A James Durbin and Pia Toscano song-shot
~ ~ ~
It was their anniversary of being engaged for a year. She insisted they’d just meet up at the restaurant James reserved for their special night. Pia arrived earlier than James so she waited for a while.
“Are you ready to order, Miss?” a waiter asked Pia as he pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.
Pia shook her head smiling. “I’m waiting for someone,” she said.
“Okay.” The waiter said before leaving her table.
Seconds turns to minutes; minutes turns to hours. Still, there is no sign of James. Pia fished her phone out of her purse to check for any possible unread messages from James.
There was none, so she decided that it’s time she sends a message to him. She already waited too long!
“Where are you?” - Pia
Her phone beeped telling her she has a new message. It was from James.
“Sorry I’m running late. I’m on my way. Be there in five.” – James
Pia sighed. She has to wait five more minutes before James arrives. She raised her hand to grab the waiter’s attention. The same one from a while ago walked up to her.
“Can I get your order now?” the waiter asked.
“No, I’m still waiting for my fiancée. But can I have a glass of water?” Pia asked.
“That would be no problem.” the waiter responded with a smile. Seconds later, her drink arrived. But James hasn’t. She glanced at her watch and she noticed that five minutes had passed.
Pia decided to call James’s closest friend, Casey Abrams.
“Hello?”
“Casey, do you know where James is?” Pia asked.
“No. I thought he’s with you.” Casey replied.
“He was supposed to be here an hour ago. If he’s taking this long I’m pretty sure he would have called.” Pia said.
“Maybe he got caught up in traffic or something.” Casey said.
“I hope. Casey, I’m a little worried.” Pia said.
“Okay, how about this? I’ll go find James and see what’s taking him too long and then I’ll call you if I got something, okay?” Casey suggested.
Pia nodded, but then she remembered that Casey couldn’t see her. “Okay. Thanks, Casey.” she replied.
“Anytime.” and with that, Casey hung up.
~ ~ ~
Casey remembered that James told her what restaurant he and Pia were going to for their special night, so he drove in that direction.
When he was slowing down for the next stoplight, Casey noticed a lot of police cars, an ambulance, a fire truck and an augmenting crowd of snoopers. He pulled up at the side for a moment to check out what it was. When he came closer, Casey saw a wrecked car and a huge truck behind it. The car was so wrecked that Casey was sure the driver only has a fifty-fifty chance of living.
“Excuse me, sir. What happened here?” Casey asked one police officer.
“An accident happened twenty minutes ago. The car stopped at the stoplight but a speeding truck lost control and bumped into the car from behind.” the officer explained.
“How was the driver?” Casey asked.
“He’s already taken care of in the hospital. We were able to identify him, though.” The officer said.
“Who was he? Maybe I know him.” Casey said suddenly feeling a tad bit nervous.
“His name is James Durbin.”
Casey stiffened after hearing James’s name coming out of the officer’s mouth. Now it all made sense. The reason why Pia was all alone at the restaurant tonight was because her fiancée were in an accident. He pulled his phone out and quickly dialed Pia’s number.
Luckily, she immediately answered.
“Pia, I’ve got some bad news.”
~ ~ ~
“You have to go to the hospital. James was involved in a horrible car accident.”
Pia didn’t even bother responding. She pulled out a couple of dollars to pay for her single glass of water. She started her car and drove to the hospital.
She couldn’t stop the tears from flowing especially when the scene that kept on replaying over and over in her head was when James proposed to her December of 2010.
* * *
“James, where are we?” Pia asked as James guided her by her shoulders since he made her wear blindfolds.
“We’re almost there, just a few steps and…there. We’re here.” James said.
“Can I take off my blindfold now?” Pia asked.
“Wait a second.” James replied.
Pia could hear movements from behind her, as she kept frozen in place, waiting for James to tell her to take her blindfold off.
“Okay, take it off now.” James instructed.
Pia carefully took off the cloth that has been wrapped around her eyes for hours already. Her eyes adjusted to the light and as soon as it did, she immediately searched for James. She turned to her heels and she gasped as soon as she saw James looking at her and bent down on one knee.
“James…” she muttered.
“I want you forever, forever and always. Through the good and the bad and the ugly. We’ll grow old together. Forever and always.” James said.
“James…” Pia muttered once again as her hands covered her mouth and her eyes started to tear up.
