She's The Boss

4. Say Something

____________________________

.

.

.

"Did you miss me?" Joanne was not impressed with how her voice sounded. She had been partially aware of the things that had been going on around her in the past one-two weeks. But she thought half of it was just a bad dream. Why else would she see her stupid brother-in-law Anthony hang around her room?

They hated each other.

But when she finally realized that she was in a coma or something, she had looked forward to when she would finally be able to open her eyes. And she was glad she could talk too. But moving her arms seemed like a task.

What she really was looking forward to was speaking in a breezy, frail dramatic voice. She thought she was going to sound beautiful, so divine to the ears that it would feel like a mother's kiss, but instead, her voice sounded like Xander's snores.

'You can't have everything in life, Joanne.' She sighed as she barely petted her over-excited baby.

Their sweet mother-son moment was cut short when they both jumped at the sudden commotion outside the door. The door was flung open and two silhouettes fought as they stumbled in.

"I got here first!" It was Olivia's voice.

"No, you didn't! I did!" And that was Anthony.

Joanne narrowed her eyes as she watched another silhouette sneak past the two fighting and from his form, she was sure that it was Leon.

Leon reached for the light switch and turned in her direction with a soft smile which froze in its place as soon as he saw her squinting her eyes at the sudden bright light that hit her retina after almost three months.

And Leon's first reaction was to immediately turn the light off.

"HEY!!" Olivia and Anthony did not have any idea what was going on. And Leon was too shocked to tell them.

"Excuse me, husband? Can you please turn on the lights!" Olivia poked him in the dark but the boy was too shocked to budge.

"And maybe ask your wife to back off as well!" Anthony spoke, his voice annoying her more.

"You back off!"

"No, you!"

"Can you both please shut the fuck up?" Joanne groaned.

Silence.

Crickets could be heard in the background.

Joanne sighed. Her family was full of idiots.

"Turn the light on, Leo. But in dim mode."

Leon moved so slowly that Joanne almost wanted to get up from the bed and do it herself. But alas, she was unable to move her muscles at that moment.

"Leo!" She yelled, her voice only one decibel louder. She was not impressed with that either. She was used to wreaking chaos in the whole house with all her yelling and now she sounded like... as she had said before, Xander's snores, but less loud.

The light turned right back on, but it was in full brightness. Leon fumbled with it as Olivia and Anthony stared at her dumbfounded.

"Leon King, do you want to die so bad?" She groaned again.

Olivia finally snapped out of her daze, running to her side.

"Jo, Joey, can you hear me?" She asked frantically.

"No." Joanne rolled her eyes.

"Jo!!" Olivia hugged her as closely as she could in Joanne's lying position.