Turning Tables

Girlfriend in a Coma

A/N:

(but, you know, I would hateAnything to happen to her)

WOULD YOU PLEASELET ME SEE HER!

Do you really thinkShe'll pull through?

Let me whisper my last goodbyes

The Smiths

***

"Batchi? What did you say?"

The phone call startled me and I jumped right out of bed.

I almost tripped on the blanket that fell on the floor in a heap.

I switched on the light on the nightstand and saw that it was already 1:27 in the morning.

Batchi's voice was tense.

"Jade had an accident," she replied.

The words exploded in my head.

"Accident?" I uttered.

I sat back on the bed in disbelief.

"How?" "What happened?"

The words barely escaped my lips.

I thought I was dreaming but I wasn't.

I pressed the phone closer to my ear, afraid that I heard her incorrectly.

"I'll let you talk to Angel," Batchi told me and it confused me even more.

When Angel came on, I was slowly coming out of a haze.

She didn't bother with the pleasantries but apologized for waking me up.

"Just tell me what happened Angel. Please?" I pleaded.

***

Floating.

That's what I am.

My body lay on the hospital bed and my family gathered around me.

Mama was crying on my father's shoulder.

He gently stroked her back to console her but it didn't do anything to calm her worried mind.

My brother Paul was crying too and this time, he didn't hide it from my father.

I could even read his thoughts and I smiled at the profanity-laden words.

He cursed our father in different languages and dialects for his refusal to accept us.

"If it weren't for your stubbornness, this would never have happened again."

Paul eyed my father with contempt.

He noticed it and glared at Paul.

"This is not the right time, Paul." Dada warned him.

"There may never be a right time, Dada." Paul replied then walked out of the room.

Dada wanted to follow him outside but my mother begged him to let it go.

"Please Oscar," she pleaded as she tugged at his sleeves.

"Show some respect for your daughter," she told him.

"Before she had the amnesia, she never showed me any respect Amanda."

"What made you think that I will change my mind now that she is in a coma?" his tone was harsh and my mother shook her head in dismay.