With You In A Coma

Chapter 13

'Now suddenly you're asking for it back
Could you tell me, where'd you get the nerve?
Yeah, you could say you miss all that we had
But I don't really care how bad it hurts
When you broke me first
You broke me first'

My skin glistened with sweat as I made my way into my house after a stress relieving morning jog. It was still dark outside as I had risen after a nightmare that made my blood run cold. It depicted the very reality that I feared; one where Eldon didn't survive the accident, where his head was crushed into a pulp, where his body lay in a morgue ready for an autopsy. Even the thought of it had me burning in my own skin. It seemed so real that I woke up in a pool of sweat instantly deciding to go for a jog no matter how dark it was.

As if adding insult to injury, the first thing I saw on my dresser was the threat note from the mysterious 'TSS'. I picked out the first one from my pocket and placed it beside the new one. My fear gradually dissipated into detective mode.

The first note directly targeted me as it mentioned my name in a poetic type of way but the second one targeted a fragile Eldon.

I tried to decipher a trend between the two notes but failed to find any useful ones. Only the design of the notes were identical; the texture, the 'TSS' insignia, the printed italics and the artificial blood stains.

The author of the notes definitely had intel on me and the people I associated with. They also knew the location of my home because the first note was slid under my lounge door. I also came to the conclusion that the person responsible was somewhat related to RECSaM as I had found the second note in my car whilst parked in the RECSaM driveway. All the detective work had me clenching my head in pain.

Why would someone want to hurt Eldon? Why would someone want to hurt me? I had no grudges or unfinished business with anyone. I was definitely on a clear page with anyone that I had ever come across.
     
With a bath and change of clothes, I drove to Amka medical centre. I carried a bag that had Tiago's stuff I had packed and made my way up to the all so familiar room. There I saw Tiago sleeping on the couch whilst Eldon lay lifeless on the bed. He still had bandages wrapped around his pale skin and tubes going in and out of his skin.

I couldn't even recognize Eldon behind the oxygen mask, the bandages and the medical tubes. 'Wake up Eldon.' I mumbled as a tear rolled down my pale cheeks.

I couldn't help but think that what happened to Eldon was all my fault. If only I hadn't mentioned Riker then he wouldn't have ran out in the middle of the night, there wouldn't even have been a probability of an accident taking place.

'I'm really sorry Eldon. It's all my fault that you're here. If only...' The words stuck to my throat.

I continued to wallow in my sorrows when I saw a suited man walking in. He was the same tall bulky businessman like figure that I had gotten accustomed to. I narrowed my eyes at him in question. Why would Riker come to visit Eldon? 'Who you care about is also my concern.' He simply said settling down beside me. His deep husky voice had Tiago stirring out of the deep sleep he was in. A fully awake Tiago noticed Riker in the room beside me but decided to remain silent.

With a head nod towards Tiago, Riker asked to meet outside. I glanced at Tiago and at Eldon before I followed Riker out.

'What happened?' he inquired. I didn't even know how to put it in words so I just shook my head from side to side frowning. I didn't know if I was ready to talk but I prompted myself to. 'The day before, at night Eldon went out and got int-to a m-motorcycle a-accid-dent. His h-helmet crushed around h-his h-hea...' I stammered the little I could before the dam in my eyes cracked...'

Riker was quick to wrap his arms around me rubbing my back. I cried into his shirt messing it up but he didn't seem to care. Having had been strong for the previous days exhausted me. I trembled in his arms and felt his hand moving from my back to my hair.

'Hey shhh, he'll be okay.' Riker said his fingers weaving into my long strands and caressing my scalp then he ran them down my hair comfortingly. I melted into his careful embrace emptying my bottomless pit of tears.

After some time, I tried to calm myself and be selfless. I asked Riker about his interrogation with Lionel. His mood instantly switched. 'I don't wanna talk about it!' his voice boomed. I retreated back frightened by that new side of him. He lowered his head ashamed.

'I'm sorry. I'm not like that.' I chose not to reply. He sighed heavily before he started to speak. 'We found the truck dumped in a secluded area but the Tesla delivery was gone. The security cameras around the area where the truck was lacked footage from 7 to 7:30pm.' He told me.

'Where was Lionel at that time?' I asked.

'He has been locked up since yesterday.' he said sounding concerned.

I wrecked my brain and when I figured something out I had to let him know. 'I hate to break it down to you but you have a company running in your company.' I spoke. It was as if I had discovered a world wrecking possibility. He shook his head in denial of the obvious fact.

No one could've pulled that off as a solo act; it was simply impossible. Hijacking a high tech truck with biometric and physical encryption was a job meant for a team. Lionel wasn't working alone.

'You should focus on taking care of Eldon instead of mingling in my business.' Is what Riker said before he stormed off and left me at the hospital.

Did he think because I was in emotional distress infront of him; it meant that I couldn't be reasonable? It was just a logical guess since they had Lionel as a mole in RECSaM and he was always one step ahead of them.

As I walked back into the room, I could see Tiago sitting beside Eldon's bed holding his hands. I rubbed his back comfortingly when I heard him sniffing and crying. I turned his head towards mine but he kept covering his face.

'Look at me Tiago.' He did.

'Eldon is going to wake up, he's going to be okay and he'll be back to his normal life in no time.' I assured him though it felt like I needed it more than he did. But alas I had to be strong for him; it was the least I could do.

'Hey Eldon, we miss you. Please come back to us.' I spoke looking at his closed eyes. At that moment, I was hanging on a thread hoping that he would open his eyes or atleast squeeze Tiago's hand. Any sign to show us that he was hanging onto life with all he had. Any sign?

But when he continued to lay there lifeless, my eyes began to sting threatening to release the turmoil inside me. The one I was shoving back in for the sake of a twin with his other half in a coma. With glassy eyes, I looked down to see Tiago lightly squeezing Eldon's pale hand hoping he would squeeze back; he didn't. Seeing that made me kneel down in defeat sniffing away the tears from my eyes.
     
We were wallowing in our sorrows when the door opened revealing Doctor Simmons. He had his wife nurse Simmons following behind him. The nurse checked on Eldon whilst the doctor talked to us.

Only to tell us that Eldon's condition had deteriorated and his brain activity was slowing down.

He said it was a miracle he survived the accident and that they'd need to be another miracle to survive the coma.