Entrelacen (12 page)

AllIsee isblack. Iopen my eyes,
and it’s still like they’reclosed. I try to
move my armsandlegs, but nothing
happened. I can’t feel anything, my mouth
isdry,andpanic is settingin. Itry to
remember what Iwasdoingbefore this. I
try tofocus on hearinganythingtosee
what’s wrong withme. Nothing. Silence.

Flashesof memoriesstart playing
like a reel. None of the snapshotspause
longenoughfor metograsptheir
meaning. I’m perplexed. Then it all
disappears, and I’m sucked into the
emptiness.

Ican hear occasionalbreathingnext
to me. It’s not mine because I don’t even
feelthe movement of my chest rising. It
soundslabored as ifIt’ssomeone whois
old,hasasthma, or hasbeenaheavy
smoker for years. Nothinghaschanged.
The same darknessis all around me. It’s
driving me insane.Maybe that’s the point.
I’m starting to remember a little. I know I
had a task tocomplete on my 18
^st
birthday. Some birthday, huh?Maybe one
yearI’llactually have agood one,one that
I’m able to celebrate.

There isalittle bit of noise now. I
hear voices, but I can’t make any sense out
of what is beingsaid. A man anda
woman are speaking. That’s about all I
know. I can’t decipher their conversation. I
try toopen my eyesandmove my hands
andlegs. Stillnothing.

Exhaustion istakingover my body.I
have nocontrol. I’m pulled underneath
again.

The breathingperson isback, andit
seems like that person isclose tome. Ican
feelpressure allover. That hastobe a
good sign,right?Ican hear arhythmic
beepingsound as well. Itremindsme of
when I was inahospitalandwas hooked
uptothose machines. I stillhave no
controlover my extremities,but I can feel
their numbness.

Iremember everyt
hingnow. The
reelstopsat eachshot, and a brief
explanation is displayed. It’s like being in
schoolandtakingnotesdownfrom the
teachers’ slides. My mom is dead. I don’t
know ifDeandraisalive or dead. My mom
was already dead when I was given my
choices, soIhope they were just illusions.
The kidsandthe fire felt realthough. I
can stilltaste the smoke inmy mouth.

Iwonder what day
It’s. How long
have Ibeenout?
Ihear someone walk intothe room.
“Any changes Agatha?”
Agathaishere?Where ishere?
“No Doctor Jones. He hasn’t moved
yet.”
“His brain is showing tremendous
activity, more than it hasin the past 4
years. I wasworried that we might have
to give up hope that he’ll ever wake up.”
WHAT? I’ve been in the hospital for
4 years?How isthat even possible?
Usually comapatientsare usually pulled
offof life support alot sooner than that,
right?
“I think tonight is a good night. It’s
his 22nd birthday after all.”
“He’s lucky tohave you standing by
hisside after allthese years. I knowwhat
happenedon his18
^th
birthday. It’s
incredible that he wasable tosave four
childrenfrom the fire right after finding
hismother that way. After goingthrough
such a horrible tragedy, I don’t know how
anyone would beable tobe suchahero.
He isafighter. He’sgoing to pull through
this.”
Mom. Imagesstart toassault me.
The day I saw Dad hittingher when I was
thirteen flashesquickly away. The day she
told me where we came from. Then the
last time I would ever see her. She wasn’t
alive, but she was asbeautifulasalways.
She is in a better place now, and that’s all
that matters.
“Yes he is something. I think you
should get ready tomeet him. Ibet he
opens his eyes by this afternoon.”
“I hope you’re right Agatha. I’llcome
check again after my lunch rounds.”
Ihear him walk outthe door and
shut it.
“Logan I know you can hear us now.
It’s time toopen your eyes.”
Itry toopen my eyes, and nothing
happens. An internalsighiscutoffby the
darknessapproaching. I open my eyesand
see I’m standingin afield of grass. The
sunisshiningbright, and the warmth
feelswonderful on my skin. I can smell...
my mom. Iturn tolook tothe left since
that’s the direction the breeze is coming
from, and she’s standing there.
“Hello Logan.”
“Hey Mom. Whatare you doing
here? Does this mean I’m dead?”
“No son.I’mhere tosay It’stime,
time for you toopen your eyesandlive
again.”
“I tried, and they wouldn’t open.”
“I wanted to speak with you again
before you returned. Manythingshave
happenedsince your fight. The illusion of
me andDeandrawas just that. However,
the fire at the elementary schoolwas real.
You did wellson.You are goingtobe
great at what is coming next for you.”
“What are you talking about Mom?”
“Don’t close your heart to love
Logan. Make mistakes, have fun, live your
life,andmake every moment worthit.
Your mission is just around the corner.”
“By mission, you mean my purpose,
right? The person I’m supposed to
protect?”
“Yes Logan, but It’stime towake up
now. You have alongyearahead of you. I
love you, I always have, and I always will.”
“I love you too Mom, always have,
and always will.”
“Goodbye for now son.”
“Bye Mom.”

