I was in a serious car accident a few years ago with my girlfriend (not my fault, I was t-boned while driving on the highway).

On my way to surgery, I asked the nurse if she could wheel me to wherever my girlfriend was. They brought me outside her room, and brought her out. My girlfriend was still on the stretcher with a neck brace despite it being hours after the initial accident, which led me to believe she they were keeping her stable because of some sort of serious back injury. She couldn't look at me, but I held her hand and told her I loved her.

At this point, neither of us knew what was damaged. All I knew was that I was internally bleeding, my face was slashed up, and she was on a stretcher with a neck brace. Before that moment I was trying to keep the situation light hearted, but seeing her there made me realise how serious the situation really was. I realised the possibility of death, and that if we did get out of it alive, that our lives would never be the same.

In the end, the surgery was successful and she walked out to have a broken collar bone.