Dragged to my knees

Chapter 10

"Wait, do you mean she's..." I don't want to complete the question because I'm afraid to ask. I'm afraid of what the answer might be.

Mum shakes her head. She understands my fear. "No Ricky, she isn't. She is in a coma and we don't really know when she'll wake up. She's in a more stable state now though, and they'll be moving her out of the ICU later."

I pull my mum into another hug, this time for my sake not hers. I know what a coma is. I know all about them all right. 

I know that she could be under for months and I know that there's the possibility that she won't wake up. I can't voice all of this though, I have to keep staying positive.

"It's all going to be okay mum." I whisper into her ear.

"I hope so son, I really do hope so." She replies, squeezing me tight before letting go. "Do you want to go see her?"

I knew she would ask but I don't know if I really want to see my aunt in such a state. "Sure" I reply before I get the chance to say otherwise.

She leads me back to the reception desk where we're greeted by a friendly looking nurse. She has dirty blonde hair and eyes the color of the sky. Her nametag reads Lisa.

Mum interchanges pleasantries with her as she's been in the hospital all this while and informs her that we'd like to see my aunt. Lisa then smiles and leads us to go meet a nurse. 

Karl, the nurse in charge of my aunt's room, leads us into an antechamber where we're instructed to cover our hair and put on hospital aprons. 

I've seen this scene repeating itself several times on TV and now, it's happening to me.

Following Karl, we make our way to Aunt Veronica's room and I let out a soft involuntary gasp as my eyes drink in her appearance. 

My aunt, who is usually tough, funny, kind and dramatic, looks nothing like her old self. Rather, she looks frail, vulnerable and helpless. Even though she'd always managed to see humor in everything, there's absolutely nothing funny about her present state. She has got so many tubes going in and out of her that I wonder how it all fits.

Cautiously, I make my way towards her bed.

"She's not going to break, you know." Mum says, sensing my hesitation.

Carefully, I take her hand in mine. It feels so light. I smile sadly then, she always could pack a good punch.

"You have to be okay Aunt" I begin. I know she can hear me when I talk. "You still haven't shown me where you got that dummy made." I continue, smiling. "You've always been a fighter. Don't stop now." I hadn't realized that I'd been crying until the drops fall on our intertwined hands.

Mum places a hand on my shoulder and as I lean into her, I begin to feel a bit better. We will get through this.

We stay for a few more minutes before deciding to leave. Mum has to freshen up and I really feel like I could use some rest. 

Thanking everyone on our way down, we exit the building and walk across the nearly empty parking lot towards the car. The ride back home is a silent one as we're both too tired to talk. Tomorrow I will have to go to school and I still have some assignments left to finish up.

"I'm taking the day off tomorrow." Mum says as I unlock the front door to let us in.

"Okay." I reply, not knowing what else to say. She needs the rest anyway.

Making my way upstairs, I slip my shoes off and flop on the bed. I think about my aunt. About how lifeless she had looked and then I start to worry. It's my one weakness; worrying. After a while, I decide to call Alex like I planned to earlier for lack of something to do.