My eyes opened to a white ceiling.
My sense of smell was overwhelmed with
the smell of flowers and antiseptic. God, I
hate hospitals. I looked down and saw the
wires all over my arms, and there was a
tube in my throat. I lifted my hand to pull
it out as the doctor walked in.

“Well I’ll be damned Agatha. You
were right.”
“Good to see those eyes Logan. Give
me a few minutes, and we can get that
tube taken out of your mouth.”
I flinched as they removed the tube.
It made me feel like I was going to throw
up. The only thing that kept repeating in
my head was that I had been completely
out of the land of living for 4 years. I
remembered my 18
^th
birthday. That’s
when everything went to hell, literally.
Now I’m waking up on my 22nd
birthday? There had to be something
more going on than me just passing out
because of the fire.
“Okay Logan. Can you tell me if you
feel this?”
He started running the back of the
pen up and down the bottom of my right
foot. Some guys would never admit this,
but we’re just as ticklish as some girls, so
my foot squirmed, “Yes I can feel that.”
“I know it seems crazy to ask these
questions, but I need to since you’ve been
in a coma for 4 years to the day. You
might have to go through some physical
therapy to retrain your extremities and
strengthen your muscles.”
“I feel fine though, like I’ve only been
asleep. Is therapy necessary?”
“Well let’s take it slow. Bed rest
today since you just woke up, and
tomorrow we can see if you can get up
and moving around. Sound fair?”
“Deal.”
“I’m really glad you made it back
Logan. Let’s stay out of burning buildings
from now on, shall we?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Chuckling, he turned to Agatha,
“Make sure he stays in bed Agatha. I know
he’s going to want to get up and move
around, but he can’t right now.”
“No problem Dr. Jones.”
The last thing I wanted to do was
stay lying in this bed. I needed to get out
of here and figure out what I was going to
do since Mom was gone. Where would I
stay? I took a look at Agatha and saw her
smiling at me. Great, that’s a loaded
smile.
“Go on and say it Agatha.”
She tried to look surprised, but she
wasn’t fooling anyone. I remember what
my Mom said about going to her. She
would know what to do to help me.
“Well first, you haven’t really been
in a coma Logan. Do you remember
anything?”
“No, not really. Just that it was
always dark. I kept a reel of pictures, but I
could never see what they were or tell
what they were about. Not until recently.”
“Well you were in-between realms,
or limbo if you would like to call it that.
That’s why you couldn’t feel anything and
were always in darkness.”
“Okay. So what are my chances of
getting off this bed without having to go
through therapy?”
“Pretty good actually. Dr. Jones
might be surprised though. He started
worrying this last year that you weren’t
going to make it back. Your brain activity
gradually increased each day, until it
started going beyond normal. It’s like your
brain was learning.”
“Well I started hearing you guys
speak, but my body wouldn’t obey me
when I wanted to open my eyes or move
my arms.”
“Don’t worry about it now. The
good thing is your eyes are open, and you
can move around. The rest will be a
breeze. It’s like you took a really long
nap.”
“That’s exactly what it feels like.”
“Enough talk for now. You need rest.
We can talk tomorrow.”
So I went to sleep. I closed my eyes
and thought there was no possible way
that I could fall asleep again, but I fell
asleep immediately. For once, I was not
worried about what my dreams would
contain. The feeling of darkness that
always seemed to buzz inside of me had
dulled significantly.
A few days after the great
awakening I was discharged from the
hospital without therapy. Agatha told me
I would be staying at her house. She said
she had already moved all of my stuff over
there. It was going to be weird staying
next door knowing that I wouldn’t see
mom coming home or see all the super
expensive things in the house that became
our home. Agatha said, “Home is where
you make it.” Maybe she was right, but
home was going to be different without
Mom.
I had to figure out what I was going
to do. I didn’t have a job, so getting one of
those was on the top of the list of things
to do. I didn’t want to live with Agatha
forever. I was 22 after all. I started
working for her in her book store. It was
actually more fun than I thought it would
be. There was this cool coffee area and this
new age area in the back that hardly
anyone knew about. I was always drawn
back there, and I always got this feeling
like this was where I was supposed to be. I
worked almost every day because Agatha
deserved a break.

