Chapter Seven
Max
I woke up and smiled at the beautiful woman sitting on my bed. It took me a while to realize that it was Madison because everything looked hazy, as it normally did when I first woke up. I blinked a few times and chuckled at the sight of her. Then I grimaced as I tried to sit up and felt a bolt of pain throughout my body. I immediately lay back down, closes my eyes, and opened slowly again. When I opened them a second time, I saw that Madison had moved closer to me and was now touching my arm. Tears were rolling down her face. I couldn’t figure out what was happening, so assumed I must be dreaming.
“Goodnight,” I mumbled and closed my eyes again.
I heard her chuckle and felt her fingers rubbing my hand. Why was Madison rubbing my hand? It was . . . intimate. I opened my eyes again. It wasn’t a dream. She really was sitting next to me, crying and stroking me.
“Am I dreaming?” I asked.
“No, you’re not dreaming. You’re alive.”
“Alive? I know I’m alive. I’m talking to you. Why are you in my bed? Did you sleep over?” I asked. The question felt strange. Why would Madison sleep over? I tried to remember why she would’ve been at my house the night before, but I couldn’t figure it out. I definitely could not remember her coming over.
I looked around the room and frowned. I wasn’t in my bedroom. Where was I? I tried to sit up but again it was too fast, and the room started to spin. I closed my eyes.
“Steady now. Don’t move too fast.”
“What’s going on? Is this a hospital? Am I in a hospital? Am I dreaming?” I asked again. I was still convinced that none of this was really happening.
“You’re not dreaming,” she said again. “But you are in a hospital. Max, you’ve been in a coma for five days.”
“What? A coma? I don’t understand.”
“You were shot.”
I laughed. “Okay, I’m dreaming. I’m going to bed.” I closed my eyes again.
Madison shook me slightly. “You’re not dreaming. Max, you’re in a hospital.”
I opened my eyes again and looked around. The room had not suddenly morphed into my bedroom. I was still lying in the same hospital room I had seen a few moments ago. But what was Madison talking about? A coma? Surely, I would know if something like that had happened to me. She was messing with me or else she was very confused.
I shook my head slowly. “No. I’m not in a coma.”
“I know you’re not. You’re awake now. But you were. It’s Wednesday now. The last time we spoke was on Friday. Do you remember what happened?”
“I . . . I don’t know.”
“What is the last thing you remember?” she asked gently.
I tried desperately to conjure up some sort of image, but nothing came to me. “I don’t know. What’s going on, Madison? I’m so confused.”
“You were shot, but you’re fine now. Max, do you remember what the boss looked like? I think I saw him, but only briefly. I was so confused at the time anyway that it’s hard for me to really visualize that night. Can you describe what he looked like to me?”
“What are you talking about?”
Her eyes were widened in concern. “You don’t remember? You don’t remember the boss? Do you remember Shell?”
“Shell? What shell?”
She shook her head and squeezed my hand. “Never mind. It’s nothing to concern yourself with right now. I’m going to go and talk to the doctor. But you’re fine, Max. You probably just need some time to recover. I’m so happy to see you.”
“Your hair is gorgeous,” I said out of the blue. I’m not even sure why I said it, but I suddenly just wanted her to know. She’d looked like an angel sitting on my bed. Suddenly I wanted her to know that too. “You’re like an angel.”
She looked at me strangely and laughed. “You’re crazy.”
She stood up, reached down and kissed me gently on the cheek. “It’s good to have you back. You had me very worried.”
She walked out, and I tried to figure out what was going on. I remembered seeing a nurse and talking to her, but I couldn’t recall what I had been saying. Everything felt like a dream to me. That’s why when my brother walked into the room I was sure I was definitely still in a dream.
“Xavier?” I asked.
It should be the other way around. I should have been the one visiting him in hospital. Xavier was known to be the wild child of the family. He’d been a bad boy as a teenager and was still an adrenalin junkie to this day who wanted nothing more than to spend his days riding his fast motorcycles. I’d always been the smart one, making sure that I didn’t put a foot wrong.
“Max, I can’t believe you’re here. I’m so glad to hear that you’re going to be fine. Well, you’ve got quite the war story to tell everyone at least. Now I can’t say you’re boring anymore.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I heard about the accident and flew in to see you the moment I could. They told me that you were in a coma, but they all had high hopes that you were going to be fine. Apparently, you’re quite the fighter. But I knew that already. You never give up on anything.”
“I have no idea what’s going on. Are you sure I’m not dreaming? Although you wouldn’t tell me if I was. It sure feels like a dream. The room is even hazy.”
