With You In A Coma

Chapter 12

I woke up feeling like I was trapped in my own body. My limbs felt paralyzed, my eyes stung and my throat felt suffocated.

'You're awake.' I heard someone say as they stood over me. I tried to ask him why I was in a hospital but my voice sounded like a pathetic whimper. He gave me a bottle of warm water to drink from. I choked on it and began to splutter the beverage everywhere. Tiago gently rubbed my back until I had recovered.

'Why am I here?' I asked unaware of yesterday's events.

'You don't remember? When you found out about Eldon you fainted.'
It took me a few seconds before it all fell on me like a wall of bricks.

'Is he okay? Is he still in surgery? Is he a-aliv...' I didn't dare ask the last question. I was already leaving my bed when Tiago pulled me back down. 'Calm down. He's out of surgery.' Tiago informed me. I blankly stared at him not even sure of how to reply.

'Is h-he...?' I hesitated.

'Unfortunately no, he's still unresponsive.'

'But he's breathing?' What I really meant was if he was still alive.
Tiago nodded situating himself beside my bed. We sat in silence for some time before he reached out and enveloped me in a hug. My eyes couldn't hold their own as I began to whimper again. I could also hear Tiago sniffing into my shoulder making me tighten my hold on him.

'I don't want to lose him too.' He mumbled falling limp in my arms.

I must've seemed so inconsiderate crying when Tiago was hurting more. He lost his parents and Eldon was the only family he was left with and now he too was on the edge of death. I raised my hand to my face wiping away the anguished tears deciding to be strong for Tiago. That was the least I could do after putting his ride or die into a coma.

It was all my fault that Eldon had left the house angry and disoriented. It was all my fault that he'd been in an accident that left him limp in a hospital bed. If only I hadn't mentioned Riker or said all those bitter words, maybe he'd be there by my side.

Breaking Tiago and I's hug was a nurse who walked into my room to inform me that I had been discharged. Upon hearing that, I changed out of the light blue Amka gown into sweatpants and a t-shirt that Tiago had brought for me. 'Thank you.' I verbalized my gratitude to which he gave me a head nod.

It hurt to see the usually enthusiastic Tiago in such a morose state. But it hurt more knowing that I was the cause of it. 'I'm sorry.' I apologized as we were leaving the room. He furrowed his eyebrows in question. I didn't answer already tired thinking about the million reasons all that had happened was my fault.

Tiago led me to Eldon's room but before we could enter, we bumped into Doc Simmons and a nurse walking beside him. He greeted us and introduced us to the nurse. 'This is Doctor Simmons; she's my wife and she's going to be attending to your brother for as long as he is in a coma.'

Tiago nodded as a greeting but I could tell that his focus was on the door that led into Eldon's room. I respectfully shook her hand as she held mine firm with a reassuring smile. The four of us entered Eldon's room with me being the last one to enter. Nurse Simmons did her thing, checking his vitals, his tubings, his eyes and all that before she and the doctor left.

The first time I actually laid my eyes on Eldon I felt my heart drop, my lungs constricted and my throat
burned. It was a feeling I'd never felt before. I was hit by a sudden dose of nausea and dizziness that forced me to lean against his bedside for support.

Looking at the sight of him threw my plan of being strong for Tiago right out of the window. I couldn't recognize the Eldon I knew under the cloths that wrapped his entire head leaving his mouth that was covered by an oxygen mask and his eyes that were shut tightly. One of his eyes was swollen with yellowish purple marks around it. I saw needles in his flesh that led to tubes connected to various IVs. Under my scrutinizing gaze I saw one of his legs propped up making me realize that he'd also broken a leg. I remembered Doctor Simmons saying something about bone fractures.