After a while, he opened the door and nodded for me to come in. I walked in slowly as I stared at him. He looked at me as well with curiosity.
After a few more seconds, I stuck my hand out for him to shake. He looked at me confused, but took it anyways with an eyebrow raised.
“Thank you.” I finally breathed out. “For taking care of her, for being there for her when I let myself get in the way. I’m glad that you were there to help pick up the pieces. I don’t know what any of us would do without you,” I told him and brought him in for a bro hug.
After a couple of seconds, we parted, and he laughed loudly.
“Hah! Told you, Aubry! I kept saying he’d eventually thank me! You have to wake up so I can rub this in your face for not believing me!” he said to the unconscious girl in the bed. “Aiden, if you ever hurt her like you did ever again, I’m going to smash your face in,” he said seriously.
I nodded. “And I’ll let you.”
He left on that note, and I sat back down in the chair next to her.
“You have so many people who love you. Pease come back to us,” I said with a sigh.
After a minute, Tommy barged through the door and looked at her. He went rigid and stiffly sat in the chair next to me.
“Fuck.” He sighed.
“Want me to leave?” I asked as he just stared at her.
He denied me as he grasped her hand. “You know I’m not good with this emotional stuff, Aub. I mean, I’m not near as bad as you, though!” He laughed at that and stroked her hand softly. He turned it to where her palm faced up and smiled softly. “They’re all healed,” he said as he examined her hand.
There were tiny pink scars where the glass was stuck in her hand from a few weeks before. He was right they were healed.
“Aubry, you will heal. That’s the thing about you. You heal fast and get up even stronger. You’ve got to pull through. If you don’t, who else is gonna keep this bozo in line?” he said as he pointed to me.
He chuckled lightly. “You have to make it because we all love you. You’ll have an amazing life with us as your family. You just have to trust and believe in us, just like we believe in you, so wake the fuck up, sunshine!” Tommy chuckled and kissed her hand.
“By the way, if you die, I’m going to kill you.” He kissed the crown of her head with care and caressed her cheek. “Aiden, she’s gonna wake up. She’s too strong not to.” He then left with a small encouraging smile to me.
After a few more moments, a nurse walked in, holding Cece’s hand. The nurse nodded at me and then closed the door once again. Cece looked at me and then to Aubry. She froze in place. I looked at her sympathetically and held my arms open for her. She immediately ran to me and hugged me tightly as she sobbed.
“Aiden, she can’t die!” she said into my shirt.
“I know that, Ce. You should tell her that,” I said softly and smoothed out her blonde hair.
“Aubry, you can’t die! You have to wake up and come home!” She paused and wiggled out of my lap as she got closer to her bedside. “Aubry, this isn’t like with Pawpaw! You don’t have no one up there.” Her little voice whimpered.
She paused for a second as tears began more rapidly. “Everyone who loves you is down here! You can’t leave us! We love you! I love you and . . . and Aiden loves you! We’ve all missed you! Please just come home!” She was hysterical.
Aubry was her favorite person. She couldn’t leave her. She really couldn’t. I wasn’t sure how she would ever be okay again if that happened, any of us really.
I took her in my arms and took her out to the waiting room, back to my mom. She was still sobbing hysterically. “I think she needs to go home for a bit,” I said softly.
“I think we all do,” Mom said gently and hugged Cece tightly. “We’ve been here all night.”
“I’m not leaving,” I stated firmly.
My mom looked at me and sighed. “You need some sleep, hon,” she retorted.
“There’s a couch in her room. Mom, I’m not leaving her, not again. Never again,” I said quickly.
She knew I wasn’t going to budge, so she just tiredly nodded.
“Okay, I’ll be back in a bit. I’ll bring you some clothes and stuff. Get some sleep honey. You look like hell.”
With that, I turned around and went back to Aubry. I entered her room and walked to her bed. I kissed her non-bruised cheek and then caressed it.
“Aubry you have to come back to me. Don’t you get it? Everyone will fall apart without you. You mean the whole world to all of us. Wake up, so you can be back with your family,” I whispered softly into her ear.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Everyone She Loves
Sixteen days, that was how long it had been since Aubry went into coma. Sixteen long excruciating, unbearable days.
I hated it . . . I hated talking to her like everything was normal. It was like she was there, but she also wasn’t . . . not really at least.
My heart died a little more with each day that passed. I hated being without her. I still believed in her though. She was going to come back to me, she had to. I had to believe it because the alternative was unbearable to even think about.
Each day she didn’t wake up, the chances of her eventually waking up got slimmer and slimmer. Most doctors seemed to believe that she was a lost cause. With all of her head trauma, physical damage, and lung issues, the outlook looked bad. Although, Dr. Reed and Dr. Mitchell believed that she was going to wake up. They both kept telling us not to lose faith.
The first few days were the worst, she had five seizures before they finally got the correct medications to control them. The doctors said that it was normal with any brain injuries, it didn’t necessarily mean that there was any permanent damage or anything. I prayed that they were right.
