IF YOU LEAVE ME NOW
By Deyse
"I’ve finished, Roma! You look absolutely gorgeous!" the seamstress in charge of making Roma’s wedding dress exclaimed. She, Della and Reilly observed with fascinated eyes the image of the Irish actress on the top of a bank wearing the outfit. The satin dress was long, pearl coloured and strapless, leaving her shoulders and collarbone bare.
And what made the garment even more beautiful was the expression of pure happiness on Roma’s face, whose eyes were shining with all the love in her heart.
"Wow! You look like a princess, mommy!" Reilly spoke, as she had never seen her mom look so beautiful.
"Oh my little angel! Thank you, but if there is a princess here it’s you!" Roma said, softly stroking her daughter’s curly hair.
"Well, I have to agree with Reilly; you’re enchanting, baby!" Della spoke, "I just want to see John’s reaction when he sees you!"
"He’ll be like this..." Reilly let her mouth drop open and mimicked a shocked face, making the 3 women laugh.
The seamstress made one last check, "Well, I’ll leave it a bit loose here on the belly, but just a little, as a precaution. After all, 3 months is still early for the belly to grow, especially for you; you’re petite and won’t gain much weight in just 3 weeks."
"Well, I hope so!" Roma gently placed her hand over her belly.
"Which means you shoulda got married at least 3 months ago!" little Reilly said, "You and uncle Johnny waited so much that my little brother lost his patience and didn’t want to wait anymore!"
Laughing even more, the women exchanged another gaze and Roma climbed out of the bank and held her daughter. "Well, you and your little brother or sister will have to wait just a little bit more now, missy!" she kissed Reilly’s cheek and turned to the seamstress, her long time friend, "Mrs Harper, we will have a bridal shower here in my house, tomorrow at 7. Would you like to come?"
"Oh, I’d love to, Roma!"
*
On the following day...
"Well, I guess that’s all for now!" John spoke, finishing to arrange his clothes inside the closet in Roma’s bedroom. 3 weeks from the wedding, the couple was taking care of the last details before John moved to the actress house and both of them were eagerly waiting to start a new life together. "I’ll leave just some more clothes at home, and after we get married I can bring them too."
Roma just smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist, "Ok... I wish you could stay here too..." she sighed, resting her head on his chest.
Chuckling, he held her tightly and kissed the top of her head, "You’re so impatient, sweetie! You remind me of a certain little girl who offered me her closet to put my clothes!"
"Reilly and I have much in common!" she spoke, enjoying being in his arms.
"Yes, I noticed that... That’s why I love you both so much!"
Hearing that, she raised her head smiling cheerfully at him. John leaned over and pressed his lips against hers, and both shared a sweet, tender kiss. Suddenly, they heard the doorbell ring and Reilly’s voice a second later, "Auntie Della is here!"
The couple of actors looked at each other and John couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on his fiancée’s face: an almost pleading one. "Well... I guess it’s time for me to leave and let you girls do the party!"
He felt her tightening her hold on him, in a desperate attempt to keep him with her. "Are you sure you want to go? It’s... it’s raining too much, it could be dangerous..."
"I’ll be careful, honey!"
"Well... If I can remember, Reilly also offered her closet for you to sleep some time before we were dating..."
"Yeah, I remember that, she was the only one who could see I was hopelessly in love with you!"
"Yes... well... you can be inside my closet now!" she suggested, loving the sound of his laugher, "Or I could keep you locked here until we finish the party!"
"Well, both offers sound tempting, but I don’t want to be in the way. Besides, in 3 weeks, honey, we’ll be together forever!"
"I can’t wait for that!" standing on the tip of her toes, she brushed another loving kiss on his lips and both left the room.
*
Downstairs, Della, Reilly, Julie (Reilly’s nanny), Paula and Mrs Harper were gathered in the living room waiting of Roma and when she and John arrived, they gently shoved him away, with the exception of Reilly, who, like her mom, wanted him to stay locked somewhere in the house. He picked her up in his arms and kissed her forehead, while she hugged him tightly, with a surprising tearful face, "I don’t want you to go, Uncle Johnny!"
"Hey... and I don’t want to see that cute little face of yours so sad!" he gently admonished, "It’ll be just for some more weeks, sweetie, I promise!"
"I’ll miss you!"
"I’m gonna miss you too, honey. I’ll tell you what: as soon as I get home, I’ll give you and your mom a call to say goodnight, ok?"
"K..." she replied, still with a sad look.
"Now give me a kiss."
Reilly kissed his cheek and he placed her on the floor. Then, he took Roma’s hand; "Have fun sweetie."
"Promise you’ll call?" she asked, with the same tearful look as her daughter’s.
