Forever and Always

   I leaned back in my chair and drummed my freshly manicured fingers on the wooden surface of the table. I brushed a curl out of my face and made sure not to mess up my makeup. I’d spent way too long on it.

 

    “Where is he?” I muttered to myself as I strained my neck to glance out the window. The potted plant my mom had given me was in the way, though, so I had to get up and cross the room to look out. The click clack of my heels against the laminate flooring echoed through the too quiet house.

 

    I sighed and twisted my lips to the side of my face. His car wasn’t in the driveway and the road showed no sign of anything either. Maybe Lauren will know where he is, I thought to myself, and hurried over to my cell that I left on the edge of the couch.

 

    I scooped it up and plopped down on the plush couch, searching through my contacts until I found his sister’s number. Dialling the number, I hummed to myself as I waited for Lauren to pick up.

 

“Hello,” came the familiar chirpy voice that I’d always adored.

 

   I smiled to myself. “Hey, Lauren. I was calling to see if you know where Nate is? He was supposed to be here, like,” I glanced up to look at the clock, “thirty minutes ago.”

 

   There was silence on the other end of the phone and a few hushed whispers. “No, I haven’t heard from him since early this morning. He said he was going to your house as soon as he got off work,” she finally replied.

I bit at my lip, suddenly feeling anxious. Nate was never late, and if he was going to be he would’ve called.

 

“Oh…okay. Well, call me if you hear from him, alright?”

 

“Okay, Jordyn. I’ll call as soon as I hear something.”

 

   The long beep of the dial tone blasted in my ear after she hung up so I quickly ended the call. This was so strange. The longer I sat there waiting for him to pull into my driveway, the more worried I got, and the shorter my nails got since I was chewing on them like a beaver.

 

An hour passed.

 

Two hours.

 

    The sun set and the sky grew dark. My stomach rumbled but I refused to eat anything just in case he showed up. We were supposed to go to dinner at a fancy restaurant and I was so excited to spend some time with him. He’d been working a lot lately to save up money for the wedding-

 

Briiiing!!

 

I jumped at the ear piercing ringing, and quickly checked the caller ID. Please be Nate.

 

It was his mother.

 

“Hello, Catherine, did you hear from-”

 

   “Jordyn, something’s happened! You have to come, hurry!” Her voice was frantic, and I was immediately on my feet; grabbing my coat and my keys.

 

    “What’s wrong?! What happened, Catherine?” I shouted in the phone. My heart was racing, and I was panicking. Where was my purse? I needed my driver’s license!

 

    “It’s Nate! Just hurry! Hurry!” I could hear someone crying in the background, and the roar of an engine starting up.

 

    “Where do I go?” I asked as I hurried out of the house, slinging my bag over my shoulder. I almost tripped down the porch stairs as I practically ran to my car as soon as I heard his name. I had never been good at running in heels.

 

“The hospital! Just please hurry, Jordyn,” Catherine shouted into the phone before hanging up.

 

   I was out of breath by the time I reached my car and scrambled into the driver’s seat. I didn’t even bother to buckle my seatbelt before I floored the gas pedal and raced out of my driveway.

 

    Something bad had happened to Nate, and I was on the other side of town from the hospital. This was bad. I could tell from his mother’s frantic voice. She was always such a calm woman and so soft spoken. But she had been shouting and people were practically screaming in the background and oh my gosh…Nate. Oh, Nate, what’s happened?

 

    Everything was a blur on the ride to the hospital, but my mind managed to wander to the day when he asked me. All my family said that nineteen was too young to get married, but his family supported us so it didn’t bother me too much. It was three months ago to this day.

 

    

 

   We were on vacation in Florida with his parents and his little sisters. We were eating dinner at a cute little café on the beach and everyone was laughing except for Nate. He kept fidgetng in the bright yellow seat, and Lauren kept cutting her eyes at him. I can’t even count how many times he dropped his silverware.

But I wasn’t for sure that something was up until he told me that he wanted to talk to me. He grabbed my hand and led me away from the table, down the stairs that led to the beach, and towards the water.

He stopped to slip off his sneakers, but he didn’t say a word. I eyed him suspiciously as I slipped off my flip flops.

 

    I swiveled my head around to look back at his family that were still seated at the table on the patio of the restaurant. His sisters were craning their heads and pushing in front of each other to try and see us. I furrowed my eyebrows because I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what was going on.

Nate must have noticed where I was looking because he also looked over his shoulder at his family.