They took the ventilator off a little more than a week after the surgery. She was breathing on her own, and her lung seemed to be healing better than they had expected. They told us that she would permanently have an issue with that lung because of scarring, but it was nothing life-threatening. It was going to just be a little uncomfortable sometimes.
Since she was breathing on her own, that was a giant step in the right direction—that meant that her brain was still functioning enough for her to live with no life support. It was just a matter of getting her to wake up.
Everything seemed bleak for a little bit after she was breathing on her own. She showed no signs of waking up. Then, five days after they took the ventilator off, she would twitch every now and then.
At first it was just her hands, then it was her legs, then it escalated into pretty much her whole body.
Sure, it were extremely small movements, but it were movements, nonetheless!
Dr. Mitchell had said that it was a giant improvement. He said that he suspected that she’d wake up at anytime after that.
Still, each passing day that she didn’t wake, made me more and more depressed. I needed her to wake up. I needed to see her beautiful green eyes and tell her that I was so sorry for being a screw-up. I needed her to yell at me, punch me, kiss me, do whatever it was that she wanted to do. I just needed her to wake up.
Most of her bruises and cuts were scabbed over or healing nicely. All of her stitches had come out, and casts had been placed. She looked pretty normal except for how skinny she was. She was getting nutrients through a feeding tube, but she just kept deteriorating and losing weight. It had everyone extremely nervous.
I hated seeing her deteriorate. I hated that she seemed to be withering away right before my eyes.
The police came by daily to see if she was awake and ready for questions. They already took our statements about the situation, but they wanted hers as well. They wanted to know what happened before we all arrived, as did I. They didn’t give us any trouble or question our story at all. They even called Bri a hero for stabbing Ronnie.
Unfortunately, Ronnie hadn’t died. They saved him right at the brink of death. I was annoyed th
at he pulled through, but I was also kind of glad. I didn’t know if Bri could handle being the cause of someone’s death, even if it was Ronnie. Besides, prison would be a good place for him. I had heard horrible things happened in prison, especially to rapists. I could only pray that he would get exactly what he deserved, along with the other guy, Daniel.
I hated them. They deserved to be in Aubry’s place.
The police were waiting to charge them until after she woke up. I suspected that they were waiting so they could charge them with murder if she never woke up.
I, however, never let myself think that way. I simply hoped that the psychos would get life in prison after all the BS that they pulled. They didn’t even deserve to live. I hoped they suffer.
“Dude, you look like shit!” Brandon said as he entered the room with Bri in tow.
“Thanks,” I said dryly as I looked back to Aubry. She looked peaceful, it would have been a beautiful sight if she weren’t in a coma.
“Seriously, you look worse than her. You’ve left the hospital what? Once? Why don’t you go home and get some sleep? Aubry wouldn’t want you here worrying yourself sick,” Brandon said with a long sigh.
I ignored him completely. I really had only left the hospital once. I was sleeping, eating, and showering at the hospital. My mom was bringing me clothes and everything else that I needed. I couldn’t leave her.
My mom talked to the school and explained what was going on. They were even going to let Aubry graduate based on her grades without the last two weeks of school, or her final exams to factor in. She graduated with an almost all A-B honor roll. How she managed that, I would never understand. The girl had been through so much BS, slept in her classes, and never did her homework, yet she still got better grades than a lot of people, including me.
She was too smart. I wondered how well she could have done if she had gotten a fair chance in life.
The school excused my absences, but they didn’t let me off the hook that easily. Since I was awake, they didn’t give me as much sympathy. They sent the school councilor to the hospital, and I did my finals under her supervision so I couldn’t cheat. I had done that during the first week of her hospitalization. Aubry and I both graduated over two weeks early. We were both officially high school graduates.
“Brandon, I really don’t want to have this argument again. I can’t leave. I just can’t,” I said finally.
Brandon sighed but nodded. “Okay, I’m just worried about you. We all are.” He sighed but then shrugged. “Be happy you don’t have to go to these last few days of school. They freaking suck!”
I smiled at my best friend. He was always so good at being his nice and funny self. He was an easy guy to get along with. Him and Tommy always knew exactly how to lighten the mood.
A couple of seconds later, Dr. Mitchell walked in.
“Dang, I was really hoping today was the day,” he said with a sad smile on his lips.
“Me too,” I stated bleakly.
“Maybe she needs more motivation to wake up. Why don’t you get everyone she loves to gather around her all at once? It can’t hurt, we can just see what happens,” he said with a shrug and took her pulse.
“What do you think we’re doing when we’re all in here with her?” Bri asked slowly.
“Yeah, but I mean everyone she loves! Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, bothers, sisters,” the doctor said.
He checked the incision where they drilled a small hole into her skull to alleviate the pressure and fixed the blood vessels from the brain injury. It was an inch or so into her hairline at the nape of her neck. Now, she had one of those haircuts where the hair is shaved underneath, but all of the hair above is intact so you couldn’t tell unless her hair was up. It kind of made her look like a badass. She was a badass.
“She hasn’t had that great of a life,” B said awkwardly. “Everyone you’ve seen kind of is everyone.”
