The Longest Nap

I laughed.

I cried.

I kissed the back of her hand over and over again without caring who was watching.

“Yeah,” I whispered brokenly. “I’m here, baby.”

My thumb brushed across her knuckles.

“I’m right here.”

She struggled again, her lips moving painfully slowly as though every syllable weighed a hundred pounds.

“…Hay…es…”

I gave every single person in the room a heart attack. I jumped to my