"I don't want to see her," said Harley, looking away and out the window.
"But–"
"Didn't you just hear me?" he said in a hiss.
The nurse left the room and Vivian looked at Harley. His jaw was set in a ridged position and his eyes were toward the window with a blank stare. Vivian looked back toward the door when she heard someone come in. She expected to see the nurse again, but instead she saw a small woman with watery eyes.
"Harley?" she said in a shaky voice.
"Why are you here?" he asked in a hushed, but deadly tone.
"Maybe I should leave," said Vivian as she stood up.
"No. Don't," said Harley as he squeezed her hand.
Vivian sat down after seeing she didn't have much of a choice. Harley didn't seem like he wanted to be alone with his mother.
"How are you feeling?" asked his mother as she took a step closer to the bed.
"Like shit. What about you?"
"I'm sobering up."
"Since when?" shot Harley.
"Since last night when I heard the news."
"Who told you?"
"The hospital called when you were having surgery."
"Why didn't you come sooner?"
"Well, I was half–drunk and I couldn't go to the hospital that way."
Harley didn't answer, but kept staring out the window.
"I'm sorry–about everything," she added.
Harley squeezed Vivian's hand harder.
"You're only saying that because I'm hurt. Two weeks from now, it won't make any difference."
His mother kept silent.
"Where's Bob?"
"At work," said his mother quietly.
"You mean you didn't bring him along to finish up the job," said Harley nastily.
"Bob doesn't mean–"
"Doesn't mean to beat up people. Doesn't mean to make life harder than it really is," interrupted Harley.
"Maybe he is a rough person, but he is really sweet."
"When has he ever done anything nice? Can you think of one time, Mom?" said Harley in a raised voice.
"Harley, I love Bob very–"
"Sure you do. What about Dad?"
"Listen, I only came here to check on how you were doing," said his mother in tears.
Harley ignored the pitiful crying noise his mother was making. His eyes were as cold as they were when she walked in.
"You call if you need anything. Okay?" said his mother in sobs.
Harley didn't answer. His mother glanced at Vivian and walked out of the room. Vivian kept quiet, not sure what to say.
"I can't believe her," said Harley with a growl.
Vivian stayed silent. She squeezed his hand slightly and watched his face relax.
"You need some rest," soothed Vivian.
"I am tired."
"I'll leave if you want me to," she said, standing up.
"Could you please stay," he said putting a hand on her arm.
She sat back down and nodded. Vivian watched him fall asleep. Once he was asleep, she stood up and walked to the window. She looked out and down at the parking lot. She watched cars park and leave without interest. She turned back around and saw that Harley was still asleep. Vivian walked back to the chair and sat down. She picked up a magazine from the floor and flipped through it lazily. Two hours passed by, but to Vivian it seemed like an entire day.
"How's he doing?" asked Kent from the door.
Vivian lifted her head and said, "Okay."
"I got off work early 'cause nothing was happening," he said as he pulled a chair over and sat down.
Vivian noticed dark circles under Kent's alert eyes.
"You should be getting some sleep. I know–"
A loud, constant beep started sounding on one of the machines attached to Harley.
"What's going on?" asked Vivian as she stood up.
She ran to Harley and noticed he wasn't breathing.
"Harley! Wake up!" she said as she shook him.
"Harley, don't do this!" said Kent as he shook his arm.
Four nurses and a doctor came rushing in. The doctor was checking vital signs as two nurses were pushing Vivian and Kent out.
"Wait! Tell me what's going on!" yelled Vivian as the nurse shut the door.
Vivian and Kent watched helplessly as the nurses and doctor swarmed Harley. She turned away and said aloud, "I can't take this," as she started to quickly walk away. Kent grabbed around her around the waist.
"Whoa, Whoa, don't go," he said as he held her from walking away.
Her legs started to give away as she shook with tears. Kent dropped down to the floor with her and looked at her helplessly. Her arms covered her face and she hunched over the floor.
"Come on, Vivian. Stand up," he said as he put his arms under hers.
He helped her back in her feet and into a nearby chair. It seemed like an eternity until a nurse finally walked out of the room. She walked over to Vivian and Kent and said gently, "He's okay."
Vivian cried even more. Kent kept his hand on her back and asked, "What happened?"
"The loss of blood, surgery, and just being stabbed was too much shock for the body so his heart stopped. We brought him back, but he was officially dead for nearly two minutes."
"Is he going to be okay?" asked Kent as Vivian wiped her tears with a tissue that the nurse handed her.
"The doctor can tell you need to know. I'm only a nurse."
As she walked away and the doctor left Harley's room. Kent and Vivian walked up to the doctor who was closing the door behind him.
"Doctor, is he going to be okay?" asked Kent.
"It's still too early to tell. It hasn't been twenty–four hours yet."
"Can he flat line again?"
The doctor nodded and said, "I'll check up on him in a few minutes."
"Thank you."
The doctor walked down the white hallway, his white coat billowing behind him. Kent opened the door and walked in. He looked back and saw that Vivian was hesitant.
"Vivian?"
"Just give me a minute," she said, swallowing.
She looked blankly at the floor then walked in.
"Are you okay?" asked Kent.
She nodded and answered, "I'm just so scared that something's going to happen."
"I know, I know," he said.
Harley was awake. Vivian nearly jogged to him and put her arms around him. He wrapped his arms around her and looked at Kent with slightly wide eyes. He looked away from Kent and looked at Vivian.
"It's going to be okay. Don't worry," he said, rubbing her cheek with the back of his knuckles.
She nodded and wiped her tears with the heel of her hand. She backed away from Harley and sat down on the chair. Kent walked up beside Harley and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You scared me, man," he said as he squeezed his shoulder.
"Sorry. I scared myself."
"Just get some rest."
Harley nodded.