That Unexpected Person

That Unexpected Person Part 14

Chapter 14

Jayden

Jayden stood in front of the bathroom mirror and splashed cool water onto his face in an attempt to wake himself up. He spent the night beside Taylor's bed hoping that she will wake up soon but so far, no such luck. He stared at his reflection and saw a stranger staring back. He had dark shadows under his eye, he didn't shave and looked so tired and sad. Its amazing how so many things can happen in one day. He signed and headed back to Taylor's ward.

As he entered the ward, he saw Mr and Mrs Simons sitting by her bedside. He suddenly felt nervous about what would happen next. Would they blame him for this? Would they chase him out and never let him visit her again? He couldn't live with that, he had to see her. He stopped behind them and took in a deep breath.

"Mr and Mrs Simons." He began, his voice still raspy, this time, from disuse. Both of them jumped slightly at the sound of his voice.

"Jayden." Mrs Simon repiled. She stood up and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. She eyed him from head to toe, noting that he was wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

"You stayed overnight with her." She spoke. It wasn't a question but he nodded anyways. 

"Thank you." She said which surprised him. Feeling relieved that she was not chasing him out, he watched her pull out a book from her enormous hand bag. 

"The doctor said talking to her will help her wake up sooner. Or bring her stuff that she likes will help too. So I brought some of her favourite books and thought I might read it to her." She passed the book to him. "But my husband and I needs to get to work so would you read it to her for us?" 

"Yeah, sure." Jayden repiled. He looked down at the book in his hand. "The Notebook?" Despite the situation, Jayden finds himself smiling slightly while raising an eyebrow at it.

"Yes, she's crazy over Nicholas Sparks' novels. This was one of her favourites. But basically, his novels were her favourite." She smiled at him. Jayden smiled back wearily. Taylor didn't really strike him as someone who reads romance novels. Perhaps maybe adventure stories. He looked down at Taylor lying on the bed, being hooked on so many tubes and monitors, there's still so many things about Taylor that he did not know yet. As he sat beside her, he was under no illusions that she would wake up this quick, but nonetheless, he was constantly looking for signs of her stirring, of course, there were no such signs, yet.

Forty five minutes later, Taylor's parents stood up from their seat and prepared to leave, saying that they'll come and visit again later at night, which leaves Jayden alone with Taylor for the afternoon. After they left , Jayden sat back down and took hold of Taylor's hand, his eyes searching her face for signs of her awakening, but she remained still and unmoving. The only signs thar show that she was alive was the gentle rise and fall of her chest and the steady beeping of the machine. He stretched out one of his hand and stroked her hair.

"Hey Taylor," he whispered, "I don't know if you can hear me but your mom told me you love romance novels." He tried to smile through his tears.

"Your mom brought me The Notebook and told me to read it to you cause its your favourite. You would like that right?" He stared at Taylor's face, not that he was expecting a reply but still hoping, nonetheless. Seeing her in this state, he remembered how the van rammed into her, how he had failed to even catch a glimspe of the driver. He felt his fury and frustration rise from the pit of his stomach. He had been so useless, the sight of Taylor's bloodied body flashed across his mind as clear as day. He sucked in a deep breath to calm himself. He will have to leave catching the driver to Detective Basco. Right now, Taylor was his priority. He flipped open the book and took a deep breath.

He wasn't much of a reader but he knew how the story goes roughly. It was a classic after all. As he read, he couldn't help but imagining himself as Noah reading The Notebook to Allie. He found it strange and yet facinating at how sometimes, something so fictional could feel so real.

Halfway through the prolouge, Jayden heard his stomach grumble, a reminder that he had not eaten since yesterday night. But he neither had the appetite nor the desire to eat. If Taylor is not eating, he should not be eating as well. She's hooked onto some glucose bag thingy you dumbass, she is somehow eating. Said the voice in his head. But it felt wrong eating, he answered back. It felt wrong to eat while she was lying here, fighting to wake up. He shook his head and continued reading.

He read to her for the whole afternoon and by the time the sun sets and night began rolling in, he had already finished half of the book. He rubbed his face and tried to rub the exhaustion from his eyes too. He had never read so much in one day. He talked to Taylor while waiting for Taylor's parents to arrive before heading to the restroom to wash his face again. He didn't feel comfortable leaving Taylor by herself in the ward being so vulnerable.

"You're tiring yourself out Jayden, you need to head back home and rest. Plus, you got school tomorrow." Mr Simons said when Jayden returned, but Jayden shook his head.

"I'm fine Mr Simons." He replied as he sat into his original seat.

"He's right Jayden." Came a voice from behind. Jayden turned to find his dad leaning against the wall. Jayden had called him yesterday and told him about the accident and he had let Jayden stay for the night. Jayden never thought he would be this glad to see his dad. His dad pushed himself off the wall and held up a cup of hot chocolate and sandwich.

"Figured that you won't be eating much most of the day, so I decided to drop by with dinner." His dad said as he passed Jayden the food.

"Thanks dad, but i don't think I have the appetite to eat."  Jayden smiled weakly at him.

"I don't care, you're going to eat or I'll stuff it down your throat." His dad said as he took a seat beside him. Jayden stared at his dad wide eyed and sighed in defeat, knowing his dad, he would really stuff the food down his throat. He opened the lid and took a sip of hot chocolate.

"Well, you must be Jayden's dad." Mr Simons asked. Jayden's dad raised an eyebrow at him quizzically.

"Jayden's dad, Taylor's mom and dad. Taylor's mom and dad, Jaydens dad." He mumbled and pointed at each of them while nibbling on his bacon cheese sandwich.

"Oh," Jayden's dad extended his hand across the bed, "Taylor's parents, I'm sorry for what happened." His dad said as he shook their hands.

"Call me Jack." Mr Simons said, "And she's Susan." He said as he guestured towards his wife.

"Frank." His dad said, and with the introductions done, they launched into their adult conversations while Jayden gazed at Taylor, taking in her features, wishing that she would wake up soon.

"You need to go home." His dad told him after he finished his sandwich. Jayden stared at him for a moment.

"Why?!" Jayden practically whinned.

"Well, first you need a bath cause basically, you stink. Second, you got school tomorrow." His dad said as if he was ticking off stuff from a grocery list. Jayden opened his mouth to protest, but his dad gave him the I do not pay the school for you to skip it look. It was a pretty scary look too. Jayden sighed in defeat once more and sulked in his seat like a stubborn kid. Jack and Susan somehow find the entire thing amusing.

"Take my car, and you can come back tomorrow after school." He said and Jayden nodded, his eyes never leaving Taylor's face. His dad placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll be here until you come back." He said softly and Jayden knew that his dad knows what he was worrying about. Jayden stood up and bent down to kiss Taylor on her forehead.

"I'll be back before you know it, okay?" Jayden smiled down at her and turned to leave before his tears could start to fall.

He found the car with relative ease. He fished out the car keys which his dad threw to him on his way out. Its been quite some time since he last  drove, and somehow, he managed to drive hom unscathed.

Back at home, he took a long, hot shower and scrubbed away all the dirt and grime, trying to scrub away all those bad memories too. After that was done, he crawled under the covers thinking he would never fall asleep. But exhaustion caught up with him and he drifted into oblivion.