over a week ago.” Zack nods again and then looks to his mom and Sammy. I smile lightly when his gaze rests on me. Tears instantly flow from my eyes in pure relief that he’s awake. He’s going to be okay.
“Shhh.” I laugh at the absurdity. He’s in the hospital just waking up from a coma and Zack is comforting me. I dry my eyes and squeeze his hand.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
I don’t remove my eyes from Zack’s when the doctor continues. I’ve waited over a week to see them again and unless he tells me, I’m never leaving his side again.
“You broke your leg and a few ribs. You’ve also had some head trauma and we put you in a medically induced coma. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up for several days now.” He smiles lightly and I see him squeeze Zack’s shoulder. “Your family has missed you.”
“Where am I?” He croaks it out sounding like he has shards of glass in his throat. It sounds physically painful and I flinch when I hear him. He needs water desperately. Sammy must sense the same as me, because I hear her quietly leave the room.
“You’re in Los Angeles, at Olympia Medical Center,” Dr. Hassen answers and then looks to us. “We’re going to need to ask Zack some questions and run a few tests. It’ll be best if you give us some time alone with him.
Hell if I’m going anywhere.
I think Zack understands because his hand squeezes mine tightly. So tightly I almost think of asking him to loosen his grip but I don’t. I’ve waited a week for that hand to move. He can squeeze me as hard as he wants right now.
“Nicole stays here.”
Dr. Hassen simply nods as if he knows he won’t win this argument. “She can stay, but we’ll have to take you for another MRI scan as soon as I can get you in.” He looks at me and smiles in a comforting way. “She can’t go there with you.”
Zack nods in understanding. “Can you give us just a few minutes please?”
I want to tell him to stop talking because his voice sounds horribly painful. But just as I do, Sammy comes back in with a large cup.
“Take this. Just a few sips at a time.” She smiles lovingly at him and as soon as she hands him the cup, she leans over and kisses his cheek that is now only yellow from the bruising. Tears instantly fill her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re finally awake. You had us all so scared.”
For the first time since waking up, Zack loosens the grip on my hand and wraps it around his baby sister. I watch as he chokes back his own tears when he hugs her tightly. They say nothing more, but when Sammy pulls back she wipes her eyes and I can already tell that she’s feeling a hundred percent better. We all needed this reassurance from him.
I walk away a few steps, staying in his line of sight the whole time because even if he let go of me, I still can’t tear my eyes off him as I watch him talk to Melody and Sammy. They both gush over him and it’s all I can do to stop myself from kicking them out so I can crawl into bed and let him wrap his arm around me too and hold me close.
I sigh and wipe away a tear.
Dr. Hassen returns a few minutes later and Melody and Sammy kiss my cheeks gently and squeeze me tightly before leaving the room.
“I told you everything will be okay.”
I only nod at Melody’s words before they leave the room and I go back to take my chair next to Zack’s bed.
***
I’ve sat here for several minutes, relief flooding me with each passing moment as Zack answers every one of Dr. Hassen’s questions perfectly. He’s asked him the year, the month, his birthday and full name, and a million other questions about the last few months trying to see if there are any gaps in Zack’s memory. So far, everything seems to be checking out just fine and I feel my shoulders relaxing with every answer.
Zack’s gaze lingers on me just a bit longer each time he looks at me between questions. All the fear and worry I had in me about Rachel and why he ever went to her house leaves me. He wouldn’t be holding my hand so tightly and looking at