The Best Friend's Contract

"-Kenna Anne Roosevelt. You're twenty-six and you're turning twenty-seven this year in June, sixteenth. You favour the colour white and burgundy. We got married in October, twenty-third and you're a dolphin. Now, can I kiss you?" He cuts me off.

To my surprise, he tucks the few strands of hair behind my ear before cupping onto my face to kiss me fully on the lips, this time the kiss turns out to be a little bit more intense and passionate, somehow showing the mixed emotions he's currently feeling from the amount of anxiety. Then, without me even expecting, he lays me on the bed which causes me to chuckle as he continues to kiss me, up to my cheeks and my eyes, leaving me to smile at his sudden behaviour.

Just as we stop kissing, we both continue to stare into each other's eyes before I begin to grab onto his hand... slowly kissing each of his fingers and place it on the side of my face, causing him to smile down at me; leaning in to kiss me softly on the lips again, overjoying

me.

"Wow, wow, wow. Keep it PG-13, guys." Mia enters the room with the rest of the family, Diana, Marc, Harley and even Alain-who seemed to return after he found out about Aidan in the news. He and Mia didn't even bother to pick up another fight as he ended up supporting her, just like how Aidan told him to.

My cheeks heat up as I move away from Aidan, letting Alain pulls him in for a hug; seeing that both of his eyes are red with tears as Aidan pats onto his back, somehow they seem to be having a silent conversation. "It's good to have you back, man." He mutters. "It's good to be back," Aidan replies.

"Group hug!" Mia exclaims before making her way towards Aidan and Alain, pulling them in for a hug. From my distance, I can see Aidan grinning widely as Alain continues to chuckle as the three of them hug each other, leaving me to think that they're always going to be inseparable. They're one of the most loving siblings I've ever known, too.

As soon as they pull away from the hug, Diana steps to take her turn in which Aidan responds before kissing her on the cheek. Then, Marc pats lightly onto Aidan's back as he smiles down at him, his eyes glistening with joy.

"Come here, Harley." Aidan says to his sister-in-law before he starts to pull her in for a hug, causing everyone to laugh at them.

As a few minutes pass, Owen comes inside to check up on Aidan as half of the family members have went out, leaving Aidan and I with Diana and Marc. Owen continues to use the small torch to look into his eyes before nodding his head. Then, he begins to examine for any unhealed bruises or any certain complications.

"How are you feeling?" Owen asks.

Aidan glances at me for a short couple of seconds, "My head's hurting a little bit but nothing too unbearable. It feels weird moving for the first time in three months-is that normal?" He asks after answering.

"It's very normal. You don't have anything to worry about but it might take you a few days or up to two weeks to finally be able to balance your body properly because you were in coma for a certain amount of time and you were in an unaware state. Don't worry about that either because we will be giving you a wheelchair to use until you are able to walk on your own, again." Owen replies, looking at Diana and Marc before turning to look back at Aidan who seems to be nodding his head.

"I will prescribe you to an adequate dose of painkillers and you should only take them if you feel like you need to. Fair warning, you might feel pain at the back of your head and also in the middle of your forehead when you are in a large crowd or when you hear any loud noises. It's best to avoid these situations for awhile, maybe a couple of weeks, yeah?" Owen continues to speak.

"I understand," Aidan responds.

"Good... if that's all, you will be discharged in a couple of days if we find that your brain activity is going back to normal. We just need to make sure that you are heading back on track but you will be moved to a regular ward," He turns to look at me, "We'll run a few tests to make sure that you're as stable as you were when you were in a coma. We want no complications," He adds.

Diana and Marc walks out of the room with Owen, continuing to speak about Aidan's condition while I remain staring at him, seeing him looking down at his fingers before running them through his hair, somehow making me realise how he feels odd doing the things he used to do.

"You okay?" I ask, heading closer.

"Yeah, just feels a little bit weird. That's completely normal, right? Nothing to be worried about or exaggerated?" He replies, leaning back on the bed after letting out a deep sigh. "Completely normal. Your body is responding back after being unaware for three months. Don't worry, you'll be fine. You just need to take things slow," I respond.

Both of his brown eyes meet mine, "You were there with me everyday."

"What do you mean?"

"I heard you. Your voice. It was not clear but I knew it was you-you were telling me different things everyday and you even made listen to this music that got stuck in my head. The lyrics were like 'but we sobered up, swear my heartbeats all you better' and I kept on feeling like it was being replayed in my head. Not just that, I even heard you crying ... laughing and just being there." He replies with full anticipation, silencing me.

"I couldn't go through the day without seeing you. Even though you were just laying there but I...I wanted to see you to make sure that

you were there," I look down at my fingers, eyeing my wedding ring before clearing my throat. "Maybe, I was expecting you to wake up and I did all of those things to make you feel eager to come back was worried, Aidan. Patients in coma are really, really hard to deal with-we never know what might happen. You might wake up and you might not,"

"I'm sorry for making you worry about me," He grabs onto my hand. "But at the same time, I'm thankful that you were there for me even though I was just laying here. I appreciate that, thank you."

"I'd do anything for you," I reply as he kisses onto my knuckles, leaving electricity on my skin; letting me feel satisfied and content even with his tiny little kisses. "How did it feel like being in a coma?"

He rubs the back of my hand with his thumb, "Hard, especially when I could hear you everyday but was unable to respond. I was like in between life and death because your voice felt close to me but at the same time, I was near the edge. I don't know if what I'm about to

say would make any senses but I think... I could've died," He looks up into my blue eyes, leaving me to frown.

"What do you mean? What happened?" I ask.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

"There were two paths down this infinite road. One shining bright with lights while the other was just really dark which means I was intrigued to choose the bright path. Just as I was almost confirm with my decision, heard you." He stops for awhile, Your voice was loud and clear down the dark road. It wasn't just your voice because it sounded more like memories of us being together mixed into one. Pheard you laughing, talking and I even saw glimpses of you smiling. There was nothing down the dark road but you and I was instantly attracted to that path more than I was attracted down the bright path which was

quiet without a single sound. So, when I walked down that dark path and straight towards you... I felt it,"