Page 126 of I Shouldn't Love This Way

“Yeah, I remember her telling me that.” Aria paused. “What did you say to me?”

I’d told her a lot—too much, in fact. I had bared my soul and wasn’t sure if God had brought her back out of pity for me, or because he wanted to test my faith.

“I whispered secrets in your ear,” I said.

“I wish I remembered those secrets.”

It was best she didn’t.

“I remember bits and pieces of my dreams,” she added. “It was as if I was living in an alternate reality… everything feels like a jumbled-up puzzle in my head right now.”

“What can you remember?”

“I don’t know… Life seemed normal.”

“Maybe subconsciously you were suppressing the truth,” I suggested.

“I think I altered the memory of the accident because I didn’t want to believe we had crashed. In my dream, we passed the intersection, and the carbehind usgot hit instead. I remember freaking out… you pulled over once we were a safe distance away… You comforted me and tried to calm me down. I remember getting ready for prom in my bedroom… And that’s pretty much it.”

That was a relief. At least she hadn’t been stuck in an endless purgatory of recurring nightmares. I often wondered if Hell waslike that: a place where all your worst fears would come to life and torture you for eternity.

“I lost such a huge chunk of time,” Aria sighed.

“Five weeks is better than five years.”

“Clearly.”

A quiet calmness crept between us before she muttered, “You showed up at my prom.”

“Really?” I said in surprise.

“Yeah, I was planning on, um… doing something stupid—but you sabotaged my efforts.”

“That sounds like something I’d do.” I chuckled.

“You had read my diary. That’s how you found out.”

“Nowthatis something I would never do. That violates your privacy.”

“I know. I was so mad at you.”

“I believe it.” My fingers took on a will of their own as I caressed her arm. Her skin was so soft. “Your friends often visited you,” I said. “Did you read their cards?”

“Yes, I did.” Her face lit up. “Jess and Ryan dropped by shortly after you left today. Apparently, prom really sucked. But here’s the strange part… a lot of their descriptions of the events were like what I had dreamed about. Jess told me she and Ryan had visited me after prom and described everything. I think I still had some consciousness to a degree, because everything seemed to blend into my dreams. When I asked Doctor Peters about it, he said it was normal.”

Now I really wondered if she remembered anything I had confessed to her.

“So,” I said. “What happened when I showed up?”

Aria shrugged. “Nothing.”

Nothing?

“Come on,” I insisted. “Tell me.”

“You dragged me home and lectured me. Typical you—per usual. And then I woke up, back to reality. No more warped coma-dimension.”

Something told me there was more to it. Either she wasn’t ready to share yet or had decided she would never disclose those details—ever.

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