JACK
The week that Kay was in a coma was probably the hardest week of my life. I barely slept.
I hardly ate. I don't even think I showered. The only time I even left her side was when Dr. Dreccert made me leave so she could run tests. Even then, I just wandered around the hospital. The only person I would talk to was Alex. He texted me daily from back home, asking for updates. I felt like shit, but I didn't want to leave Kay. I wanted to be there the moment her eyes opened. Dr. Dreccert told me that it would be best if she woke up to a familiar face, too. So, I couldn't leave. Finally, the day they were going to begin weaning her off of the coma inducing medicines came.
I was sitting in my usual spot at her bedside. It was early Friday morning. I don't think I even slept the night before. I heard a knock on the door and Dr. Dreccert and two other nurses walked in.
"Good morning." I said.
"Good morning, Jack. Today is the day." The doctor smiled.
"It sure is. Are you sure she is ready to wake up?"
"Positive. Her condition has improved exponentially."
"Okay. Is there anything I can do?" I asked.
"Other than showering, no."
"What?" I laughed.
"I'm sorry, Jack. Frankly, you stink and look like hell. We want her to recognize you when she wakes up, not be traumatized. Now go." She ordered.
"Fine." I groaned, picking up my suitcase and walking to the bathroom door. "I promise I won't start anything until you're back." She said.
"Thank you." I smiled. I walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. Looking into the mirror, I realized that Dr. Dreccert was right. I did look like hell. My eyes had bags and I really needed to shave. My usually spiked hair was practically flat. My clothes hung limp on my frame. I considered sniffing myself, but I changed my mind. I unzipped the suitcase and pulled out my shower stuff and fresh clothes. I turned the water on and shifted the handle to hot. I stepped in and realized how disgusting I felt. About half an hour later, I walked out of the bathroom clean, face shaved, and hair styled.
"Okay, you can wake her up whenever you're ready, doc." I smiled.
"Alrighty. We're just about ready to take her off the medicines keeping her under. Once we do that, she should come out of it anywhere from tonight to tomorrow morning."I knodded and sat back down in my normal seat. Dr. Dreccert and the other two nurses walked around Kay's bed, checking her pulse and other things ad recording notes onto clipboards.
"Okay, doctor. I think we're ready to remove the IV's." one of the nurses said.
"Let's do it then." Madeleine said. They began to pull various needles out of Kay's arms, leaving only one connected. "Okay, now it's all her to wake up. It may help to talk to her, too." I nodded.
My phone buzzed and Alex's name flashed across. I opened the text, which read, "Hey bro. The guys and I are walking into the hospital now. Will be there soon."
I tapped, "Okay. They just took her off the meds." into the message box and hit send. A few minutes later, Alex, Rian, Zack, and Vinny walked in.
"I'll leave you guys alone. Call me if she wakes up." Dr. Dreccert said, walking out.
"Will do, doc." I said. Once the door closed, I turned to the guys. "So she should be awake sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. And talking to her might help speed it up. So talk to her, because I need her to wake up now." I laughed.
Alex grinned. "Kay, wake the fuck up, because Jack is horny as hell and needs you."
"Don't listen to him. I just miss you." I squeezed her hand.
"Let me try this." Vinny said, walking to the other side of her bed. "Kay. Wake up. five...four...three...two...one." He pointed to her, but nothing happened.
"Nice try, bro." Zack said. "What's her favorite song?" He asked, pulling out his phone. "Try playing 'If It Means A Lot To You'. She loves that one."
He tapped the phone a few times and the song began. I took the phone and placed it near her, so that she could hear. As it played, I squeezed her hand tightly, as if I was trying to will her eyes to open. The guys stood around her bed and looked hopeful. The song played through, but nothing really happened. She wasn't awake. Each of us sighed in exasperation. We all missed her. We all needed her to wake up, each in our own way. She had grown to become a part of out lives, and now she wasn't always there. It was like a part of me was missing.
Over the course of the afternoon, we kept talking to her. We played a few more of her favorite songs. Alex even tried singing to her. Nothing worked. It was 8 o'clock, and she was still asleep.
"Well," I said, weakly, "the nurse did say that it could take until tomorrow for her to wake up. You guys can leave, if you want to."
"We can stay with you, if you want." Rian said. The others nodded in agreement.
"No, no. It's fine. I'll text you when she wakes up. Go, you guys don't need to stay with me." I said."Are you sure?" Alex asked. I nodded. "Okay, bro. Just text us the second she wakes up."
"Of course." I said as they left. As soon as the door closed, I turned back to Kay and gripped her hand. "Babe, please wake up. It's just us now. I need you to wake up." Her eyelids fluttered slightly, but they didn't reveal the beautiful eyes I loved. I groaned in frustration. "Please, Kay."
I squeezed her hand. I sat like that until three in the morning. At three o'clock in the morning, she murmured. It could have been my name. Or she could have been asking about food. I didn't catch it, exactly. But I know she murmured. I leapt forward and grabbed her hand. "Kay? Can you hear me?"
Another murmur. "Baby, wake up."
Her eyelids fluttered. "Please Kay, wake up." A few more murmurs. "Come on."
Her eyes opened, and she weakly whispered, "Jack?"
"Oh my god, you're awake." I breathed
"What do you mean? Where am I?" She was panicking. The beeping on her heart monitor sped up.
"Hang on, lemme call someone." I pressed down on the nurse call button about ten million times. Within a minute, two nurses rushed in. "She's awake!" I said to them.
"How long was I sleeping?! Where am I?" Kay continued.
"Ms. Meyers, please take slow, deep breaths. You were in a medically induced coma because you experienced a sever head trauma." The older of the nurses said.
"Um...okay. Head trauma, huh? How did I manage to do that?" She began to breathe in deeply. "I'll explain it to you in the morning. Its a long story."
She looked over to me, "I had the weirdest dream."
"What was it?" I smirked.
"You and the guys were singing Fall Out Boy's 'Thanks For the Memories' to me in awful British accents." She laughed.
"Yeah, that wasn't a dream, exactly." I said with a chuckle. She giggled. "God, I missed that laugh. I missed the sound of your voice." I smiled at her, making her blush and the beeping on the monitor speed up.
"I missed that smirk." She grinned. I leaned in and kissed her softly, which sent the heart monitor into dubstep mode. Kay blushed, and I laughed.
"So, welcome back." I said, pulling out my phone to text the guys.