"I promise!" then, he grabbed her face in both hands and kissed her lips again.
The other women playfully shoved him for the second time and, before John could go, Roma held his hand once more. "Be careful, Johnny... it’s raining too much..."
"I will. And I’ll call you in half an hour!"
*
Some time after John had left, Roma and Reilly tried to put aside some of their sadness and started to have fun with their friends. But, deep inside, they still felt something weird, a mix of worry and sorrow they couldn’t explain, but which made them long to have John close to them again.
Half hour passed slowly and the actress couldn’t take her eyes off the clock on the wall, and, from that moment on, she started to count each minute. Suddenly, the phone finally rang, causing Reilly to jump, "Uncle Johnny!!!" she said, and picked up the receiver, "Uncle Johnny?" but her meek face became quite disappointed a second later, "Hi daddy... Yes, I’m fine..."
The little girl and her father started to talk but it was possible to notice that she wasn’t up for a conversation at that moment. And Roma, who was twice disappointed, didn’t waste any second in turning on her cell phone, fearing that John would call at any moment and wouldn’t be able to talk to them.
10 minutes later, while Reilly was still talking (or at least listening) to her farther, the actress’ cell phone finally rang and, seeing John’s number on the display, she heaved a sigh of relief, "Johnny?"
But contrary to what she expected, there was another voice on the other side of the line, "I’m sorry, madam, it’s Sgt. Peters here, I’m from the LA PD... Mr Dye had this number on his cell phone as the last number he dialled.
"Yes... I’m... I’m his fiancée... But what happened?" she asked, now deeply scared.
"I’m sorry to inform you, miss, but... there was an accident involving Mr Dye..."
Roma’s heart jumped and the colour disappeared from her face, "What?!" she uttered, in shock. Della and the others noticed the dramatic change on her face and the old actress was quick to sit by her side, "Roma? What is it? What’s happening?"
"John had an accident..." she spoke, with tears forming on the corner of her eyes.
"Oh, my God!"
And Reilly didn’t miss her mom’s words: with a worried face, she quickly said goodbye to her father, "Dad, I have to go, something happened to my uncle Johnny! Bye!" she said, and turned off the phone. Then, she turned to her mother, with an almost desperate face, "Mommy? Where’s uncle Johnny?"
"Wait a minute, sweetie..." she replied, turning her attention to the policemen who was talking to her, "... yes... yes, I know... I’m leaving home now, officer, thanks..." she turned off the phone and looked at the others, "Another car went into a skid on the road and hit John’s car... They’re taking him to the ER of Salt Lake Hospital... He hurt his head and his arm..." she covered her mouth with her hand and burst into tears.
Della gently held the Irish actress in her arms, "Roma, please, calm down, we don’t know what happened to him yet..."
"He’s hurt, Della..." she sobbed, unable to control her crying, which caused Reilly to start crying too, "Uncle Johnny is hurt?"
"But we don’t know how much!" the older actress spoke, "What we need to do is to calm down first!"
"Oh God, I asked him to stay! It was too dangerous to go out wit all this rain! I had a bad feeling in my heart! I should’ve insisted!"
"There’s no way you could have guessed what was going to happen, baby! please, try to calm down! Don’t forget you’re carrying a little baby there!"
Roma placed her hand on her belly, "I’ll go there! he needs me!" tears never stopped from falling from her eyes.
"I’ll go too!" Reilly quickly stood up, "I want my uncle Johnny back!" she was as miserable as her mother.
"No, sweetheart, you’ll stay here with Julie..."
"No! I want to see my uncle Johnny!" the girl cried even louder, "Please, let me see my uncle Johnny!"
"Ok, then, I’ll take you two to the hospital!" Della decided.
*
Half hour later, Della, Roma and Reilly crossed the gates of Salt Lake Hospital and headed to the ER. The old actress walked ahead of them to the counter, "We’re looking for John Carroll Dye, can you tell us where he is?"
The woman, who had immediately recognised them, searched for John’s name on the computer, "Yes, Mr Dye is with the doctors now, you’ll have to wait a little, they’re examining him."
"How is he?" Roma asked, barely managing to speak and trembling with fear.
"I’m sorry, but I don’t know, Ms Downey, I haven’t had any information from the doctors yet."
"Roma, Reilly, let’s sit here and wait, I’m sure we’ll have news soon." Della spoke, gently leading her friend and the little girl to sit. Then, she wrapped her arm around the Irish actress’ shoulder, and Roma did the same with her daughter; and the 3 of them remained quietly waiting for any news about their beloved John.
"I shouldn’t have let him go, Della... there was something in my heart telling me he should stay..."
