-Chapter Forty Six-

~Jake’s POV~

          About a week ago, Audrey woke up. I wasn’t by her side when she did, like I had planned for months, but her parents contacted me soon after they got a call from Mrs. Smith, Audrey’s doctor.

          As soon as they told me the news, I rushed over to the hospital to see her. Soon after I got there Mr. and Mrs. Burns left, promising their daughter that they would be back first thing tomorrow, after they learned that Audrey would be cleared to go in a week’s time.

          Since Audrey woke up at midnight, I had to leave too after ten minutes. I also had to lie to a nurse, saying that I was Audrey’s brother and that I had to see her.

          Thankfully, the nurse let me visit and told me I only had ten minutes.

          As soon as I walked into room 234, Audrey smiled so widely when she saw me. “Jake! Come here!”

          I returned her smile, happy to see her vibrant blue eyes again, and walked over to engulf her in a hug. I was pulling away when she gave me a quick, sweet kiss.  Before anything could happen though, I pulled away.

          “Audrey…” I  sighed. “I can’t do that anymore.”

          “Do what?” she asked in a breathy, dazed voice. She must have still been coming to her senses or something. “Kiss me? You’re my boyfriend, of course you can.”

          I had to tell her sooner or later, right? “Okay, listen. You were out for about four and a half months. During that time, I slowly got over you since you found me with Brittney at the party—”

          “What party?” Audrey was clearly confused. “All I remember was getting mad at you for something… I don’t remember a party. But we can put that all behind us, okay? I’m not mad at you anymore.”

          “That’s the thing. See, after a while, like I was saying, I was able to get over you… I even met someone else. She’s amazing. I’m really sorry that we didn’t turn out the way you wanted, but—”

          “What’s her name?” I could tell she was sad about the news, and I knew that I probably shouldn’t have told her the first night after she woke up.

          “Alex.” I smiled at the thought of her… but then remembered that I completely ruined our chances together.

          “Oh…” Audrey frowned and looked down at her hands.” Please don’t cry, I begged her silently.

          “Jake, you know I love you, but you clearly fell out of love with me—if that makes sense.” She gave me a sad smile. “But I guess things happen when you don’t pay attention, and I understand, I guess.”

          “You understand?”

          “Yes. You know as well as I do that we had our own relationship problems back then, and that probably wouldn’t change if we got back together. I’ll get over you. Eventually. It might take a while, but I’ll try.”

          I couldn’t help but break into a grin. “Thank you. Thank you so much. You know I love you, alright? Just not in the same way anymore.”

          “And I love you too.” She took in a deep breath before taking her attention off of me and onto the monitor on her right. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”

          “I promise to take you out the day you’re cleared. How does that sound?”

          She smiled at me. “Can we go to the beach? I could seriously use a good wave.” I laughed, but before I could talk, Audrey continued. “So, tell me about this girl.”

          “Alex?” She nodded. “Okay, well—”

          “Excuse me sir, you have to go now. Ten minutes is up,” instructed the same nurse that I had lied to earlier.

          I closed my mouth. “I’ll come back tomorrow, okay?”

          “Okay,” Audrey answered with a slight smile on her lips.

          “Bye, Audrey,” I bid my farewell to her with a soft kiss on the forehead and a smile before exiting the plain, white room, and the hospital altogether.

          After a trek through the emergency parking lot, I got on my bike, revved the engine, and made my way home.

          When I got to my house, I silently went up the stairs, trying my best to not wake my parents. I opened my door, undressed, and slipped into bed wearing only my boxers.

          After pulling the covers up to my neck, I smiled. I was glad that Audrey didn’t completely freak out about when I told her that I had moved on. I was happy that she was willing to still be in my life after that.

           I fell asleep with a smile on my face for two reasons. One, Audrey woke up. Two, the thought of Alex was on my mind.

* * *

          I woke up at ten twenty-three AM the next morning. I knew Audrey’s parents would be there at the hospital visiting now, so in the mean time I waited patiently and occupied myself with getting ready and eating breakfast. I kind of wanted to talk to Audrey alone so I could catch her up with what’s been happening.

          I went downstairs after I took a shower and completed my morning routine to eat breakfast. My parents were already downstairs. Dad was reading the morning paper, and Mom was cleaning up the kitchen.

          “Hey, honey,” she greeted me, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

          “Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad.”

          “Hey, son,” Dad said absentmindedly. “Heard you come in late last night. What was that about?”

          I was grabbing a bowl from the cabinet next to the kitchen sink. “I was visiting Audrey.”

          “Visiting hours end at eight thirty.”

          Not able to hold it in anymore, I told them, “She woke up.”

          Mom stopped spraying the countertops with Windex to look at me, and Dad peered over his paper. “Excuse me?” Mom questioned. “Did I hear you correctly?”

          “Yes. Mom, Dad, Audrey woke up last night. Her parents called me almost immediately, and I rushed over there to see her. That’s why I was in late.”

