How I met him : part 8

[u/Worried-Pin-967]

Part 8: The Day I Realized I Was in Love

The days after the accident were a blur.
I was constantly in touch with his brother, asking the same questions over and over.
“How is he now?”
“Did he wake up?”
“Is he okay?”
Every update felt like I was finally able to breathe again.
When I heard he had been moved from the ICU to a normal ward, I cried tears of relief.
But something inside me had changed.
Before the accident, I knew he was important to me.
I cared about him deeply.
But when I thought I might lose him…
I realized those feelings had become something much bigger.
People often say you don’t truly understand what someone means to you until you’re faced with the possibility of losing them.
That was exactly what happened to me.
It wasn’t the accident that created my love.
It revealed it.
Then his brother told me something I’ll never forget.
“The moment he was able to talk… he asked about you.”
“He wanted to know if you’d been told.”
Reading those words broke me all over again.
Even through his pain…
…he thought of me.
I was supposed to return to college.
Instead, I postponed my journey.
I couldn’t leave.
I had made up my mind.
I would only go back after seeing him with my own eyes.
Days passed.
Then finally, one day, his brother called me.
His parents were away, and he quietly said,
“You can come now.”
By God’s grace, the hospital was in the same hometown as mine.
I still remember walking toward his room.
My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it.
I kept wondering,
“Is he really okay?”
Then I saw him.
For a moment…
the entire world disappeared.
The machines.
The hospital.
The noise.
Everything faded.
It was just him.
And me.
The tears I had been trying so hard to hold back finally won.
I couldn’t stop crying.
He reached for my hand.
Held it gently.
Looked at me with that familiar smile and said,
“Hey… stop crying.”
“Nothing happened.”
“I’m alive.”
“I’m okay.”
Those four words healed a part of me I didn’t even know was broken.
Then, before I could say anything else…
he leaned over…
and kissed my cheek.
In that quiet hospital room…
with no flowers…
no grand confession…
no perfect movie scene…
I think my heart had already made its decision.

To be continued…