A Unique Kind of Love (31 page)

Interrupting that moment came in Annabelle, Victoria and Adam, running towards me. They had a bewildered look on their faces, as if shocked. Puzzled, I turned to Liam with a questioning stare.

“What happened?” I asked, just as it all came back to me.

Leo, the fight, Liam, running in front of him to prevent two full bottles of wine crashing on his head. The bottles crashing on 
my 
head. And then, absolutely nothing.

 “You… were in a coma,” said Tori, holding my other hand. She shared a look with Liam and he nodded in agreement with whatever message that passed between them. Belle and Adam apparently understood too, because they bobbed their heads as well.

My heart fell.
A coma
?

“How long?” I murmured, oblivious to the stares they were giving each other.

“Two months,” said Adam, rubbing Tori’s shoulder.  My mouth parted slightly as I absorbed that information.

“
Two
 months? Oh my god, I missed so much in school, I might even fail my year and-“ I was cut off upon the sight of Mom staring at me, but she was on the other side of the room. Her eyes were wide and she seemed as if she’d seen a ghost. But I was alive, wasn’t I?

“Hey, Mom,” I said, giving her a smile. I expected her to cry, or laugh or even hug me, but no, she stayed glued like that. I looked at Tori, but she just ushered for me not to worry about it. I gave her a small smile, although something was twisting and turning inside of me.

Pain came rushing to me and I felt my chest ache miserably. I gasped from the agony. The people around me seemed more alert.

“I think one of my ribs is broken,” I said.

Tori’s eyebrow rose. Liam simply squeezed my hand, worry literally radiating off him. His face slackened; his brow furrowed - eyes darting about in concern as if he was searching for a place to hide.

“It’s normal,” said Belle hesitantly.

I was confused. “Why?”

They stayed silent. “Come on, tell me!” I urged, wincing at the pain the effort to say that took.

“You needed CPR,” spoke Mom for the first time.

And it was the way they stared at me that made me know. I took in a sharp intake of breath.

“I… died?”

Trying to remember how to breathe, I felt my chest tighten. I didn't understand, as if my brain became short-circuited and needed to be rebooted. It was like my mind had gone blank, that single announcement stunning me.

I had died.

And now I was alive.

“And… how did I come back?” I breathed shakily, taking my trembling hands away from Liam’s. He flinched.

“CPR,” said Adam, a hidden look in his eyes. It was certain that there was way more to it than CPR and I wanted to know. I didn’t want any more secrets, hidden in the shadows.

“And?”

“I-I sang to you,” murmured Liam, almost ashamed. Belle smiled at him.

“Really?” I asked, truly surprised. He nodded.

To find out that I died was something, of course. I would’ve been with Dad. Although, I didn’t want to. As much as I missed him, I wanted to see him again when the time came, when I was old and wrinkled. And I partly had Liam to thank for the fact that I was alive. I was aware that CPR had done the major, main role of 
reviving 
me. The concept of dying had been one of my fears and I was happy that I wasn’t. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t mind. I was alive now and that was all that mattered.

Liam singing to me was something else. It proved to me that he truly did care, and he didn’t want to give up on me. He didn’t want to lose me, and he had made sure to be by my side no matter what. He didn’t let me go, even though some people said that it was better to. In a way, he had fought for me, to keep me alive.

“Liam?”

He turned to face me, expressionless. I leaned in and put my lips on his, hoping that the gratitude and happiness I felt would be transmitted to him. Pulling back, I gave him a smile.

“Thank you.”

“Oi,” called out Tori. “Don’t go all lovey-dovey. There are other people here too.”

I chuckled, looking at Adam’s hand holding hers.

“Mom? You okay?” I asked, looking at the blank look in her eyes.

She suddenly walked towards the bed and Tori moved to give her space. She reached out and wrapped her arms around my head. I could feel her crying.

“I thought I lost you,” she mumbled repeatedly through tears. I felt my eyes prickle as well and I let a few tears fall.

“I’m here now,” I reassured her.

She held me like that for a long time, and for the first time, I realized just how much she cared. It dawned on me; the people here, they all cared about me.

I smiled.

♥♥♥♥♥

"Goodbye, dear," said Nurse Trudy, tightly hugging me. I smiled at how close we'd become in the short space of a week.

That old lady sat with me for hours after my awakening from the coma, simply talking to me. She told me about how Liam came to see me almost every day and would sing, about Ellie, whom I haven't exactly met yet, about Annabelle, who apparently came every Monday and Friday and wept by my side. I had gained a huge amount of respect for that girl, especially after the day she came to visit and poured her heart to me. We both cried together and I realized that Belle was one of the strongest people I knew. I did my best to comfort her, as she blamed herself for the incident at the restaurant.