I turned to face him, the glow from the setting sun making his blonde hair look almost white. “What’s going on?”

 

    Still, he didn’t say a word. He just smiled and shook his head, offering me his hand again. I hesitated to take it, but I finally did and he continued to lead me across the beach until we reached the shoreline. The cool saltwater lapped at my ankles and frothed over the sand.

 

    Nate took both of my hands in his and smiled at me again. That boyish half-smile that I learned to love. The one that made him look like he was twelve years old again.

 

“Nate, what are you-”

 

  And then…he got down on one knee. One knee could only mean one thing. I gasped and my eyes widened as I looked down at him and his sunburned cheeks. I told him to put on sunscreen, but he never listened.

He ran his tongue over his lips before he started. “Jordyn, I’ve known from the start that I want to be with you forever. You’re funny, you’re smart, you don’t judge me for who I am. You’re the best person to just bum around with. You can make anything exciting, and you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met. Cheesy, yet true.”

 

“Oh my gosh, Nate,” I muttered as I shook my head in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening.

 

   “Wait, I’m not done, yet. I want to grow up and get old with you, Jordyn. We can race each other down the halls of the nursing home in our wheelchairs, and everybody will hate us but we won’t care because we’ll have each other, and that’s all that matters, right?”

 

I laughed nervously and nodded my head. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

 

   Nate chuckled and squeezed my hand tighter. “Me, too. And, Jordyn, I promise to be there through everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Jordyn, I want to be with you forever,” he paused and winked a hazel eye at me, “Forever and always.”

 

    Forever and Always. Those words took me back to so many memories. It had always been a little saying in my life. When I was little -every night when I crawled into bed- my Daddy would tuck me in, kiss my forehead, and whisper, “I’ll love you, Jordie, forever and always.”

 

  In every card and note that Nate and I gave to each other we always signed it- Love you, Forever and Always.They were such important words to me, and they got me then, too. I’d been pretty calm throughout it all until he said that. And then I broke. I drew in a shaky breath and my eyes started to well up with tears.

Nate took one of his hands and held up a finger. He reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a black velvet box. He fiddled around with it for a second before he could open it, and I laughed at him the whole way through.

 

    He finally opened it to reveal a ring with a simple diamond sitting atop. I’d always told him I liked simple jewelry, but I never thought he was actually listening.

 

    Nate gulped and I could see that he was really starting to get nervous because this was the moment of truth. “Jordyn, will you marry me?”

 

    I couldn’t contain it any longer. I let out an unhuman squeal and pretty much threw myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck. Nate was laughing and wrapped his arms around my back, being careful not to drop the ring in the water.

 

   Salty tears were streaming down my face, and I kept doing this weird hiccupy thing that couldn’t have been attractive.

 

“Is that a yes?”

 

I pulled back from him so I could see his face. “Yes, it’s a yes!” I exclaimed.

 

   “Did she say yes?” I heard a voice say. I turned my head to the side to see Nate’s sisters leaning against the railing of the patio watching us.

 

    “Shut up, Alexa! They’re clearly having a moment,” Lauren shouted at her sister, extending her arm out at us.

  

     We both laughed at the young teenaged girls, and Nate slowly slipped the ring on my outstretched finger. I think he was shaking more than I was.

 

   I roughly rubbed the tears from my cheeks with the heel of my hand. “I never thought I’d be such a girl about this. Do I have mascara under my eyes?”

 

    Nate laughed lightly. “Just a little,” he replied and swiped his finger underneath my eye, staining his thumb black.

 

 

 

   I pulled up to the entrance of the Emergency section, and I scrambled out of the car as fast as I could. I didn’t even bother to lock the door behind me before I set off for the hospital. The double doors slid apart from each other once I approached and I quickly walked through them and straight to the front desk. My hands were shaking as I leaned against the desk. The plump lady sitting behind it looked up at me expectantly. “How can I help you?”

 

   I took a deep breath. “Um, Nate…Redding. I want to know what room Nate Redding is in,” I told her through stutters.

 

Her pale fingers glided over the keyboard. “I have a Nathaniel Redding.”

 

I ran my hand over my face and nodded my head. “Yeah. Sorry, I call him Nate.”

 

“He’s in room 301 on the third floor in the ICU, honey,” she informed in a smooth southern accent.

 

ICU? That couldn‘t be good. “Can you tell me what happened?” I leaned forward on my elbows.

