Chapter Seven

        

“Wow.. how could this have happened? Poor Alex... poor Serena.” Nora proclaimed while sitting with James on one of the beds in room 16 A. “Alex is a good kid, he likes to party now and then. There shouldn't be any harm in that.”

“What exactly happened? I know he was in an accident, but how bad was it? Who else was involved?”

“Jared, Tim, Mike, Justin, Karl and Alex had been out partying, and they felt like going for a drive. They had three cars out on the old river road. Jared and Tim were in the first car, Mike and Alex behind them, and Justin and Karl were in the last car. Tim was driving, and he saw a deer in the road, so he slammed on the brakes. Mike and Alex were following too close, so Alex tried to swerve to miss the stopping car. It didn't work too well, because the car got spun around so it was sideways in the road. Justin and Karl didn't have time to stop either, so they smashed in the passenger door. They killed Mike.” Nora said, tears leaking from her eyes. “Justin's got a concussion and a massive bruise on his forehead from hitting the steering wheel. Karl is pretty cut-up, because he went through the windshield because he was not wearing his seatbelt. He needed more than thirty stitches. Jared and Tim are pretty much okay, they didn't even hit the deer. Jared called 911 on his cell phone, and rescuers arrived to try and help the others. Alex is in pretty bad shape. He's broken his arm, collarbone, and two of his ribs. He's also got a head injury. He was unconscious when the ambulance got there, and hasn't awoken since. If he can come out of this coma, he'll be fine”

“If he comes out of it?”

“Doctors say he's got about a fifty-fifty chance to come out of it this week. From there on, the odds get better. But after so many days, theres a greater chance of bad thing happening to him. He... might not be all there, or he might not remember everything.”

“Oh, well we just have to hope he comes out of this soon.”

Nora and James sat there in silence, her head resting on his shoulder, his head atop hers, their arms around each other. Eventually, she took her arm that was around his waist and placed it on the small of his back. She felt him inhale sharply, in surprise.

“Sorry.” She said.

“It's okay.” He replied. “You can know, I guess.” After about a minute, he relaxed. She let her hand wander up his back, searching for the scars she knew must be there. She found what she was looking for, multitudes of scars, one over another, creating this mass of raised tissue. Her fingers traced every distinct line, until she could find no more. She then settled into a more comfortable position. After about an hour, Nora fell asleep, head still on his chest. Shortly after, Tina entered the room.

“It looks like we have a visitor tonight.” She whispered.

“We sure do. I don't have the heart to wake her to send her home.” James replied in an equally muted tone.

“Well, sleep good.” Tina finished. As Tina turned out the lights, James nodded off, still leaning against the headboard.

 

~

 

“Wake up, sleepyhead, time to go to school.”

“Not now, Mom, I'm having the most wonderful dream.” I heard myself mumble.

“Oh, so close. Sorry Nora, I'm not your mother.”

“Than who are you? Where am I?” I replied, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“I'm Tina Shepherd. You're in room 16 A of Saint Mary's Sanctuary. You were sleeping on my son.” Tina replied. I opened my eyes to see a petite forty-ish woman with shoulder-length brown hair and soft blue eyes smiling at me.

“Oh, hi, Tina. I'm Nora Bubell... but I suppose you already know that.” I said, extending my hand.

“I know dear, James has told me all about you.”

“Oh, has he now?” I said, gently shaking my still groggy boyfriend into consciousness.

“Yep, I sure have.” James said.

“You two have to be getting to school. You can't be missing too much class.”

“Ugh. You sound like my mother.” I said as I dragged myself off the rumpled quilt and into a whole new day full of surprises.

Author's Note

you were sleeping on my son :o lol :)