“Beep…Beep,” spoke the sound of his heart on the monitor. The blinding lights and the sickly smells of the hospital room complimented each other in making me feel helpless. We’ve been sitting here hours. No answers, just question upon question. The doctor walks in finally drawing my attention away from the boy in the bed. The doctor sighs, as they always do before bad news, and says, “The wreck hit him pretty hard and it’s a miracle he’s still with us. There’s no news on his coma situation and in your case no news is considered good news.” The boy’s father stood up, “My boy is in a coma! How is this good news?” The doctor sensed his anger but remained calm, “Many coma victims, upon waking, suffer from brain damage. That is if they even wake. Many of those who do not become conscious suffer from organ failure. Your son’s organs are functioning fine, but his brain won’t let him wake up. There is a risk of his organ’s beginning to give up if his coma lasts a certain amount a time, which varies from patient to patient. The only thing we can do is wait. I suggest talking to him. Sometimes coma victims can hear what you are saying. It calms them and us.” The doctor left the room leaving us to absorb what he had just said. Everyone in the room seemed to be crying so I volunteered to go first. Slowly the boy’s family left the room leaving me alone with his unconscious body.
“Hey…….It’s me,” I said shyly. “Gosh, I already feel like I’m leaving a voicemail.” I say laughing softly. “I don’t know if you can hear me or not, but it’s okay if you want to wake up.” I sat there for a few minutes wrapping my head around everything. “Remember when we were in pre-school, and we used to run as fast as we could down the halls? It felt as though our hearts were going to beat right out of our chests.” I said with a big smile on my face. “We used to build the best castles, remember? We would have to stand on our tippy toes to put the top block on,” I said giggling a little. “I remember how afraid you were of snakes. It always made me laugh when you would hide in the corner and cry. So of course, being the great friend I was, I would transform into a unicorn and save you.” Tears had begun to well up in my eyes, made worse by my laughter. “I never told you,” I began, “but I had a massive crush on you.” I took a deep breath, “I thought I was over it but in the seventh grade when you ‘dated’ Mackenzie Thompson I couldn’t help but feel so angry. I guess that’s kind of when it started again.” I suddenly felt super shy. “At first……at first I thought it was just my best friend instincts, but I don’t think normal best friends think about each other the way I thought about you. I couldn’t get you out of my head. Lately it’s only gotten worse, and when I found about your accident I felt like something had been ripped out of me.” I felt as though my heart would burst open. “I don’t know if you can hear me, or if this was even worth it, but I love you.” Tears began to pour out of my eyes. “I don’t want to pretend anymore. Please wake up.” I dried my tears as best I could and left. It felt wrong to leave, but sometimes you have to leave the ones you love in order to find yourself.
The next few weeks drifted by. The boy in the bed still dreamed. It was when we had all given up hope of his sweet face when he opened his eyes and spoke. I saw it in his eyes, he knew me. Those dark blue eyes that seemed to see straight through my soul were the eyes that loved me back.