“Will you, Pia Ann Rose Toscano, do the honor of marrying me?” he asked as he started tearing up as well.
Pia nodded happily. “Yes. Yes, I will marry you. I want to marry you.”
* * *
She pulls up to the entrance and rushed her way to the front desk.
”Hi, how can I help you?” the nurse asked.
“Um, I’m here for James Durbin.” Pia answered.
“He’s at Room 204,” the nurse said.
“Thanks.” she said before she stormed off to the elevator and into the second floor. She was getting impatient every second she was nearing James’s room. There was nothing else that she wanted than to see her fiancée and see if he is all right and alive.
The elevator opened and she ran her way towards Room 204. When she got there, a nurse and a doctor were standing outside.
“Excuse me, but Mr. Durbin isn’t allowed to see any visitors for now.” the nurse said.
“Leslie, I’ll handle this.” the fine young looking man in a white coat told the auburn haired nurse.
Leslie nodded and then walked away leaving Pia and the doctor alone in the hallway.
”When can I see him?” Pia asked.
“Three hours.” the doctor replied. “How are you related to Mr. Durbin?”
“I’m his fiancée.” Pia replied. “What exactly happened to him?”
“Well, according to some witnesses…”
* * *
James was driving at a very unpleasant speed. It was already quarter after seven and he was running late! Even though he’d done it before, he still doesn’t want to keep Pia waiting.
As James was nearing an intersection, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Keeping his eyes on the road, he reached for his pocket and fished out his phone. His eyes drifted from the road to his phone’s screen and to the road once again. He finally realized that it was a message from his fiancée Pia.
“Where are you?” – Pia
He groaned angrily for he was mad at himself for making her wait especially that night. He glanced at the stoplight thinking it went red so James halted. He finally took his chance to answer Pia’s message.
“Sorry I’m running late. I’m on my way. Be there in five.” - James
As his thumb reached the send button, without a warning, a truck hit the back of James’s car so hard causing for James to lean forward, his phone flew somewhere; his head strongly hitting the steering wheel. As his body leaned back on his seat, James was unconscious, large amount of blood covered his face, a piece of glass stuck out on his lower lip, creating a deep cut.
* * *
“Please, I really need to see him.” Pia begged.
The doctor sighed. “Alright.” he said as he led Pia inside James’s room.
She tries to keep a straight face but as soon as her eyes landed on James and his unpleasant condition, she started crying. James opened his eyes and turns his head to glance at Pia.
Pia sat on his bedside, reaching for his somewhat good hand and held it too tight. “James, how are you?” she asked.
“I’ve been thinking…” James replied weakly.
“What?” she asked.
“If ever we had a son, we’ll name him after Casey, my best friend. And if we have a daughter, we’ll name her after Haley, your best friend.” James said.
Pia chuckled. “James, it’s not a good time to talk about things like this.” she said.
“And then we’ll buy that house you’ve always wanted. You know, the one on the hillside. I could already imagine little James and little Pia with the name of Casey and Haley playing around in the front yard while we sit on the porch laughing and treasuring every moment.” James said smiling.
Pia smiled as well. “But first we have to get married.” she said.
“Don’t worry. As soon as I’m out of here, we’ll have that wedding.” James said.
“Or now. This is the perfect time, James. Let’s get married while you’re on the hospital bed.” Pia said.
Pia called a couple of nurses to help her with her plan. The nurses brought up a chaplain and stayed inside the room, wanting to witness the unusual hospital wedding.
James said a couple verses and Pia manages to borrow rings from the couple next door. She was lucky they were generous to lend them their rings. That couple as well wanted to witness the wedding so they came in with Pia in the room.
They continued the ceremony since it was cut off when Pia went to borrow the rings. Some nurses laughs and the older couple starts to tear up. So does Pia.
Pia looks into his eyes and says: “I want you forever, forever and always. Through the good and the bad and the ugly. We’ll grow old together and always remember, whether happy or sad or whatever. We’ll still love each other forever and always.”
“Forever and always.” James said.
“Forever and always.” Pia repeated.
She finishes the vows but the beeps are getting too slow. His voice is almost too low, as he says: “I love you forever, forever and always. Please just remember even if I’m not there. I’ll always love you, forever and always.”
His heart rate went into a straight line as it beeps continuously. And that’s when Pia realized, James is gone…forever.
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