 

    She cast me an apologetic smile, but shook her head. “I’m sorry, honey, I don’t know. You’ll have to talk to the doctors.”

 

      I sighed and muttered a thank you and headed over to the elevators. Thankfully, no one got on with me. I leaned my head against the wall as I waited to get to the third floor. “Please be okay, Nate, please.”

 

    Stepping out, I looked both ways to see where the numbers started. I determined that I should go left, and I quickly set off that way. I roamed down a million halls, a bright white maze that seemed to be never ending. At the end of one hallway I saw a older male doctor step out of a room, and shut the door lightly behind him with a grim expression on his face. As I got closer, sure enough it was room 301.

 

The doctor had already started walking the other way, but I called out to him. “Excuse me!”

 

He whirled around and pushed his glasses farther up on his nose. “Yes, ma’am? How can I help you?”

 

I glanced at the door before answering. “Is this Nathaniel Redding’s room?”

 

  “Yes, it is,” he paused for a moment before continuing on, “You wouldn’t happen to be Jordyn King, would you?”

 

How did he know my name? “Yeah, I am,” I answered.

 

He nodded his balding head towards the room. “The boy’s been asking for you.”

 

“What happened?”

 

   The doctor -his name tag said Dr. H. Driskill- let out a long sigh. “He was in a car accident on the highway. From what I was told a semi collided into him. He was unconscious at the time they pulled him out of the car -which was totaled- and they life-flighted him here. And I’m very sorry to say this, Ms. King, but I’m afraid that the situation isn’t looking too good.” He pressed his lips together, and placed his clipboard under his arm.

 

     My hand flew to my mouth, and I squeezed my eyes shut tight, bracing myself for what he was going to tell me. I already knew I wasn’t going to like it.

 

   “He’s lost a lot of blood. He’s lost too much blood. And now, I’m afraid that things are starting to shut down, which happens when the organs can’t get enough blood.”

 

   I ran my shaky hand through my hair, trying to process everything. “So, what are you trying to say?” It came out much more harsh than I meant for it to, but Dr. Driskill didn’t seem to mind.

 

    He lowered his head and shook it slightly. “I’m sorry, Ms. King, but I don’t think he’s going to make it. A few more hours at the most. I’m terribly sorry. It breaks my heart to see these sort of cases because he’s so… young.”

 

   At first I froze. My eyes were stuck on the blinding tile floor, and my blood turned to ice. And then I was mad because why couldn’t that stupid doctor save him? And then it really hit me. Nate, my Nate, was dying. The next thing I remember was being on the floor. I held my jacket over my mouth to muffle my sobs so no one could hear me. I remember thinking that this couldn’t be happening. That it had to be a nightmare, and soon I’d wake up and laugh at myself for thinking it was real. But I never woke up.

 

Dr. Driskill crouched down beside me and rested a hand on my shoulder. “Ms. King, are you going to be okay?”

 

    I managed to nod my head, but it was a lie. I wasn’t okay. I’d never felt such an overwhelming sense of dread, and I’d never hurt as much as I did at that moment on that cold and uninviting hospital floor.

 

    “S-so, he’s c-c-conscious now, r-right?” I choked out between animalistic whimpers, and sobs that made my whole body shake.

 

The older man sqeezed my shoulder tighter. “He is conscious, yes.”

 

A few deep and shaky breaths later I managed to ask another question. “Does he know?”

 

“The family has been told, but as far as I’m aware, I don’t think they’ve told him, yet.”

 

Oh, but he knows. Nate would know.

 

    I felt myself standing up again, and the doctor held my arm to help me up. It was weird, though, because it didn’t even seem like it was me moving. It was like I was watching everything unfold from somewhere else.

“Can I see him?” I sniffled and coughed as I pulled my dress down from where it had bunched up.

 

    “Of course and once again, I’m extremely sorry,” he said and set off back down the hall to attend to his other patients. His other patients that might live while my Nate slowly slipped through my fingers like the sand on the beach that day he asked.

 

   I drew in another long and shaky breath, and I did my best to compose myself. I fished around in my overstuffed purse and found a used napkin to wipe under my eyes. I didn’t want to upset anyone any more than they already were.

 

   I hesitated when my hand fell to the ice cold knob, and I choked back another sob. Opening the door I slowly stepped in, trying to maintain a straight face. I looked straight ahead before looking towards the bed, and to my surprise the only visitor in the room was Nate’s mom.

