The story continued with Hunt and a nurse doing CPR for nearly an hour (although it was barely four minutes) until the only defibrillator in the hospital was freed up to shock Ava’s heart back into a normal rhythm.
They knew she was alive now, but they were grieving that she still had not regained consciousness. So the next step in Blessings when things went wrong was to either feed people or pray for them. And since food wouldn’t help, prayer vigils were starting up all over town.
Emma updated her brothers and sister that evening, telling all of them what had happened. It was a mutual decision when the Knox siblings all gathered together and made a beeline to the hospital.
* * *
Hunt’s chair was right beside Ava’s bed, close enough that he could hold her hand and angled so that he had a clear view of her face. He was watching for the signs her doctor had mentioned, like eyelids fluttering, fingers twitching, any shift in breathing patterns, any body movement at all. The X-rays had revealed a slight fracture in her sternum, which would raise other issues as she began to heal, but those were possibilities, not certainties, and Hunter Knox had survived a war because of possibilities, so he wasn’t giving up on a total healing.
It was nearing 7:00 p.m., and even though Ava’s room was quiet except for the continuing beep of the heart monitor and the intermittent sound the blood pressure cuff made as it inflated to take a reading, he could hear activity beyond the door.
He’d been talking to her for hours, because he remembered hearing voices and people talking after he’d been hospitalized, even before he’d been awake enough to respond. He wanted her to know that wherever she was, she wasn’t alone.
Suddenly, something crashed to the floor out in the hall, and he saw her flinch. He jumped to his feet and moved closer.
“Hey, darlin’, it’s me, Hunt. I know you heard that, so I know you can hear me. I love you so much, Ava. I need you. Please come back to me.”
Silence.
He reached for her hand, then gave her fingers a gentle squeeze.
“Can you feel that? You don’t have to answer…just squeeze my fingers so I’ll know you heard me.”
Nothing.
He groaned and then sat down, ignoring the lump in his throat. Then he dropped his head and closed his eyes.
Don’t you do this, God. Don’t do this to her. Don’t do this to us. I’m begging you. Please…give her back.
Then there was a soft knock at the door behind him.
“Come in,” he said, and got up, thinking it might be her parents. When he realized it was his family, the lump in his throat turned to tears. “Come in,” he said again, and when Birdie walked up and hugged him, he held her like he’d never let her go.
“We gotta stop meeting like this,” Birdie said, and it made him smile, remembering that he’d walked in on them at their mother’s bedside.
Emma hugged him, then Gordon shook his hand. Junior gave him a quick hug and a pat on the back. Ray did the same, then they all glanced toward Ava’s bed.
“How’s she doing?” Emma asked.
“Vitals are good. She’s reacting to sound. It’s just a matter of her deciding to wake up,” Hunt said.
“You’re both in our prayers, but that’s not why we’ve come. What can we do for you so that you won’t fret about what’s happening at Mama’s house?” Emma asked.
“I can meet your deliveries and let them in anytime you want,” Ray said. “Emma’s got a key. All you have to do is give me your schedule.”
“I’ll gladly take off work to do the same,” Gordon offered. “Whatever you need done, we’re ready to help.”
“We don’t want you worrying about your promise to Mama when you need to be focused on Ava,” Junior added.
Hunt sighed. All of the stress he’d been feeling about that just disappeared.
“That would be awesome,” he said. “Ray, I’ll text the schedule to you. As soon as the painters are finished, a new kitchen stove is due to be put in, then kitchen and bathroom counters go in, but everything is already on order with delivery dates. So all you need to do is be there to make sure they are installed properly, then new faucets go in after that. The only thing that’s not already paid for is installing the new cookstove.”
“We let you down once, Hunt, but that will never happen again,” Emma said. “Trust us. We want this to look as good as you do. I’m just sorry that it wasn’t done for her when she was still here…but we can do it now, for you.”
“Thank you. All of you,” Hunt said, and after quiet goodbyes, they were gone.
He pulled up the schedule in his notes, then forwarded it to Ray. It was a relief to know the schedule wasn’t going to be messed up.
A nurse came in to check Ava’s stats and adjust the IV drip, and then she was gone, too, and once again Hunt and Ava were alone.
He sat back down beside her bed and reached for her hand. He wasn’t expecting a response. He just needed to touch her.
“I’m here, Ava. You and me forever, right?” he said and gave her fingers a slight squeeze.
Between one heartbeat and the next, her fingers curled.
He gasped. Was that an involuntary motion, or did she mean to do that?
Testing her, he slowly tried to pull his hand away, and when he did, she tightened her grip.
“Ava? Is that you?”
She squeezed.
Breath caught in the back of Hunt’s throat.
“Welcome back, baby… Welcome back,” he said, then rang for a nurse and sent a text to her parents.
* * *
It was the voice—Hunt’s voice—that led Ava back. The love in it was its own tone, a whole octave above fear and uncertainty. She knew it. It was that voice she’d slept with for all the years of her life, the one she heard in her dreams. The one belonging to the boy she’d adored—to the man he’d become—the man who held her heart.
She could hear him talking to other people now, and heard the excitement in their voices. But it was his voice that held her…anchored her. Before, she’d seen tears on his cheeks. Now she needed to see that smile.
When she finally opened her eyes, his face was the first thing she saw.
“Hey, baby…welcome back,” Hunt said, and then leaned down and kissed her.
“Love—”
Hunt’s eyes welled. “Love you, too. Your mom and dad were here, then left. But they’re on the way back right now.”
Ava clutched his hand, then licked her lips. “You…stay?”