          Mom beamed. “Oh my god! Honey, this is big news! We have to go over there and visit her. We should buy her some flowers and a card. Maybe even a teddy bear? Yes, a big, brown and fluffy teddy bear. Okay?”

          I laughed. “Okay, okay. You guys can go after I talk to her, alright? I—We—have to discuss some important things.”

          “Fine, that will work.”

          At about noon, I decided it would be fine to go to the hospital. Audrey’s parents should be leaving soon anyway. There wasn’t much traffic on the way there, and I managed to make good timing.

          Once I had parked my bike in a decent parking spot, I walked through the front doors of the hospital and to the front desk. At the moment, it was Margaret’s shift. She was a nice old lady (well at least she was nice to me, most of the time anyway).

          “Good afternoon, Margaret,” I said with a smile on my face.

          “Hi, Jake. Here’s your pass.” She handed me a visitor pass, already knowing why I was here.

          “Thanks.” I took the pass and made my way up and to Audrey’s room.

          I knocked on the door as I opened it. “Jake! What took you so long?” Audrey looked a million times better since last night. She didn’t look as pale, and she seemed to know what was happening.

          “Your parents were here, weren’t they?”

          “True… so, what exactly happened the night at the party when I got mad at you?” she asked me. “My parents told me to ask you when you got here. They thought it would be better if you explained.”

          “Uh… okay.” That night was kind of hard to remember, being four or so months ago. Fortunately, I remembered it well enough. “Well, I got a little tipsy—okay, more than tipsy—and, um…” I tried to find the right way to put this. “Do you remember Brittany?” Audrey nodded. “Well, she kind of took advantage of me and straddled me on the couch then we kind of kissed.

          “When you saw us on the couch and jumped to conclusions, thinking that we had a thing going on—which we didn’t, I’ll say that now. You thought I was cheating on you with her. Don’t forget the fact that you had been wondering about the two of us for a little while before that. And the fact that she was partnered up with me for that one science project didn’t help, but that’s beside the point. When you saw us, you got really mad at me, threw a fit, and stormed out of Blake’s house. By the way, you kind of broke up with me that night, too.

          “Anyway, I tried to get to you but Brittney kept pulling me back, and by the time I got out the house you were nowhere to be seen. Then the next morning, I wasn’t really sure of anything that happened the previous night—I ended up drinking way more than I should have—and I had a terrible hangover. But anyways, Lily spent the night at my house that night. She was in the living room and called me over, saying something about how important it was. I didn’t think too much of it, but when I sat down on the couch and paid attention to the TV, I realized that the reporter was talking about you. They said you were hit by a car. The highlights of the night before somewhat came to mind, at least enough information to know that it was my fault. And I’m really sorry, Audrey—”

          She laughed. Yes, laughed. For quite some time, actually. “Jake, d-don’t—be—sorry,” she said in between giggles. “I’m awake, aren’t I?”

          “Yeah, but—”

          “No buts! In fact, it wasn’t even your fault. You can always blame it on the alcohol. That’s a reason you shouldn’t drink before you’re legal, okay, Mister? Heck, I was even my fault. I’m the one that ran away to God knows where, right?”

          I looked at her questioningly. “Are you high? Did they give you some of that laughing gas stuff?” was all I could think to say.

          “No, Jake. I am not high. And no, they did not give me ‘laughing gas.’”

          “Then why are you—”

          “Because all I can say is that I am happy that I’m still alive. Yeah, I almost died, but let’s leave that in the past, yeah? And you know the saying yolo? Well, I kind of lived twice, when you think about it.” She laughed again. Is she sure she’s okay? Before I could question her any further, she said, “Now tell me about this new mystery girl, Alex.”

          I brightened up instantaneously at the mentioning of her. I knew Audrey would just push the conversation about her near-death-experience away, so I decided to change the subject.

          By the time I was done explaining just about everything about Alex and all of our memories with Audrey, she said, “I’m somewhat jealous of her already.”

          “Why?” I asked.

          “Because you talk about her like you love her as much as I love food. And trust me, that’s saying something.” When I didn’t reply, her eyes widened as she gasped over dramatically. “Oh my God! You are in love with her!”

          I smiled and nodded. Audrey was the first person who I openly admitted it to. I figured this little fact out not even five days ago. When I did, I was really happy about it… that was before I remembered that she hates me and never wants to see my face again. “You’re right. I do. But, we just broke up two weeks ago.”

          “Explain. Now. The Love Doctor is now in.”

          “You know, that’s kind of funny when you’re actually a patient at the moment.” I chuckled.

          She scowled at me, “Shut up and explain.”

          After I told her just about everything, including the day Alex came over to get her phone back and every detail I could think of, it was already two PM.

          “So, what’s taking you so long!?” Audrey exclaimed.

          “To do what?”

          “To go get your woman! I’m ashamed of you, Jake. If I were you, I would be chasing after her.” Audrey sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. “By the sound of it, I would say she still like you.”

          “No she doesn’t. She’s moved on.”