 

    As soon as I locked eyes with Catherine I could see that she, too, was trying to stay strong. I couldn’t imagine how she felt at that moment, sitting there in the room with her son that she knew was going to die.

I tentatively turned my head to look at Nate. Surprisingly, he didn’t look as bad as I expected him to. He had bruises and cuts, and a few different things were bandaged up, but he looked better than I’d imagined. Was the bleeding internal? I didn’t know and frankly I didn’t want to know.

 

   Forcing a weak smile I approached the bed where he lay. Instantly, his face lit up and his adorable smile spread across it. It looked so misplaced on his black and blue face.

 

“I hear you’ve been asking for me,” I said, reaching out to grab his hand.

 

  “I’m sorry about missing the date. I know you were really looking forward to it. You got all dressed up and everything. If it helps, you look beautiful.”

 

   I laughed a little, shaking my head, and Catherine laughed, too. Typical Nate, always thinking about other people. “You’re in the hospital and you’re apologizing to me about missing a date? That’s the least of my worries right now,” I replied and smoothed his bangs back with my other hand, revealing a nasty gash on his forehead.

 

I snatched my hand away quickly.

 

“Is it that bad?” Nate asked. He tried to reach up and feel it, but all the IV’s restricted him.

 

   Catherine stood up and smoothed her hand over Nate’s. “It’s not pretty, honey. I’m going to let you two talk for a little bit, alright?”

 

    I watched her as she slipped out the door and shut it lightly behind her. I could tell, though, that she wasn’t leaving to just give us some time alone. She was leaving because she was about to break down, and she didn’t want it to happen in front of Nate. And who could blame her?

 

I bit my lip and turned back to him. “So, where is everyone else?”

 

   “Alexa was too young to come back so Lauren’s sitting in the waiting room with her. My dad went home to get my mom some clothes so she can stay overnight with me,” Nate explained but his voice was weak.

She wouldn’t need them, though, and she knew that. I guess that was just her way of coping with it. Or maybe she was in denial.

 

    We talked for a little while after that. I took the seat where his mother had been sitting by his bedside, and we talked about everything we hadn’t really discussed before. We talked about the kids we were going to have one day, the house on the hillside where we’d live, and he even slipped in a little ‘Forever and Always.’ I held his hand tighter than I ever had before, but I felt a little guilty talking about all those things when I knew we’d never have them. And I was pretty sure he was completely oblivious until he cut himself off during one of his sentences with a long sigh.

 

    Nate clenched his jaw and leaned his head back against the pillow. “I don’t know why I’m doing this to myself. I know, Jordyn.”

 

I stiffened, my grip on his hand going slack. “You know what?”

 

   He swallowed hard. “I know I’m going to die. I heard the doctor talking in the hallway earlier, and I can feel it. It’s a…weird feeling. It’s like I’m slowly losing everything bit by bit, and it’s kind of scary…,” he trailed off, finally lolling his head to the side to look at me for the first time since he started talking.

 

   I felt my eyes watering up, but I couldn’t lose it in front of him. I just couldn’t….but dang it, I did. I just couldn’t help it, and the tears were coming so fast that I wasn’t able stop them. My bottom lip quivered, and I lost control of my emotions. I was still so young, and I hadn’t lost many people in my life before. I didn’t know how to handle myself in those sorts of situations.

 

    “Jordyn,” Nate soothed, and then I was bent over his bed with my head buried in his hospital nightgown, and his arm that had the less amount of IV’s connected to it was wrapped around me. He pressed his lips to the top of my head. I felt horrible because I should’ve been the one comforting him, not him comforting me.

 

    “Jordyn, I’m so sorry,” he began, his hand finding it’s way to my head where he stroked my hair, “I wanted you to be able to have your perfect wedding, and I wanted to keep my promise so bad. I feel like I’m letting you down.”

 

    I pulled up from him, my hands resting lightly on his chest. “You aren’t letting me down, Nate. Maybe we can still get married.”

 

He furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

 

“I have an idea. I’ll be right back.”

 

    I practically ran down the hall to the waiting room, searching the faces until I found Catherine.

Rushing over to where her and the girls were sitting in a corner, I first hugged both of the girls. Alexa had tears running from her amber colored eyes, and Lauren had no expression or emotion whatsoever. She had always dealt with things differently, and I knew that even if she seemed to be normal on the outside, she was broken and shattered on the inside. No visible tears but there were definitely tears.

 

   “Catherine, this is going to sound crazy, but can you call the Justice of Peace?” I asked, turning to the haggard woman who had her arm wrapped around Alexa.

