Gosh it's Snowing!

Ginny and Josh woke up the next morning turned away from each other, and on the opposite edges of the bed. Ginny felt Josh sit up, and she pretended to be asleep, she didn’t know what to say to him. After last night neither of them knew what to say to each other.

She heard him go into the bathroom and do what sounded like splash water on his face. She opened her eyes and swung her legs over the side of the bed, her cast cluncking on the floor when she hit the ground.

“Good morning...” Ginny said as Josh walked out of the bathroom.

“Morning.” Josh said as he sat next to her on their bed, “Can we not have it be like this?”

“What do you mean?” she said.

“We are both pretty screwed up in the head and hating each other or whatever you want to call this hostility, is not going to help anything.” he told her.

“Yeah I guess so... But how do we help this, situation?” she asked, scooting closer to him.

“Well I don’t think that acting as if nothing happened will solve anything, so maybe we need to talk about this Ginny.”

“But I don’t have anything to say. I said everything I needed to last night Joshua. I mean, I know you have things to deal with that I can do nothing about, and I have things to deal with that you can do nothing about.” she said, scratching her cast on the floor.

Josh sighed, he hated that she was right. With all his heart, he wanted to be able to help her, and he wanted her to be able to help him. But there really wasn’t much the other could do. Josh would never know what it is like to be left alone emotionally, and Ginny would never know what it was like to see the one you love so hurt.

Although the cause of their pains was no more, they both remembered what it felt like to have the pain.

“I have an idea.” Josh said, facing Ginny, “So we both have these memories right? Well why don’t we make new ones. Good ones. To replace the bad ones.”

Ginny smiled, “That’s pretty smart Joshua. I know where we could start.”

“Where is that?” Josh asked.

“You could sign my cast. I just so happen to have a sparkly silver sharpie on hand.” she said with a big smile as she handed Josh the marker and lifted her leg onto the bed.

Josh took the marker from her and wrote ‘Your Joshua’ on her bright pink cast.

“Your handwriting looks girly.” she giggled.

“Hey don’t criticize my handwriting I can still draw a penis on there.” he said with a straight face.

She laughed at his joke and then her face went blank, she went deep into thought.

“What is it?” Josh asked.

She looked at him, “I have to go back to work tomorrow. At least make an appearance. How much did you tell everyone?”

“I told them you had a cold, and that I tripped and fell and that was how I got my wrist thing, but you weren’t here for that. So I guess we have to turn a cold into a broken leg and a nasty face scar.” Josh listed off with a sigh.

“Joshua can’t we just tell them what happened, and not lie.” she said in that same sweet voice she’d used the night prior.

“Woah slow down there Mary Poppins, I lied to them all for almost three weeks. They’ll get mad at me if we start telling the truth now.” he pointed out.

“Joshua I don’t think that's what they’ll be worried about if we tell them we were in a car accident.” she reminded him.

Hearing her say those words hit him like a ton of bricks. Her sweet little voice throwing such violent words at him. So blunt and innocent in their infliction yet so sharp and harmful in their meaning.

He took a moment before answering, “Yeah, you’re right. But, I- I don’t think... I can’t talk about it. I put so much into my lie and I still want to believe it. I’m not sure I can talk about what happened without breaking down. I’m sorry.”

Ginny put her arm around his shoulders and gave him a hug.

“I can tell everyone Joshua. I can tell them.” she smiled, “You just stand there being handsome.”

He sniffled, “I hate this.”

“I know. I know.” she sighed.

The two spent the rest of their last day alone together watching movies in their bed. Josh insisted that Ginny not get up because the clicking of her cast and the squeak of her crutches made him nervous. She just laughed it off and found it nice to have her own personal butler.

They had fun that day. It was nice for the both of them to relax after having told the other how they felt. Just being with the other seemed to satisfy them both.

They watched movies late into the night until they both fell asleep in each others arms.

The next morning Josh woke to his alarm he had forgotten he set and Ginny woke up soon after him. The two sighed and got ready for the hard day they were facing.

Ginny knew she couldn’t film anything, her cast was something her character lacked. She was just going so Josh didn’t have to lie anymore. To her it seemed she was taking some of the weight off his shoulders by volunteering to tell everyone the real story.

When the couple arrived at set, just like most of the other days, Jen was there by her car at the same time they arrived.

Ginny and Josh looked at each other one last time before exiting the car and showing the world what had happened to them.

“Hey Josh, Ginny oh my gosh what happened?” Jen asked as she saw Ginny.

She took a deep breath, “Josh has been lying these past weeks. I didn’t really have a cold, I was in the hospital. Me and Josh were in a car accident.”

“Oh my god what! Why was I not told of this? Are you guys ok?” Jen asked them both.

“Well Josh is fine, he just hurt his wrist and got a bad cut on his arm, and I,” Ginny motioned with her eyes for Josh to walk away and he did, “I was on the side that got hit. So I had this broken leg, I also broke my wrist, and I had brain surgery. I was in a coma for all these days. And please, don’t blame Josh for not telling anyone. He was scared, really scared. We’re both ok now.”