"Oh, baby, it wasn’t your fault. I heard you asking him to stay... nobody could’ve guessed it was going to happen! And, right now, the best thing to do is pray"
"I know... I’m so desperate..."
"If we pray to God he’ll make uncle Johnny be ok?" Reilly wanted to know, wiping the tears that never stopped from falling.
"He’ll try to heal your uncle Johnny, dear. He’ll do everything He can."
"So I’ll pray too... He’s listening, right? He can listen to me from here?"
"Yes, honey, he can."
*
Only 1 hour later a doctor finally came through the corridor into their direction. "I believe you’re here for Mr Dye?" he said, with a serious expression on his face.
"Yes! How is he, doctor? Is he alright?" Della spoke, squeezing her dear friend’s hand.
"Well, Mr Dye has some scratches on his face and he broke his wrist. But what worries me is the concussion he has on his head..."
"Is it very serious, doctor?" the Irish actress asked, with tearful voice.
"We don’t know yet. I asked for a x-ray and we could see it was a rather violent collision. Mr Dye is sedated and now we have to wait and see how he’ll react in the next 24 hours."
"Can we see him?"
"Yes, he was transferred to the bedroom right now. Follow me."
They walked along a long corridor and entered in room 20. John was lying on the bed, with a monitor connected to his body and registering his heartbeats. Roma’s heart clenched with sorrow and despair when she saw the wounds on his face and the big bandage around his head. with her entire body trembling, she walked over to the bed and took his free hand, "Oh Johnny... Please, try to resist..." she uttered, slightly stroking his cheek.
"Why is uncle Johnny sleeping? I want to say goodnight to him..." Reilly spoke, she and Della on the other side of the bed.
The doctor didn’t miss her sorrow and suffering, immediately realising that the actor had an important part on the girl’s life and gently ruffled her hair. "Because he hit his head, sweetie, and has to sleep a little so that it doesn’t hurt that much."
"But when is he gonna wake up?" she insisted, a mix of worry and sadness in her hazel eyes.
"The doctors are trying to do everything they can to make him heal and wake up, ok?"
"Are you gonna pray to God too?"
He smiled, "You’re a smart little girl! Yes, we’ll pray so that God can help us to take care of him!"
"Promise?" she had a very serious expression on her face.
"I give you my word!"
"Ok..." then, she turned to John and, like her mom, started to stroke his face.
"Doctor we’ll stay here for the night, is that ok?" Della asked, equally sad, as John was like a son to her.
"Ok. I’ll leave you alone, now, but soon a nurse will come here to check on him."
They remained in the bedroom, in the most absolute silence, for about 30 minutes, quietly praying for his recovery. Only when the clock ticked 11:30 PM, did Roma speak again, "We have to tell his family..."
"I’ll do that, baby. you stay here with him."
Then, the Irish actress turned to Reilly, "Sweetheart, it’s late, why don’t you lay down on that couch and sleep a little, huh?"
"But what if uncle Johnny wakes up?"
"I promise I’ll call you."
Reilly obeyed to her mom and some time later, the little girl was fast asleep. Roma, for herself, never released his hand, "You’ll be alright, Johnny, you’ll see. Della and I, together with our little ones, we’re all here waiting for you!" she sobbed, crying with emotion, "We love you... I love you... So much..."
She bent her head and gently placed a tiny kiss on his lips. Della came back some time later, bringing some food for Roma and Reilly.
"No... thanks, Della, I don’t feel like eating..."
"You don’t feel but you have to! Don’t you forget that you’re pregnant and everything you fell can affect this little child too!"
Still reluctantly, but aware of her friend’s wise words, she accepted the sandwich and the orange juice.
*
It was about 7 AM when Roma woke up from a light snooze on a chair by John’s bed; and he was still asleep, as well as Reilly and Della. The Irish actress stood up and gave a closer look at his face, searching for anything that could tell her he was getting better.
"I’m here, Johnny..." she took his hand and placed it over her belly, "We’re here... waiting for you..."
Suddenly, Roma felt his hand move and, a second later, he turned his head, "John?" she spoke, with her heart pounding loudly in her chest. Slowly, he opened his eyes and, when he saw her face, the blond actor heaved a sigh of relief. "John? John, you’re awake! You’re awake!" she spoke, carefully placing her hand on his cheek and shedding tears of joy.
"Roma..."
"Oh God, thank You so much!" she took his hand to her heart and burst into tears, "I was so afraid! So afraid of losing you! I don’t know what would become of me without you!"
"Oh Roma... sweetie... I’ll be alright now... Please, stay calm..." he reached out and stroked her cheek, "Please, stop crying..."
"I’m trying but I can’t!"
