Things just had to turn out like this. And Irvin had ended up so badly injured because of me.
I really couldn't stop my heart from aching or keep myself from feeling sorry for him. He clearly hadn't done anything wrong, so he shouldn't have to bear any of this.
Irvin had been lying comatose in bed for so long that his body suffered from prolonged malnutrition. I held his scrawny hand and earnestly urged him to wake up.
"Please, Irvin. Wake up! You must have known that Timothy was planning on making you his scapegoat. So, you must have made some kind of preparations. Hurry up and wake up! Let everyone know that Timothy is the criminal, not you! Okay?"
Based on what I knew about Irvin, I believed he had to have made contingency preparations. I really, really wanted him to open his eyes and regain consciousness.
I also desperately wished Irvin could clear his name and make the actual criminal get his just desserts. I wanted nothing more than for him to be able to live a good life openly and freely.
But it didn't matter how much I wished for it or spoke to Irvin. It also didn't matter how desperately I begged him to open his eyes and hold on to life. He still lay there with his eyes tightly shut and his face devoid of all color.
It was as though Irvin would never ever wake up again.
Ultimately, I choked up no matter how hard I tried to hold back. My tears fell uncontrollably as they streamed down my face like a string of broken pearls. In the end, I cried so hard that I lost all my composure and even fell into despair.
I didn't want to and couldn't accept that this would be it for Irvin—that he would never wake up again. He didn't deserve this. He should be living the beautiful life he deserved.
I was sobbing in anguish and feeling lost. Just then, a pair of warm, strong hands pulled me into a firm embrace.
"Don't be afraid," William said softly. "I won't let anything happen to Irvin. I will make sure he wakes up."
His voice had an especially reassuring quality. It had a way of making one implicitly believe him when he said something would happen.
In fact, if I could still be unfeeling, indifferent, and unaffected in the face of Irvin's current situation, I would be unlike the person William knew me to be.
I didn't know what to say as I looked at him. He really was such an unbelievably good man.
Just then, the doctor came in to update us on Irvin's condition. He told us Irvin's injuries were so severe that it would take a miracle for him to wake up. Unless something could trigger an extraordinary will to live in him, he likely wouldn't regain consciousness.
When I heard this, I began trembling uncontrollably. After the doctor left, that line he mentioned echoed in my mind. "Unless something could trigger an extraordinary will to live…"
Suddenly, I thought about the twins in my belly.
Maybe… Just maybe… If I told Irvin that I was carrying his babies and not William's—that they had been conceived on that night we spent together—it might give him a stronger desire to live.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love You Like I Used To Forget It (Millie Bridge)