He laughed. “If you were in a dream, you wouldn’t think you were in a dream. You never question them when you’re actually dreaming. You’re awake, Max. The nurses tell me that you’ve been floating in and out of consciousness for a while now. They say it takes a while for people to feel normal again. You’ve been sleeping for five days, so no wonder everything is hazy for you. Don’t worry; it’s all going to come right. They said your vital signs are all good.”
“Well, it’s good to see you. You look well.”
“I’d love to say the same, but you’ve definitely seen better days.”
I laughed. It felt good to laugh even though it hurt at the same time.
“Where are Mom and Dad? Are they waiting outside? I bet you dad’s gone to get coffee. Coffee . . . hmm . . . I could definitely use some. But not that shit from the office. That stuff is awful. I don’t know why they don’t put better coffee in.” The words were tumbling out of me now. But when I looked at Xavier, I saw that he was frowning at me.
“What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong? Oh, I’m rambling. Sorry, I can’t seem to help myself. The words are just falling out of me. Maybe it’s because I’ve been sleeping for so long.”
“No. It’s not that. It’s just . . . did you really just ask about Mom and Dad?”
“Yeah, I did. Where are they? I’m assuming you came together. I’m just surprised they’re not here right now.”
“Max, uh . . . I’m not sure how to tell you this.” I noticed that Xavier couldn’t look me in the eye. This made me feel uncomfortable.
“Tell me what? Why do you look so nervous? What’s going on? Am I dying?”
“Are you dying? No, Max. You’re not dying. Goodness, not at all. You’re fine. But, Mom and Dad have been dead for five years already.”
“What? They’re not outside?”
“No. They’ve been gone for a while now. Don’t you remember?”
I blinked. I blinked again. I tried to figure out if what he was telling me was true, but I knew he wouldn’t lie about something as big as that. We might joke around but that was taking it too far, even for him. I shook my head and felt a heavy sadness come over me.
“I’m not sure,” I whispered. It was the honest truth. A part of me recognized that what he was telling me was the truth. But a part of me couldn’t quite figure it out either. It was like I remembered and didn’t remember at the same time.
“I’m sorry,” Xavier said.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. My memories seem kind of jumbled up. I think I knew. I mean, it sort of sounds right to me now that you’ve said it. But . . .” I shook my head. “Wow, for a while I honestly thought they were still alive. I miss them.”
“I miss them too. I’m sorry. But don’t you worry about anything, okay? You’ve gone through a lot of trauma, and you’re still trying to recover from it. You’re going to be fine, Max.”
We changed the subject, and I asked Xavier to tell me some stories about his life. I didn’t want to talk for a while. I just wanted to sit back and listen to him. It was nice, and it made me feel a bit more like myself. It was strange that I could remember who Xavier and Madison were but that I had believed my parents were still alive. It didn’t make any sense at all.
“Did you see Madison? She was here when I woke up,” I said.
“Madison? Yeah, I saw her on the way out. I think she was going to talk to the doctor or something. To be honest, I don’t think she’s really left your side this whole time. She barely got any sleep these past few days. She’s been out of her mind worrying about you.”
I smiled at the thought her pretty face sitting next to me while I slept. There was something comforting about that idea.
“Do you know if she’s single?” I asked.
Again, the strange look from Xavier as if I’d just said something crazy.
“Do you know who she is?”
“What? Of course, I do. I work with her.”
“Yeah, she’s your partner. She’s been your partner for a while now.”
“I know. That’s not what I asked you. I asked you if she’s single.”
“Well, that I don’t know,” Xavier said. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully now. “But, I tell you what, I’ll try and find out for you.”
I smiled, finally satisfied by his answer. “I like that idea,” I said.
“Now, I think you better get some more rest. You look sleepy.”
“I am,” I said. Just the word ‘sleepy’ had made me want to close my eyes.
“Come on then. Get some rest. I’ll go and chat with the doctors in the meantime.”
“But you’ll still be here when I wake up.”
“Of course, I’ll still be here.”
I closed my eyes and then quickly opened them again. “Wait! What if I go to sleep and I don’t wake up again?” I felt nervous at the thought of falling into a coma again. I hadn’t known about it before so why couldn’t it happen again?
“You won’t. I promise you. The doctors said that you were going to be fine. I promise. I’ll call the doctor and he can come and talk to you if you like.”
I nodded. “Yes, please.”
I felt like a little kid again, and the thought that my parents weren’t there anymore made me sad. I thought about calling for Madison, but Xavier had already walked out the door. So, I lay back and closed my eyes and just hoped that I would wake up again.