“Oh . . .” Doctor Mitchell said as he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well, just keep gathering around her and giving her your love. She’ll wake up. I’ll be back later to check on her again. Just keep believing in her!” he said slowly and walked out the door.
She had been surrounded by everyone that she loved for days, and there had been no sign of her waking up. My family had been supporting her, Brandon’s family had been there supporting her, even people from the gym had sent her flowers and a card.
How much more coaxing did she need? Who else could make her wake up?
At that very second an idea popped into my head and made me lose my breath. I jumped out of the chair quickly and startled Bri and B.
“I’ll, um, be right back!” I said awkwardly as practically ran out of the room.
As soon as I hit the hall, I pulled out my phone and looked through the contacts speedily. I found the contact that I saved for the sole purpose of blocking it. I unblocked it and pressed the call button.
It rang one time, two times, three times then suddenly I heard a female voice answer the phone, “Hello? Aubry, please tell me it’s you.”
“Hello, Kelsey?” I asked softly.
I could hear her breathing hitch and she squeaked slightly. “U-Um w-who is this?” she stammered nervously.
“Hello Kelsey, you don’t know me. My name is Aiden, I’m a . . . friend . . . of Aubry’s.”
I took a pause and could hear her breathing still, so I took that as a sign to continue. “I . . . I . . . okay look, I don’t know how to say this so I’m just gonna be blunt. Aubry was attacked and she is in a coma.” I breathed out slowly.
I heard her gasp. “W-What?! Who did that to her!?” she yelled slightly.
“There were two of them—a guy named Ronnie and a guy named Daniel,” I said angrily. My fists balled involuntarily.
I immediately heard her cry. “Oh my God!”
“Look, I don’t know why you left her. Frankly, I don’t really even care. She is in a coma, and one of the doctors said that she needs to be with everyone that she loves, and that includes you. Please . . . Please for the sake of your sister, for her life, for everything that she’s done for you, and everything that she’s protected you from. Please come and be with her. Please come and help wake her up. I need her to wake up!” I pleaded with her. I felt like crying in desperation.
“Okay, I’ll be there.”
“Really?” I asked, a little shocked at how easy that was.
“I know that you probably don’t think much of me after I just left Aubry there, but I do actually love her. I want her to wake up too. I’ll be there by Wednesday, hopefully sooner.”
“Thank you,” I whispered softly. “I’ll text you the hospital and room number. Thank you, Kelsey.”
“Thank you, Aiden,” she replied, and I hung up the phone with a newfound hope.
This better work; I needed her.
I went back to the room, and B looked at me suspiciously. However, he didn’t ask. We all sat there with Aubry for a bit until they left for the day.
Then it was just me and Aubry, me and my girl, if she’d still have me. Even if she wouldn’t, I’d always be hers. Even if she wasn’t mine, I’d still be hers.
I looked over her and smiled slightly. Even when she was skinny, pale, and bruised, she still managed to look breathtakingly beautiful. I grasped her hand as I stood up, studying her. She was the strongest person that I knew. She was absolutely amazing.
“Aubry, I love you. Please come back to me,” I whispered into her ear quietly. Then I leaned over her and placed a soft kiss right next to her gorgeous lips. I missed her so much.
I heard her breathing hitch and the heart monitor that had been muted except for the irregularities that beeped a few times.
I looked at it and it showed a few beats higher than the others.
Could she feel that? Could she actually feel that?
The hand that I was holding twitched slightly. I tried kissing her again, but nothing happened. I didn’t let that put a damper on my mood though. She was go
ing to wake up! There wasn’t a doubt in my mind about it. She had to!
Our story wasn’t over; it couldn’t be.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Here
Wednesday morning came by extremely slowly. It was only a day or so after I called Kelsey, but everything seemed to drag out without Aubry.
I missed her, I just wanted to hear her voice again. I just wanted her to be well again. I would have given anything to trade places with her. I didn’t want her hurt.
I told Dr. Mitchell about the kiss and her heartbeat, he said that it was a very good sign. I tried it again and again, but nothing happened except for that one time. I tried not to let that disappoint me, though. She felt something.
I had gotten a text from her sister, saying that she was on her way from the airport, and that she would be at the hospital at any moment.
I squeezed Aubry’s hand gently as I tried not to get nervous. If Kelsey coming here for Aub didn’t work, then I had no idea what else we could do. It had to work, there were no other ideas.
Within the next few minutes, a knock came from the door. I stayed quiet and waited for someone to enter. Finally, the door opened slowly.
The girl who walked in was Kelsey. I recognized her from her social media profile pictures. She was clutching onto the hand of a guy beside her, who I assumed was her husband, though I couldn’t remember his name.
She looked around the room for a moment and met my eyes. I instantly broke the eye contact and looked down to Aubry due to the awkwardness that I felt.
Kelsey’s eyes looked at Aubry and immediately filled with tears.
“Oh Aubry . . .” she called out through the tears. She rushed to the opposite side of her than I was sitting on. She grabbed her hand and smoothed her hair out. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered with more tears falling down her face.
Fighting For Life Page 68