Tina never considered herself a religious person, but she did believe in a higher being and prayed, “Please God…please keep her safe…please let her know that I’m here and that I love her with everything that I am.” Tina kissed Bette’s fingertips.  Bette’s eyes fluttered briefly and closed again, but Tina didn’t notice.

A nurse entered the room and checked Bette’s Holter monitor that hung from her neck, leads, and IVs.

“Is there something wrong?” Tina asked anxiously as she stood next to the bed and watched the nurse’s movements.

“Just making sure that her monitor is attached properly.  It showed a spike in her heart beat…can you tell me what you were doing just then?”

“I was talking to her and praying.” Tina replied. Tina looked down at Bette and brushed Bette’s hair away from her face. 

“Continue to do what you were doing…she seems to be responding to you.”

“Do you mean she can hear me?” Tina asked not wanting to get her hopes up. Tina continued to stroke Bette’s hair. 

“I think she’s able to hear you.  It is important that she has someone with her who loves her and cares for her and it’s obvious that you do.” The nurse left the room and Tina sat back in the chair she vacated earlier.

“Oh, Bette, please wake up.” Tina pulled a worn leather bound book from her large purse and thumbed through the pages, stopping occasionally at doggy-eared pages and pages with Post-It tabs.  Tina continued to look through the pages until she found the page she was looking for. She cleared her throat and was about to read when Kit, carrying two cups of coffee, entered the room and walked over to her.