I had been working at the bookstore
for about a year now. Life has been
somewhat calm for once, which feels much
more pleasant than my previous live. I feel
comfortable here.

I'm standing behind the counter
when Agatha strolled in with a huge smile
on her face. Of course I'm curious; living
with Agatha had been interesting to say
the least. She always has me on my toes.
She reminds me of Mom so much that the
pain has all but gone away. It's not
throbbing like it did at first.

“Okay, Gran what’s with the
megawatt smile?” Agatha had insisted
that I start calling her that.

"Nothing for you to worry about
right now. You will find out soon enough."
The smile on my face drops. It can't
be happening again, can it? Wait. She was
smiling when she walked in, so maybe this
was going to be something good. I don't
know if I can take more bad news since
I’m just starting to feel comfortable back
in the land of the living. Four years
changes everything. I missed so much. I
still can't get a hold of Deandra, so I'm
not sure how she is doing. That worries
me. I know mom was already dead when
he gave me the variables to the equation,
but Deandra wasn’t. I keep calling the last
number I have for her, but it just rings
and rings. It never goes to voicemail, and
it never gets picked up.
I’m trying to put it all behind me.
Maybe D has moved on with her life or
forgotten me. Maybe she just doesn't want
to talk to me anymore. Who knows? It has
been a long day, so I let Gran know that
I'm heading up to my room to crash. My
body is still trying to work out a schedule.
It’s not used to being so active after
resting all that time.
Gran had done a perfect job on
replicating my room. It had the same
dark feeling of my room next door.
Everything was black. I could only keep it
like that for the first month or so. It
reminded me of the darkness too much, so
I needed a change. The walls were black,
like they were next door, but I changed
them to be a chocolate brown color that
looked really nice with these light blue
sheets I got. All my furniture was black,
but I didn’t have enough money to replace
it all so I just left it. The blue and brown
break up the darkness and provide some
light. I also leave the window shades open.
Gran gave me the room where the
windows faced the sky. Ever since I came
back from wherever I was, I have been
drawn to the stars. Every night I fall
asleep staring at the sky. Sadly, you can’t
see many stars in this town since the
lights from the Vegas strip are always so
bright. I know that they’re there though,
and that gives me enough peace. At least
it did, until tonight.

I’m walking down Gillespie again,
headingtoward that same empty field
across from the abandoned houses. I don’t
want togoback there, but my body
doesn’t stop. I walk right up to the body
lying motionless. There’s red everywhere,
blood coveringthe once brownground,
poolingaround my feet. Her once vibrant
green eyesare now lifelessanddull. Her
skin is purple and blue. Her face doesn’t
look scared like Ithought itwould. My
mom wasafighter tothe end. You can
tellby the defensewoundsandbruising
that she didn’t go down easily. I turn
away andlook at the schoolon my right.
It lookslike it hadn't touched by a fire.
The building on the left didn’t look new or
like it wasever touched by fire either.
Interesting. Maybe that wasjust an illusion
then,whichmeansDeandraisokay. I
walk around,waitingfor the voice that I
know is coming, but it never does. There’s
no feelingof fear or insecurity anymore.
There isjust the feelingof sadness. This
placewillalwaysremind me of my mom.

Ican feelsomeone callingtome,
draggingme toanother place. The field
and school disappear. I’m floating on a
cloud now withmillionsof starstwinkling
around me. It’s calming and hypnotic
being so close to them. Happy, that’s what
I’m feeling. Then a ringingbreaks
through…