Doing an extra effort, he managed to sit up in bed, which caused his body to ache.
"No! Don’t do it! You’re hurt!" the Irish actress tried to stop him.
"I’m fine... And I need to hold you... Please, Roma, I need to hold you right now."
Less than a second later, they were both in each other’s arms, and, while Roma had to control herself not to tighten the hold on him, John held her fiercely, for long minutes. "I love you so much... so much, Roma!"
"I love you too... Oh, John, you’re my world!"
He pulled away just a few inches to look at her eyes, "You are my world, honey. My life!" he kissed her forehead and her lips.
"I was so scared..." she spoke, still stroking his face.
"Forget it now, Roma. Don’t think about it any more, it’s over now!"
Reilly and Della slowly woke up with the sound of tier voices and when they saw John, both jumped from the couch and rushed towards the bed. Reilly didn’t waste another second: she climbed up in bed and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck, "Uncle Johnny! You woke up!" she shouted, and, although he smiled, finding her reaction adorable, he had to control himself not to moan with pain.
"Reilly, honey, be careful!" Roma spoke.
"No... it’s ok... It’s great to wake up and get a hug form my little one!" he said, ruffling Reilly’s curly hair.
The little girl loosened her hold on him, "I love you, uncle Johnny... And I knew you’d wake up, I prayed a lot for you!"
The 3 adults exchanged a cheerful look and Della kissed his cheek. "She’s right, baby. we all prayed for you!"
"I know. And I love you 3..." he make a quick stop and placed his hand on Roma’s belly, "I mean, you 4, very much!"
*
Two days later, at Roma’s house.
"... And I arranged everything for you, uncle Johnny. I wanted to lend you my pillow but I think your head is a bit big for it..." Reilly spoke, she and Roma leading him through the living room of the actress house. two days after the accident, he was still recovering from the wounds on his head and body and his right hand and forearm were now in plaster.
Laughing at the little girl’s words, he sat down on the couch pulling mother and daughter together with him. "Thank you so much, my little one, but I guess you’re right, I’ll use another pillow!" he said, stroking her hair.
"It’s ok; we’ll take care of you anyway!, right mommy?"
"Oh yes, we’ll keep a good eye on him!"
"What else can I ask for?"
*
Late at night, Roma and John went to bed right after Reilly. Roma lay down in bed and John immediately wrapped his arm around her small shoulders, bringing her closer to him, so that she could rest her head on his chest.
"John... I may hurt you..." she said, worried to lean on him and bring more pain to his still aching body.
But John smiled and held her tightly. "Honey, not even the worst pain in the world would stop me from having you right here in my arms!" he spoke, kissing the top of her head. Roma raised her heard and looked at him with a cheerful and loving expression on her face, which caused John to bent down and place a tiny kiss on her lips.
"I’m gonna take care of you..." the actress said, returning her head to his chest, "...and you’ll heal soon, you’ll see."
"I’m sure I won’t find a more charming and efficient nurse!" he and Roma let out a small laugh. Then, John’s face became serious and slightly worried, "What about you, honey? How are you feeling?" he asked, cupping her chin and lifting her head up.
"I’m fine now... still a bit shaken up but I’ll be ok..."
"I was so worried about you, Roma... You, Reilly and our baby were all I could think of at the moment of the accident."
"I was so desperate... I thought I’d lose you..."
"Never! You’ll never lose me! I’m sure that God will give us a wonderful life together, with our little ones and, later, with their little ones..." he said, placing his hand over her belly.
Shedding a single tear, she nodded, "I know..."
John looked at her eyes and smiled again, "Can I have another kiss?"
"Yes..." she inched closer, still careful not to hurt him, and they shared another sweet, loving kiss. "... and that’s all you’ll have for the next 3 weeks, mister!" she spoke, when they finally pulled away.
He frowned with a rather funny and confused expression on his face, "Hey... what do you mean by that?!"
"Exactly what you heard! You’re recovering and need to rest, and I’ll be in command here and keeping a close eye on you! Besides, we’ll only get married in 3 weeks!" she replied, with a mock serious tone in her voice.
With an adorable mix of annoyance and surprise, he stared at her, "You know what? You sound like Tess!"
"Good, cause my orders are to be followed without complaining!"
"Roma, honey, you’re scaring me!" he exclaimed, now amused with her bossy attitude, and loving the sound of her giggling a second later, "... but you know what? Bossy or sweet, I love you anyway!" he leaned down and brushed a tender kiss on her forehead, tightening the hold on her.
Snuggling closer to him, she took his hand and laced his fingers with hers, and then closed her eyes, for the first time in 2 days, with a relaxed expression on her face. "I love you too, Johnny... Forever."
The end