"Now, I want you to take care of yourself and do me a favor; don't go to any more restaurants. Alright?" the nurse said, chuckling. I nodded obediently, giving her a sly grin. She put her hands on my shoulders, her expression turning serious. Black strands of hair flecked with white fell into her face, her bun on the verge of breaking loose. Her hazel eyes, piercing mine, contrasted on her cinnamon-colored skin.

"I want you to know, that boy loves you more than anything in the world. Take care of him, just like he took care of you, because he deserves it. He deserves love and so do you. Promise me to do everything you can to make him happy," she said, warming my heart at the mention of 
him
. I saw a small glint in her eyes, as if she knew something I didn’t.

"I promise." Although, I knew that deep down, I would never be able to repay Liam for standing by my side during the coma. For not leaving me.

For loving me when I was at my worst.

"Oh dear," said Trudy, glancing at her watch, “my break was over fifteen minutes ago.”

“Go, it’s okay. I promise this won’t be the last time I see you.” I gave her a cheeky grin, making her chuckle.

Trudy smiled, pecking my cheek. She walked away, leaving me alone with my mom.

"Let's go, Lena." Mom patted my shoulder, signaling that these were officially and hopefully my last moments in this hospital. I turned to her and she put one arm around me as we made our way out of Sainte-Catherine’s hospital. I gave small waves to some friends I’d made over the last week. I didn’t have the right to go outside, but the doctors said that it wouldn’t do me any harm to walk around the halls. The nurses gave me slight smiles and I returned them back.

Opening the entrance doors, I almost cried of contentment. As I hadn’t gone out of a building in more than two months, well it had felt like having a deep sleep, feeling the wind in my hair and the sun’s light on my face felt like heaven. We were in February now, but the piles of snow in some corners of the parking indicated that spring wasn’t coming by for a long time. I smiled upon seeing freshly fallen snowflakes glittering at the contact of the sun, making them appear as diamonds.

After a thirty minute drive, Mom stopped the car and I pulled my headphones out of my ear, stopping my train of thoughts. Surprisingly, she gave me a small smile that held childish mischievousness. She led me to the house and stood beside the door, as if waiting for me to open it. I raised an eyebrow as she handed me the keys.

 I gave her a confused look, but she pointed at the door. Removing one of my incredibly soft mittens off, I inserted the key in the hole and twisted the knob. Pushing the door, it opened wide.

 
Weird.

 There was a strange smell; perfume and cake. The lights were out, the curtains were closed and even though it was only 4 in the afternoon, I couldn’t see anything. I put my hand on the wall to my side, patting it to find the switch.

‘WELCOME BACK HOME!” screamed about 20 people as the lights turned on again. I nearly jumped out in fear. But, realizing what was going on, a grin was immediately plastered on my face and I felt joy rush through me at the sight in front of me.

Decorations were placed literally everywhere in the living room; colorful balloons, garlands hanging from random spots.  Our small dining table had been moved from the kitchen and was filled with pizza, soft drinks and a huge chocolate cake. A banner reading “WELCOME BACK, JACK” was hanging from the wall, but the Jack
part was scribbled on and beside it, there was a messy
Lena.

Belle, Tori, Adam and a couple of school friends were present there too. They all rushed my way, each giving me a hug. I searched for the brown, almost black tall head, but found no one.

 After about an hour of chatting with people, eating and just plain old celebrating, I sat on the couch taking small sips of my Coke and watching others socialize. A small, dry chuckle escaped my lips as I overheard Kevin from science flirting with Belle, but she replied, “Listen, Reddie, I’m not really in the mood for this. So go, flirt your silly bum with some airhead, okay?” And that’s when the poor boy blushed as red as his hair and shamefully walked away.

  Boy, was she good with boys or what!

A small girl came towards me and sat next to me. She gave me a small smile. Long blonde hair framed her face. She had blue eyes that shone with curiosity and wonder.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi?”

She stuck out her hand to me, “I’m Ellie.”

My mouth dropped a little, but I gladly shook her hand. “I’m Lena. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

She grinned. “Lee-yum talks about you a lot too.” I felt my heart get warm at the mention of him.

“You’re an amazing little girl, do you realize that?” I thought back to what Liam had told me about her.

She nodded. “And you’re very pretty.”

“Can I hug you?” I said. She answered by attacking me into a hug. I laughed a little.

“Don’t ever hurt Lee-yum again, please. Don’t go to sleep.”

She was talking about the coma.

“I promise I’ll take care of him,” I said.

“Good,” she said, eyeing the plate full with chocolate cupcakes hungrily. “Do you want a cupcake?”

I shook my head. “No, you go get one.” She smiled at me again and went to take one.

 At the same moment Ellie stood up and left, Tori plopped herself next to me and gave me a one-sided hug.

 “Hey there, 
pretty brown eyes
,” she sang the last part. I gave her a half-heartened smile, hoping she’d buy it. Her eyebrows instantly furrowed and she switched from 
happy 
to 
worried.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, her brown eyes shining with curiosity and concern.

  “Where’s Liam?” I answered instead.