Aurora 

I never understood why people would allow their loved ones to suffer in silence. It seemed cruel to have them hanging on by a thread with no hope of a full recovery. It was selfish and they were only thinking about themselves.

I could say that, but living in limbo wasn’t easy when I knew they wanted to pull the plug. My husband stayed vigil by my side for weeks before he stopped coming around.

The last thing I remembered was the feeling of my feet coming out from underneath me at the top of the stairs. The next thing I knew I was trapped in my body screaming for anybody to listen to me. It took a long time for me to come to terms with being a voice inside my head, laying here in a coma.

“Hey Travis, here to hang out with Sleeping Beauty again?” My husband wasn’t Travis.

“Hi Dave, I meant Dr. Benton,” he laughed, “I would never get used to calling you Dr. Benton. I still can’t believe you are a doctor now.  Ya, I’m here to chat with Aurora, it helps to talk to someone.”  So Travis was a friend of my doctor.

Travis had appeared a few months ago using me as some kind of back alley therapist. I had no idea what he looked like, but his voice was a lifeline.

“I have too many things going on in my head and I can’t afford a therapist. This is the next best thing.” Dr. Benton and his staff were looking after me feeding me through intravenous tubes and making sure I didn’t come down with bed sores or infections.

“Listen, if you ever want to talk and get a response, my door is always open. You’re going through the exact same thing I did with my father. It can’t be easy to see your mother deteriorate before your eyes down the hall. It won’t be long now. She’s barely hanging on.” Dr. Benton’s bedside manner was a lesson other doctors could take their cue from.

“My mother is my best friend. She’s all the family I have in this world.”

“Hang in there buddy. I don’t want to interrupt your time with Aurora. I thought there might be something to report, but it was merely an anomaly.” In the last few days, I had felt like something profound was going to happen.

“I’ve grown quite fond of Aurora. I try to imagine what her hopes and dreams are. It can’t be easy to lie there and have no control over what is happening out in the real world. It’s not fair of them to stick her in here and forget about her. I know it can’t be easy on her family to see her like this.” I heard the doctor’s footsteps receding leaving me with the soft jazz playing in the background. Travis sat down next to me and let out a sigh. I could feel his warmth emanating from his body. Travis was troubled by demons he was trying to excise from his life.

It was unnerving to know that my husband walked away. I couldn’t blame him and the pain of seeing me in a coma must've been heart-wrenching. I wanted him to be happy, but I couldn’t say the same thing for my little sister.

Jemma had never been my biggest fan. I didn’t recall her visiting not even once. Adversity should have been an olive branch for us to come together when things were tough. She didn’t even do me the courtesy of sending me flowers or a card.

“I know you can’t hear me and maybe that’s the reason why it’s easier to talk to you than anybody else.” Travis brushed my hair off my forehead.

“Every time I look at you I go blind by your beauty. I mean you look pretty much the same when you were sixteen.” What? He knew me back then? I was searching through my memory for a Travis but nothing came to mind. I was thinking back to my high school year book, still drawing a blank. I couldn’t wait to see who this Travis was.

“I have this instant fascination about what it would be like to kiss you. I know it may sound a little creepy, but I had a crush on you back in grade 11. I only knew you from afar. Anyways that was so long ago. As far as you know, we are strangers.” Considering all things he told me, I knew more about him than most of his friends and family combined.

Travis had a tendency to bend over backward for friends. He was a people pleaser and didn’t have no in his vocabulary. He made mention of coming back to town after a three-year absence. The crack in his voice told me his exile was not voluntary. He wasn’t very forthcoming about the actual details. He was the first person I had ever known that had spent time in jail. Not that I knew him exactly. I was intrigued yet hesitant about him.

“Nevermind my crush on you, and I’m trying to be there for you as a friend. Nobody has been around since I started to come to see you six months ago. I don’t know why your friends and family have forsaken you.” I had fallen into a pit of depression, it was hard to come to terms with my fate.

Travis made it possible for me to reach down deep for the strength I didn’t even know I had. I was no longer going to allow my body to dictate the terms of my surrender.

I could hear his voice and the sounds of the machines connected to me beeping incessantly. The noise was slowly becoming white noise to me. Travis would play a variety of music for me when he visited. It was almost like our own music appreciate date. Today’s pick was jazz.

The jazz was very comforting. It raised my spirits and made me feel like the future wasn’t as bleak and gray as I used to think it was. I was thankful for him, this beautiful stranger to enter my life.

