne smiles.

Then I turn directly to Dr. Styles. "I'm still not sure how you feel about us...together. But I assure you that I'm in love with Harry and I'm committed to him forever. No matter what happens. I plan to do whatever it takes to love him and support him for the rest of our lives. And I'll do anything I can to help him recover."

Mrs. Styles blinks back a tear. A few moments of awkward silence follow. "We love you, Kate," she finally says. "We both love you," she clarifies, gesturing to Dr. Styles, who remains stoic. "We knew you were right for Harry from the moment we first met you." They sure had a funny way of showing it, I thought to myself. Of course, my earlier assumption about Mrs. Styles seems to be correct.

"We all thought the relationship moved fast," my dad admits. "But Harry is a very impressive young man. He has a good head on his shoulders. I can tell he was raised well," he nods his affirmation to Dr. and Mrs. Styles. Thankfully, my dad has recovered his charming ability to put everyone at ease with his words.

Dr. Styles' face softens a little as he nods a thank you to my father. "Of course, we were a little concerned at first, Kate, because we didn't want Harry to get hurt. He's been through a lot," Mrs. Styles tells me.

"I know," I agree. "I know. Harry has told me so much of what he's gone through in the past four years. To be honest, I think I loved him even before I knew about the accident. But now I am even more dedicated to helping him get through this. I promise I will never hurt him."

I'm slowly realizing that the heated discussion that I had prepared for is not going to happen. Everyone seems to have come to some level of acceptance of our engagement. Of course, this is a whole new ball game, with Harry lying in a coma.

I still feel a bit uneasy about Dr. Styles lack of enthusiasm, but I decide that I won't let it make me uncomfortable around my fiancé . Harry needs me to be strong.

I reiterate to all of them, "I love Harry. Forever." I simply have to hope that Dr. Styles will eventually warm up to me.

Kelli comes back with a PCT so that she can check Harry's stitches. I position myself a little way behind Kelli as she and the PCT get to work. I gasp out loud at the sight of the still-fresh wound. I'm not usually bothered by stitches, but they're very new and the scar seems to span most of his back. Not only is my fiancé in a coma, he has been torn wide open and sewn back together. Harry has always seemed so robust, but I suddenly find myself worrying, Is he strong enough to fight his way back?

Doctors and nurses come and go over the next few hours. The ICU is a surprisingly busy place. Harry is receiving almost constant attention, which gives me some comfort.

Dr. Horowitz, the neurologist, arrives. He is an elderly gentleman with a thick accent which I can't quite place. He is short and slim, but his face is layered with numerous wrinkles, so many that he remind me of a Shar-Pei. He is extremely tender as he introduces himself to us, shaking each of our hands warmly and firmly. Finally, he maneuvers through the small room to assess Harry's condition.

He proceeds to tell us that Harry is in a deep coma, meaning that he is completely unresponsive. Dr. Carbondale had already told us that, but now it seems more official, coming from the neurologist.

He explains that Harry isn't opening his eyes, and he is not able to move or speak. He seems to be completely unattached to the world outside. The doctor emphasizes the word "seems" because, although it appears to us that Harry isn't responding, he still may have some understanding of what is going on around him. He ends by telling us that he hopes Harry's condition will improve quickly. Due to his age, health and the speed with which the surgeons revived him, there is a good chance he will "return."

Once again, the nausea has returned, and I decide that I might just have to live with it. Maybe I'll have to carry around an air-sickness bag. I'm still trying to have as much courage as possible, but my feelings aren't necessarily cooperating with my brain.

Kelli comes back in and says, "I'm guessing that I'm not going to convince either one of you to leave tonight." She nods at Mrs. Styles and myself. "We are only supposed to allow one visitor to stay overnight. But," she changes her voice to a whisper, "I won't tell anyone if you don't." She offers to bring another blanket and pillow, which I gratefully accept. She also informs my father and Dr. Styles that there are extra pillows and blankets in the family lounge. Even though they had brought my father's bags to the Styles' house, I know they won't leave the hospital just yet.

I'm already drifting off at Harry's side when my dad kisses me good-night.

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