 

Her forehead crinkled; confused. “Why?”

 

  “I want Nate and I to still be able to get married. We won’t be able to sign anything, but it’ll still be…something,” I said, chewing my bottom lip.

 

  

 

 

    Two hours later and everyone was gathered in the hospital room, crowded around Nate’s bed. His dad had rushed back, and even surprised me by bringing Catherine’s old wedding veil. We managed to convince the nurses to let Alexa and Lauren come into the room, and even the nurses had packed into the room to watch. Thankfully, Nate’s dad knew the Justice of Peace so he still came regardless that he was way off hours. Oh, and we borrowed some rings from the couple next door. They were also crammed in the room. It would have been amazing if the situation had been different.

 

   The Justice of Peace, David, said a few things, but I didn’t really hear him. I could only stare at Nate, cherishing every last minute I could see his face. Everyone was laughing as the tears fell on the floor. Even the nurses and the couple we borrowed the rings from were crying and laughing.

 

“Are you ready to say the vows?” David asked from where he stood at the foot of the bed.

 

   “We have our own…I think,” I replied, glancing at Nate for approval. He smiled weakly and nodded his head.

 

David chuckled. “Go right ahead. You first, Jordyn.”

 

   Staring into Nate’s eyes, I did the best I could to speak through the tears. Both of sadness and happiness.

“Nate, I’ve always wanted to be with you forever. From the day that we met in tenth grade I remember saying to myself, ‘I’m going to marry that boy one day.’ And here we are…getting married.” I stopped to laugh and wipe a stray tear from my cheek. A soft chuckle waved over the room, and I could feel Catherine patting me on the back.

 

    “I’ll stay with you through the good, the bad, and the ugly. We’ll grow old together and always remember that whether happy, or sad, or…whatever-” Another laugh went through the room, and Nate’s hand slipped from under his covers to find mine. “-we’ll still love each other no matter what happens.”

 

    I finished my vows, and then it was Nate’s turn. I tried to block it out, but I could hear the beeps from the machine on the side of his bed getting slower, and when he spoke, his voice was so…so low.

 

    He still managed to say what he needed to, and his eyes were glassy with tears as I tried to hold myself together. “I love you so much, Jordyn. I want you to remember that even if I’m not able to be there with you, I’ll always love you-” he stopped, his voice only a low whisper.

 

I knew what he had wanted to say, so I said it for him. “Forever and always…”

Author's Note

So, I have few things I want to say.

1. This story is based off of the song Forever and Always by Parachute. It's basically the song in story form with few new scenes, and obviously more elaborated. You should all go check out that song. It's amazing.

2. Sorry if some of the medical things are completely wrong. I know nothing about medical terms and such.

3. Oh, and this took me forever to write!

Reviews

[once upon a time]

This is so good! I could not stop reading this! It is so sad I was crying from the second she started talking to the doctor. :)

[Anna]

THAT WAS AMAZING. Well written! And so sad.. :(

[Sophie]

I'm just gonna go cry into my pillow now, if you don't mind.
Why must you do this to me?!?
This is so good, the wording is perfect and the plot is just- urgh, fantastic. I don't know what else I could possibly say. This is amazing and I just want him to live and I'm gonna go die now.

[Lydia]

Thank you...I guess. Haha

[Sophie]

It's a good thing :P

[the Ancient Historian]

I couldn't help tear jerk. It was so sad and beautiful!

[Krista Weiss]

I'm sobbing so much right now!! This is my absolutely favorite story by you!! I've been in love with this song for so long and I've always been in love with the saying forever and always and when I saw the title I was like yess!!! haha :) And as soon as I started reading it I knew it was going to be about this song! I love this so so soooo much!! Really amazing job!!! :) < 3

[Pugsly]

I keep stumbling upon things relating to death... I feel like this is the worlds way of making me feel bad for not bonding with Billy before he died (he'd been battling cancer for the past few years now... he died last night) and I was never exactly close to him but he was a cool kid everyone liked him and it just sucks...

[Anonymous Girl]

Oh My Lord!! Its so good I was genuienly crying at the end bit!..
Oh My God!

[Hester Vane]

Oh my god this was so sad! But written excellently! I did a prose interpretation of a song and it was nowhere near as good as this one! Aww im actually a little emotional after reading that!

[AleyshaRosa]

*thumbs up*

[Harley (arbiter)]

Great, great job. Amazing. Its all I can say. Its so good.