“Ginny I can forgive Josh, as long as you are both actually ok. You are right? Nothing you’re not telling me this time?” Jen asked with a smile.

“We are both actually ok,” Ginny smiled a small, forced smile, “we are fine.”

After explaining what happened once to Jen, Ginny was already exhausted and she could tell Josh was trying his hardest to stay strong. It pained them both that they had to stay apart most of the day. Everyone wanted to see Ginny and wanted to know what happened, and Josh couldn’t hear it. Ginny would wave Josh away every time she went through her injuries to someone new.

When their day was finally over, they both sat in the car for a few minutes with their faces buried in their hands.

“I hope I never have to do that again...” Ginny said with a sigh.

“I hope you never have to either.” he offered, “Ginny thank you for doing that for me. It must be hard for you to talk about it too. I just, I don’t even know. I never want to talk to another person again.”

“Joshua, I love you and it’s no problem telling people, really.”

He smiled to her and she offered a smile in return. They both sighed, shaking off the awful day they had just had.

Ginny watched her legs uncontrollably bounce as she sat on the couch. She was right to be a little anxious, but she was also very excited. The second hand on the clock seemed to have stopped working, time seemed to stand still as she waited for Josh to get home.

As time passed, she began to let her mind drift to the worry wart side of things. What if he’s angry. What if this isn’t what he wants. What if he gets too overwhelmed. Her thoughts just didn’t seem to calm down at all when Josh texted that he was on his way home. In fact, they might have started running faster.

What was she going to say? How was she to tell him? This was big news, doesn’t it need a special presentation... She should have thought of something creative to do. But she’d been so nervous, she couldn’t form a thought about how to tell him.

The first, the second, the third, they all said the same thing. There was no need for further confirmation, she knew it was true. In a way she knew from the day it happened.

Had she eaten that day? She was rather distracted by all that she found out, she should probably get some food in her system. But what if Josh came home when she was eating? The little speech she had semi worked out in her head would be ruined if there was food in her mouth when she said it.

She knew Josh would be happy, how could he not be... This was great news, such fantastic, life changing news.

She couldn’t stop herself from thinking how badly this could go. He could walk out the door, only come back to collect his things. He could be angry, demand she do something, demand she fix this situation she put him in.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door being unlocked. She quickly stood from the couch and waited for Josh to say something first.

“Hey Ginny.” Josh said with a smile as he walked into the front room.

He looked at her for a moment. She stood in front of him with her arms held rigidly to her sides, her chest rose and fell in big, deep breaths. Her knees were locked, yet they looked very weak and ready to collapse. Her face was flushed, eyes open wide. Her bottom jaw was shifted to the side as she bit the corner of her lip.

“Hey are you ok?” he took a step towards her, placing his hands on her arms.

A small smile appeared briefly on her lips before she said; “Yeah, I am.”

“Ginny you are really warm.” he said as his hands moved up and down her arms, “Have you eaten anything today?”

“No but-”

“Lets get you something to eat then, you aren’t lookin’ so good.” he cut her off.

Josh grabbed onto her hand and led her into the kitchen to get some food.

“No Josh, just listen to me.” she said as the smile came back to her face, “I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?” he asked, sounding very concerned.

“Well you know that this past week I haven’t been feeling all that great and I thought I had the flu but then I was like wait a minute, so I took some tests-”

“Ginny I am trying so hard to understand you but you are talking really fast.”

She laughed, then took a deep breath.

“I’m pregnant.” she spat out.

For a moment, as if to register her words, his face went blank. But soon after the biggest smile replaced his previously emotionless expression.

“You- you are?” he asked, taking a step forward and taking her hands in his.

She looked up at him, “Yeah, I am.”

They looked at each other for a moment, smiles inhabiting both faces.

“This is fantastic!” Josh exclaimed as he lifted Ginny into his arms and kissed her cheek.

He put her back on the ground, but just as soon lifted her back into the air. She laughed a bit at the goofy smile that was on his lips, and Josh hugged her once more before insisting she needed to eat and made them both dinner.

As they were eating, Ginny questioned why she thought he would be angry with this. She knew Josh, and Josh would love her no matter what. It didn’t hurt that his smile just kept getting bigger and bigger as the night wore on. She thought his cheeks might pop every time he looked at her.

Josh took Ginny home from the hospital, after being there for what seemed like forever for the both of them.

It was seven o’clock at night, and they had both eaten dinner already. Ginny walked in the door, her cast and crutches clicking on the hardwood floor as she did.

“Feels good to be home.” Ginny smiled.

“Yeah, I bet it does.” Josh agreed.

In his head, he remembered when he went home for the first time since the accident. It was horrible. Filled with loneliness, and heartbreak. Now that Ginny was here with him, he felt less of those painful feelings. But they still lingered. Even in their small amounts.

Ginny immediately went to their bedroom, and plopped down on their bed.

“Oh this is so much more comfortable than the hospital beds. I could fall asleep right now.” she said.

“Yeah?” he said.