          “Have you at least tried, Jake?”

           “No, she doesn’t even want to talk to me,” I replied.

          She scoffed. “You’ll never know if you don’t try! She’s probably waiting for you to say something.”

           “Alex always makes things complicated. Well, I mean, she always confuses me.”

           “Well, guys are always confusing girls with their mixed signals,” Audrey stated.

          Giving her a dumbfounded look, I said, “We send mix signals? I thought it was the other way around.”

          “Okay, maybe we all do. But that isn’t the point. You do know that you messed up big time with your girlfriend, right?”

           “Ex-girlfriend,” I corrected. “And yes, I realize that... Now she and Brent are probably running away into the sunset in a field of flowers or something.”

          Just the thought of that killed me. I honestly didn’t like that idea. Alex and Brent? I would be dead before that day ever came. Plus, Brent wouldn’t do that to me, right? Well, never mind that. I bruised him up pretty badly. Of course he would. But would he actually do that because he likes her, or would he do it just to get back at me? Or they could be just friends. I didn’t know. I would have to talk to Brent about that. I mean, if he still wants to talk to me after what happened.

          “What I think you should do is tell Alex that you know you messed up and put this whole relationship in jeopardy. Then tell her that you want her back and confess your passionate love for her. Then you—not Brent—have to sweep her off of her feet, and make her realize that you love her.”

          “I’m not confessing anything to her. And do you really think that would  work in the first place?—telling her that I know I messed up and all of that, I mean. It seems as if she hates me.”

           “She doesn’t hate you,” Audrey told me. “She hates what you did to her and how you made her feel. But she doesn’t hate you.”

          I didn’t reply. Maybe Alex really doesn’t hate me. Should I talk to her? I think maybe I should. I could even introduce her to Audrey. I could tell her that all was well with Audrey. No more Audrey Drama, as Alex would put it.

          “Is it just me, or did you get wiser after you woke up?” I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows.

          Audrey laughed. “You know, it’s a possibility. Hey, how about we discuss the rest of this over lunch. We can come up with some ideas while eating the nasty cafeteria food.”

          “Sounds like a plan.” I laughed. Audrey pressed a red button on the side of her bed.

          “What are you doing out here, young lady?” a voice said right outside of our door about a minute later.

          “I-uh, nothing, ma’am. I was just, um, looking for my brother. He ran off somewhere down the hall,” replied another voice. Did I know that voice? It sounded really familiar…

          “Well, when you find him, tell him to not run around the hospital. Now, go on.” The person that was standing outside the door came in. It was a nurse. “Kids,” she muttered, shaking her head.

          As she was closing the door behind her, I saw a flash of blonde hair.

          Was that Alex? My eyes widened. Oh my god, that was Alex. I stood up from my chair and ran into the hallway, looking both ways in search of her. She wasn’t there. "Alex!" I called out. No answer... maybe it wasn’t her than… but, I’m pretty sure I would be able to detect her lying skills anywhere. To make it worse, she doesn't even have a brother.

          I walked back into the room and sat down. Audrey was talking to the nurse. “Am I allowed to go the cafeteria?”

          “Yeah, I guess so,” the nurse replied. “Can you walk?”

          “I haven’t tried. I’ve been glued to this bed for the past fourteen hours.”

          “Well, let’s try, then.” The nurse went to Audrey’s side and helped her stand.

          Audrey gave me a look and mouthed to me, “this feels so weird.” I smiled at her and walked over to her other side, slinging an arm around her waist for support.

          “That’s what happens when you don’t walk for nearly five months.” She chuckled in reply and took a few steps.

          “I think I’m good,” she said to the nurse. “Can I try walking by myself?” The nurse nodded and we let go of her. Audrey took two steps then yelped as her right leg gave out beneath her. She muttered a curse then said, “Ouch.”

          After immediately helping her out, the nurse said, “Yeah, I think you need a wheelchair. It will take you a while before you can walk correctly. You’ll need to go through rehabilitation.” She instructed for Audrey to take a seat and told her that she would be back soon.

          Three minutes later, the nurse was back with a black wheel chair. “Here you go, hon.”

          Audrey sat down with a frown on her face, probably disappointed that she had to stay here for an even longer amount of time. I placed my hands on the wheel chair. “I’ll take her from here.”

Author’s Note: Eh. This was a fairly boring chapter. Nothing really happened, but I’ll try to make up for it in the next chapter, if you know what I mean ;) By the way, I don't know if you can't walk after coming out of a coma. I just assumed because you haven't walked in a while. :P Sorry for randomly switching POV’s, too. Hope I didn’t confuse anyone with it, lol. (Next chapter will be in Alex’s.)And, I’ll be at camp for a full week, so I won’t be able to write (no electronics or anything -.-) and I might upload later than usual. PS. If you all didn’t know, I’ve had an estimation of when I’m going to update on my profile for quite some time, and I change the date every time I upload. So, yeah. First person to comment gets a dedication. 

        ~Storylover11~