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Grade
6

As Long As We Both Shall Live

The flowing violin music started, and the all the people at my wedding stood up. I knew I was blushing, but I straightened my back and lifted my veiled head. Past the flower girls, past everyone in their trimmed white seats, I saw him. Love filled my heart, and he smirked at me. And I remembered how we ended up at the altar for the second time.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------        Two Years Ago

 

There was glass everywhere, twisting, spiraling into fragments that were crystal clear and flecked with bits of blood. I was trapped in the haze of sleep, and pain clouded my dreams. I wanted to scream. I wanted to let out all the pain, but I was frozen in my slumber. Why was I being punished with this torture? What had I done to deserve this? I racked my memory for anything prior to this prison, but there was nothing, no memories at all, not even of my name. My own name! What had happened to me? Then I heard a voice. It pulled me out of my state, spinning me around, sending me hurtling back to reality and waking up to see a face. A man’s face.

He was hovering right above me, and I stared at him in confusion. Who was he? His bright grey eyes were bloodshot and baggy, but they were lit up with joy. His hand reached up and caressed my face. I shied away, though, and hurt flowed into his face.

“Bryn?” the man whispered. His voice was as smooth as silk, and I gasped internally at the wonder of it. He hesitated, then pressed a button next to the raised bed I was lying on. There were so many beeping machines next to me, and tubes everywhere. Was Bryn my name? But most importantly, where was I? I heard him whisper, “Dr. Morgan, could you come down for a moment?” Doctor? Oh God, was I in the hospital? I couldn’t remember coming here, or why I was here.

I opened my mouth and tried to speak, but my throat was raw and the movement burned. It was agony, like the roughest sandpaper scratching the back of my throat. I tried a few more times, and regained my voice in a slow, painful process. Finally, I asked, ”Who are you?”, ignoring the excruciating pain that came with it.

The man pressed his hand to his mouth and dragged it down his face, looking so very exhausted, and at that moment, an elevator at the end of the hall opened and a woman (Dr. Morgan?) came walking in. She had a clipboard at the ready, and her honey blond hair was tied back into a tight bun, with a white uniform on. The woman walked over to where I was, and smiled at me.

“Bryn, I’m Dr. Morgan, and you’re safe, okay?” Dr. Morgan walked over to the machines next to my hospital bed, adjusted some dials, then pulled up a chair and forced the man into it - he looked almost dead, with waxy, ghostly pale skin and huge bags under his eyes. I noticed he had quite a bit of scars on his face and arms. Dr. Morgan than looked expectantly at me, and I nodded to reassure her that I knew what she was talking about.

“You were in a car accident with your husband, Ethan (here she indicated at the scarred man in the chair), and you suffered a concussion and several head injuries which could possibly result in memory loss. Bryn, just know that you’re safe, and that’s all that matters.” She smiled, but she looked a bit concerned.

I had a husband? My hand lifted unconciously, and I spotted a gold ring on my fourth finger, like gold leaves woven around a single diamond. Beautiful. I looked at Ethan’s hand, and I saw a solid gold band around his finger. Then I looked at him - beneath all the exhaustion, he looked kind hearted and strong. Ethan must’ve felt my gaze on him, because he looked up and reached out to grasp my hand. I stiffened, dropped my stare, and drew my hand away from his, the movement making my head ache horribly.

“My head hurts, and I can’t remember anything. . . “ I whispered. My hands clenched and unclenched, trying to find an anchor to reality, when really I was so insecure, swirling into a vortex of oblivion, searching for a grasp on something, anything. “Please, help me. I’m lost.” My voice broke, and I whimpered.

“Please, let me take her home,” my husband said. “I can just give her the medicine there, and she might remember something. I’m begging you, I’ll do anything. Just let me take her home.”

Dr. Morgan sighed. “Ask Bryn, and if she agrees to it, fill out these forms.” She slapped some papers down on the desk next to my hospital bed, and left. “Ring for me when you’ve decided!” she shouted over her shoulder.

My husband started to speak, but I cut him off. “How can I know that I can trust you? You’re a complete stranger to me!”

Ethan stared at me, then sighed. “ Bryn, you don’t know how much I missed you. It was like losing a part of your life that matters the most, like missing the biggest piece in a puzzle. Please, I’ll show you our old life before this with pictures and memories. Will you give me a chance, and come stay at our place?”

I squinted at him. Though I didn’t want to admit it, I really wanted to see who I was before the car accident, who my family and friends were, who Ethan was. “Fine, I’ll come with you.” He brightened considerably, smiling so hard his face turned bright red, then picked me up like I weighed nothing and swung me around. We were both still weak from the car accident, though,  and we both dropped to the ground, breathing heavily, with me lying on top of him. Ethan laughed, but I still felt uncomfortable being around him and rolled off of him, blushing uncontrollably.

“Hold it, Bryn, I need to fill out the forms first.” He stood up, grabbed a pen, and starting filling every blank out. I watched him, noticing that he scrunched his face up when he wrote, and that his huge scarred hand had trouble grasping the pen, they were so big. Ethan worked, and I got back on the bed. I realized that only a thin layer of cloth covered my body, and blushed, tugging the hospital bed’s blankets higher up until they were just beneath my chin. He stood up, and I cleared my throat to get his attention. “Um, are there any clothes that I can change into?”

Ethan stared at me blankly, then regained his senses and said,”Sorry, Bryn, I didn’t expect you to wake this early. . . Here, take my jacket.” It was a black leather jacket that smelled of spicy cologne and peppermint. I thanked him and wrapped it around me, feeling more comfortable now that I was covered. Then we went in the elevator, went down several floors, got in a silver car and drove away. Towards the place that I had once called home.

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There were still some times where I had temporary amnesia and I was paranoid of losing myself in oblivion. But the whole way through, Ethan was always there, helping me remember what I was missing, and that’s why I said yes when he asked me to marry him, again. Now him and I were back at the altar, with moonlight trailing down the aisle, decorating the altar.

“Ethan Wes, will you have this woman, Bryn Comfortaa, to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage, will you love her, comfort her, honor her and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, so long as you both shall live?"

Ethan smiled. “I do.”

He slipped my gold leaved ring, once again, on my finger, and kissed me before the priest could say anything. There was a uproar of laughter at this bold action, but I didn’t care. I kissed him, warm with the fact that we would be together, through hardships, through the rocky bumps in life, as long as we both shall live.