Now he thought back to his first time laying on their bed. It was filled with even more pain than just being in the apartment. It made his stomach churn, and he wanted to get up immediately. Just sitting on it, made him miss Ginny even more.

“Can we go to sleep?” she asked, obviously tired.

“Sure.” he replied, getting under the blankets with her.

The two fell asleep, and were woken up in the middle of the night.

“Joshua! Joshua!” Ginny said, trying to pry Josh’s arms off of her.

During his sleep he seemed to have hugged Ginny a little too tight. When he woke up, he realized what he was doing. He was having a dream in which she was in danger, not unlike real life. But in this dream, it seemed that Josh could save her, by holding her close. Apparently in his sleep he had actually done just that, smothering her with his big strong arms.

“Sorry. Sorry...” Josh said upon realizing what was going on.

Ginny looked at his face, it was flushed and colorless, and dripping with sweat. His eyes were practically bugging out of his head.

“Joshua, are you alright?” she asked, putting her hand up to his forehead to see if he had a temperature. “You’re burning up.”

“I’m fine Ginny, I’m fine.” he told her, not looking her in the eyes. “Just a bad dream. That’s all.”

“And that dream involved squishing the life out of me?” she asked him, more for the sake of wanting to know what the dream was about.

“Ginny, I am fine.” he said, a little unconvinced himself.

“No, you’re not. Joshua what is going on? You have been acting weird all day. As if you’re trying to fake that you’re excited I came home...” Ginny said.

“No, no. I am so glad you came home. You have no idea. This is the first night I have gotten more than three hours of sleep. This is the first night I have been able to fall asleep without crying. It’s not that I don’t want you to be home, it’s that I don’t want you to be hurt. And that I now have all these memories that you don’t. Of you bloody, and bruised, and and broken... And about to die. I have all these memories that I don’t know what to do with. Because now I can’t sleep in our bed without needing to physically feel your presence. Ginny, I’m messed up. And I don’t know anyone who can fix me...” Josh said, letting it all out, and regretting it as soon as he did.

“Joshua,” Ginny began, “I can help you. I can try. And I’m not hurt, see I’m ok, all better. You don’t have to feel like this.”

“Ginny, you just don’t get it! I do feel like this! And there is nothing anyone can do! I will always have those memories, no matter what I do. I will always remember you in a coma, that’s not going to leave me. And now I feel like I have to protect you all the more. You are a fragile little thing, and I realize just what that means now. You are the love of my life, and I never want anything to happen to you. But I let something happen to you. I will feel responsible for that, forever...” he trailed off.

“Joshua, look at me.” she said, and when he didn’t look at her, she took his hand in hers.

She brought his hand to the back of her head, “Feel that? No more staples. No more gauze. My hair is back, I’m not bald. And you feel this?” she said moving his hand to her cast. “That’s healing. It will be better soon. And my wrist, that’s better too. No cast, it’s fine. No stitches on my face feel? That’s all better too. Joshua, there is no physical evidence that it happened, not any more. We can work past these memories you have, if you let me in. Joshua you have to talk to me. I can help you.” she said.

He didn’t seem to respond, he just sat there with no emotion on his face.

“You think I don’t have any memories? Joshua I spent every night alone in the hospital. Without you. Just to have you come back, but you weren’t really there. Then you would leave again, and it’s like you never left.” she let a tear roll down her cheek, “You weren’t there for me. I know that you were trying to protect me, watch over me, keep me safe. But with all that watching, you weren’t feeling. Joshua I wanted to forget too. But it is just as hard to do that with you not helping me. I needed my boyfriend. I needed someone to keep me sane. But you couldn’t do that, and you didn’t let anyone else in. And don’t you dare feel sorry for me, the time for that is over. Joshua you need to forget, for the both of us...”

Ginny wiped the tear from her face, and got out of the bed. She walked down the hallway, before her crutch caught on a divot in the floor and she nearly tripped in her cast. Josh caught up to her.

“You can’t leave me now Ginny.” Josh said.

“Yeah, it’s kinda hard to do that with this boot.” Ginny said amidst her tears.

Josh wiped her tears this time, then pulled her close for a hug.

“I’ll try to forget.” he told her.

"I'm sorry for making this about me." Ginny said.

"No, no I'm sorry. You have feelings too and I wasn't respecting them. I was just thinking of myself." Josh said, cupping her cheeks.

“Joshua stop.’” Ginny said, pushing his hands away and sitting back on the bed, “Don’t think that I’m hurt, that’s just going to feed your pain...”

Josh sat next to Ginny on the bed, “When did we become so broken?”

“When an F-350 decided to run a red light.” Ginny stated.

There was a long pause, and neither of them said anything. They were both thinking how true that statement was. If they never got hit, they would be completely normal right now. They were both trying to find a way past this themselves before they did it together, and they didn’t know how to do that. They were both very broken, and they could not pick up the pieces themselves. But they didn’t know how to pick them up together either.

Josh intertwined his fingers with Ginny’s.

“I love you Ginny.” he said quietly.

Ginny smiled a small smile, “I love you too Joshua.”