The anomaly the doctor had talked about was when I managed to lift my pinky. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. It left me drained physically and emotionally, but I was determined not to give up.

“I haven’t told you the latest. A few friends got in touch with me. They have an opportunity to make some easy money. I can’t say I’m not tempted to do what I’m good at. I’ve never been one to have a normal job like everybody else. I do have this pipe dream of opening up a restaurant.” He had spoken often of his mother’s cooking and how he wanted to keep those recipes alive after she was gone.

“I don’t know what this opportunity is, but I don’t think you should do it. I know it’s a waste of time talking to you. I have to try to get you to see how you are doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again.” I felt like he could hear me, but I knew there was no possible way he could.

“They make it sound so easy. I always get into trouble when I get involved with them. I hate to say this, but I do need the money. This place isn’t cheap. I have been signing checks my ass can’t cash. It’s just a matter time before they turn this bill over to a collection agency.” He was in a pickle and was thinking about doing something rash to solve his financial problems.

My husband Andy was a salesman who could sell anything including a fridge to an Eskimo. The revenue he made was well earned. I was sure my care was making it difficult for him.

“It would be better for you to get a clean shirt and put on a tie to pound the pavement looking for a job. You know how the saying goes Easy comes easy goes.” If only he could hear me. My family was loaded and my inheritance was at my fingertips.

I had no idea what I looked like after months of lying in bed. Travis did comb my hair and keep me up on current events by reading the newspaper. He wasn’t telling me everything. Most of the stories were feel-good moments.

“I have this headache thinking about this. The only thing that makes me feel better is talking to you. You look like an angel at peace. I haven’t told anybody else this, but I sometimes wish we could change places. You have your whole life ahead of you and mine is a never-ending torment.” He was struggling and he had become important to me. I wanted to see his life get back on track.

“I wouldn’t want to wish what I’m going through on my worst enemy. You count yourself lucky you’re in a position to do something to make your life better. I’m stuck here, but I feel it’s only going to take one thing to make me flutter my eyelids open.” There were times I felt sorry for myself, but his visits would bring with it that inkling of hope to hold onto.

“I won’t be able to stall forever. They are going to want an answer. I think they already know what I’m going to say. They said this could be quite lucrative. I wish that I could say more, but I don’t want to jinx it.” It didn’t sound legal. He was risking seeing the world through the bars of his jail cell.

“I don’t know why I even bother. How can I expect you to listen to me when you can’t even hear me? I know everybody has to make their own decisions. It’s frustrating when I know you are a good man.” Any love I had for my husband diminished significantly when he put me here.

“There’s no point in putting it off.” His voice had gotten closer and I could feel his hot breath on my cheek.

His fingertips running through my hair ignited a latent pent-up desire for something more physical. I had a regular sex life with my husband. We were still in the honeymoon phase of a one year anniversary when the world as I knew it changed forever.

“I want to do something to make you feel better. This is a small token of my affection. I hope it means as much to you as it does to me.” His soft lips sent a jolt of electricity to my heart.

“This is the first time in a long time I have felt alive. Travis, I will find a way out of this prison.” It didn’t feel like he was acting like a pervert. It was gentle and with compassion something I had been vastly lacking.

His lips parted and he left me wanting more. My breath was short and the kiss fulfilled a lifelong dream of finding a moment frozen in time.

“I’ve waited a long time to do that. I have to say it was worth it. I hope it didn’t come off as a sleazy thing to do. It’s not like you could give me permission. My father was known to say sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” There was definitely something to say for a spontaneous act of kindness.

“I should be appalled, but you awakened something dead inside of me. I’ll see you soon enough or at least I’ll die trying.” I wasn’t good for him and being here hovering over me was preventing him from finding someone to settle down with.

“I have to go, Aurora. I’m going to stop in on my mother on the way out. Remember, this world is better with you in it. My world is better with you in it. Sleep well Aurora.” Travis had fueled my resolve with a kiss that would’ve melted the heart of any woman

“It’s nice of you to say that and actually mean every word from the bottom of your heart. See you soon Travis.” The lingering feel of his lips was sending signals to my brain.

The kiss made my heart begin to beat on its own again. I made myself a solemn vow to open up my eyes.

I knew during his retelling of the Daily News that it was November 5th. Christmas was approaching soon enough. I wasn’t going to let another Christmas go by sleeping here in this bed.