~Alex's POV~

Christmas and New Year had passed by in a sad blur. I spent most of my days with Jack at the hospital, spending hours with a sleeping Joyce. It was January 15th, and she has been in a coma for almost a month now. We were just praying she would wake up, I didn't even know her too well, but I missed her, and so did Jack. Everyday she spent lying in that bed just made Jack more upset, and it was killing me.

Apart from having each other, we spent this festive holiday alone. My parents never really visited over Christmas anyway, but they always sent gifts. This year I got nothing. And because Joyce was in hospital, Jack didn't get anything either.

I'd had another therapy session, and I felt like I was getting somewhere, despite all the terrible events that had recently occurred. Jack was proud of me, and that made me more than happy with myself.

Even though it was more than a month until his birthday, Vic had already started to plan his party. He was turning 18, and was having a party at his house, which was right on the beach, so it was pretty cool. His birthday was on a Tuesday, but over the weekend, his parents were flying out to Mexico, so he was holding it on the Saturday night. The whole school knew about it already, and everyone was buzzing about it. Everybody loved Vic, he was just one of those people that could get along with anyone.

I was currently cuddling with Jack on my sofa, and we were watching Peter Pan with our hot chocolates. Once visiting hours were over at the hospital, we decided we were going to have a snuggle day and watch all our favourite films and shows. Home Alone was next, which put jack in a good mood. Suddenly, Dammit by Blink-182 started playing, Jack's ringtone.

"I'll be back in a minute, babe." Jack stroked my hair and I sat up so he could take the call. He answered the call and walked out the room.

I kept watching the film whilst he was on the phone, until I heard him shouting something.

"HOLY FUCK! Thank you, doctor, we'll be there right away."

Before I knew it, my boyfriend jumped on top of me, a giant smile on his face. "Alex, it's my mom, she's woken up!" He stood up again and was jumping up and down.

"Oh my god!" I stood up and jumped about the room with him.

"We need to go to the hospital now! Go and get changed whilst I call a cab." He unlocked his phone and started to dial a number, the taxi firm we normally used, I presume.

I ran upstairs and put the first thing I could find on, I didn't care if it looked crappy. Jack was in my room shortly after me, wriggling into some skinny jeans and a band shirt. We normally cuddled in just our underwear now, it was more comfy.

The cab beeped from outside, and we both ran downstairs and jumped in right away, giving our destination. Jack's hand was gripping mine tightly, and his leg was bouncing up and down.

"You know what?" I looked at him. "Tomorrow, I'm going to go and buy a car." I know it was random, but I was sick of getting taxis everywhere.

"Can you even drive?" He replied, a smile still etched into his features.

"Yeah, I took lessons some time last year and I passed my test on the first go, I just never decided to buy a car though."

"Okay, we can go and choose one tomorrow." He leaned in and gave me a kiss. "I can't believe my mom's woken up, Lex. I'm so happy!" He squealed, pulling me in for a hug.

"Me too. I can't wait to see her." I couldn't keep the smile of my face.

We finally pulled up at the hospital, and after paying the driver the correct amount, we ran into the hospital, going straight to the reception.

"I'm sorry, visiting hours are over." The woman behind the desk said, in that boring tone that all people with this kind of job have.

"I know, I've been asked to come in, it's my mom, Joyce Barakat." Jack looked hopefully at the woman, who typed away at her keyboard.

"She's in room 269, it's on the 6th floor." The woman looked at us with a faked smile, and after we thanked her, we ran straight to the elevator.

Luckily, no one else was in there, so we didn't have to hold one of those awkward elevator silences. Once we'd stopped at the 6th floor, we ran to room 269. Just as we were about to enter, a doctor that had been monitoring Joyce stepped out of the room. He was my favourite doctor, he looked like he was only in his early 20's, and he had a really cool beard that took on a ginger tint.

"Ah, Mr Barakat, Mr Gaskarth." He nodded his head at both of us. "Could I have a word before you go in?"

"Of course, Mr Maker." Jack replied, and we took a seat on the plastic chairs opposite Joyce's door.

"Please, call me Jeff. We know each other well enough." He smiled. "Jack, your mom has woken up, and is doing really well. She can talk, but she is feeling very tired, and is in some slight pain and discomfort. Just take it easy with her, okay?"

"Will do, Jeff. Can we see her now?" Jack stood up, looking at the door eagerly.

"Yes, of course! Remember, if anything happens, just press the buzzer. Bye, boys." Jeff stood up, shot us a grin and walked away.

Jack opened the door slowly and walked into the room, me following. He immediately moved to the bed and took hold of him moms hand. "Hey mom. How are you doing?" He whispered, his voice gentle.

"I'm fine son, I'm fine. Just a few cuts and bruises." She let out a small laugh. Joyce was always so positive.

"You gave us a real scare." I said, taking a seat next to Jack. I was talking quietly. She looked so fragile that I was afraid that any loud noises would brake her.

"Hey Alex." She greeted me. "You're looking as handsome as ever."

"You look stunning too, Joyce." I replied. Seriously though, even though she's been in a coma for almost a month, she still looked beautiful.

"You're so kind." She laughed again. "Did you boys have a nice Christmas?"

"Yeah, we spent it here." Jack said, looking at his mom adoringly and rubbing her hand.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that! I must have been so boring!" She shouted.

"We had fun, Joyce, don't worry." I smiled at her. Damn, today was one of those day where I just couldn't stop smiling.

"Can you remember what happened mom?" Jack blurted out, the conversation taking a swift turn.

"Yes, son." She said, wiping her eye, with the hand that was hooked up to the IV.

"You don't need to tell us about it, but it was John, wasn't it?" Jack asked. Joyce nodded her head in response, and Jack leaned in and wrapped his arms around her gently. "It's okay, mom. I love you." He whispered. He pulled away slowly and sat back down.



The doctors said that we could stay for as long as we want, so that's what we did. We stayed the night, comforting Joyce and celebrating that everything was finally getting better.

Notes

Hey so yeah, if you didn't already know, I skipped about a month in the story. I'm making everything better :D

oh yeah, and I've fucked up with all the chapter titles, so please just ignore them bc they're all over the place.

Ellie x