The Daughter Extraction

A New Distance

•LUNA•

I didn't visit Alec again for the next two weeks. I had exams coming up, so I dedicated all my time to studying for those exams.

But I made a small promise to myself that, right after the exams are done, I'd visit him at the hospital again.

My last test was today, and there were only fifteen of us. We all sat in the lecture room and sat apart from each other to do our tests individually.

Thirty minutes in, I started to space out. My mind kept wandering back to Alec, who was still in the hospital. Martin promised to give me an update if anything happens.

But I haven't heard from him for two weeks, and I'm starting to worry a little bit.

Not because he hasn't updated me, but because Alec has not been awake yet.

It's already been a year and five months. I get that people in a coma would take time for them to regain consciousness, but this doesn't feel normal anymore.

Was Alec even trying? Does he not want to wake up and be reunited with the outside world again? Is he even fighting enough to wake up?

The sound of a pen clicking from a student sitting in the row below jolted me out of my thoughts. I finally refocused my attention on the test in front of me and quickly glanced at the timer.

Twenty minutes left.

I have to focus and get this done, and the first thing I'm doing after this is driving to the hospital to see Alec.

Something just doesn't feel right anymore.

OoO

I pushed through the double doors and jogged down the small staircase, making my way outside towards the parking lot to get to my car.

A weird feeling had been bothering me the whole day, so I figured it'd probably go away once I saw Alec again. It's already been two weeks, and I missed him terribly.

I jumped in my car and quickly drove to the hospital. When I got there, I was greeted with shock when I found his room empty. His bed was made, and all the flowers and stuff in the room were gone.

My heart sank deep into my stomach with the realization. Tears started pooling in my eyes as I lost control of my composure.

"Oh! You're here." A voice spoke from the back.

I quickly turned around and saw that it was Alec's nurse who was always around to check up on him. I quickly blinked away the tears in my eyes and greeted her back with a smile.

"What happened to the patient that was in this room?"

She returned the smile and carefully picked up the medical items on top of the dresser beside the bed.

"He got discharged a week ago."

An audible gasp escaped from my lips.

"Wha-what do you mean...he got discharged?"

She stopped and stared at me with a little confusion on her face.

"He got out of the coma. Didn't his friends inform you about the news?"

I just gaped at her with surprise.

Alec woke up...

He finally got out of the coma.

A part of me was relieved, but the other half was unsettled because Martin broke his promise, and now I have no idea where Alec is.

"Do you know where he went to? Or did he mention an address or anything?"

The nurse gave me a sympathetic smile.

"Sorry, hun, I don't know anything about that. But you can still find out from his blonde female friend, who I saw was here a few minutes ago to settle the paperwork. She's probably still around, so you could probably catch up to her at the front desk in the lobby."

I said a breathless 'thank you' as I rushed out of the room and got back into the elevator. My patience started to thin out as I stared at the numbers on top, going down.

As soon as I arrived back in the lobby, I ran out and started scanning the whole floor for Blair's familiar face.

Nurses, patients, and people walked around the lobby, making it difficult to find her. I was on the verge of panicking and losing my control.

But I finally managed to spot her in the crowd. She turned away from the front desk counter with a paper in her hand and started walking towards the exit.

I wasted no time in running after her. She pushed through the revolving doors and stepped outside, and I pushed my way through as well, my eyes never leaving her back.

"Blair!" I called out.

She stopped and slowly turned around. Her face was as clear as always, never giving her emotions away.

"Where's Alec?" I immediately asked while trying to catch my breath at the same time.

"Where he wants to be." She replied monotonously.

"What is that supposed to mean? Where is he?"

She looked down and slowly started to fold the paper she was holding in her hand. When she looked up again, she slipped the paper in her back pocket.

"I'm sorry, Luna. I can't tell you that."

I scoffed in disbelief.

"Are you serious? And you guys never even bothered to call to let me know that he woke up? Why would you do that? You both knew how much I've been looking forward to this day and to seeing him again."

Her expression suddenly softened, and she glanced away to the side.

"We know." She paused and gave me a look. "We were going to call you, but he told us not to."

Her words pricked a needle straight into my heart.

"We told him you've never stopped visiting him since he got admitted to the hospital. We told him that you were the one who brought him flowers. We also told him you were having exams this week, and that's when he stopped us from letting you know that he had woken up from his coma. He didn't want you to lose focus, so he told us not to call you."

My eyes started to burn, and I clenched my fists by my side.

"But where is he?"

She folded her arms together and gave me a straight look.

"Look, Luna, here's what I'm going to tell you. Whatever you're expecting right now, it's never going to happen. Things have changed, and Alec has changed too."

I frowned at her. What did she mean by saying that Alec has changed?

"He's not the same person you used to know." She continued. "It's all different now. I don't think he wants to be surrounded by anyone right now, and he needs time to get his life back on track. That's why he left."

A teardrop slipped down my face, and I quickly wiped it away with the back of my hand.

She took a step forward and gently smiled at me.

"He just needs to be left alone right now, Luna. You, of all people, should understand that. Just give him time, alright? He'll come back around once he gets over the fact that he's been stuck in a coma for some time. We should all give that to him."

She reached out and gently squeezed my hand.

"I hope you can understand."

She turned around and started walking away. I stared after her for some time, and after a minute, my mind was already made up.

I walked back to my car and sat inside for some time before finally picking up my phone and calling the one person I knew who would provide me with the answers I needed.

"Danny? I need to ask you for a favor."

I knew I could always rely on Danny for help, because two hours later, I was on the plane flying across the world, heading to Canada, where Alec is.

Danny only took an hour to contact his people to track Alec down and pin his location. Also, he bought me a plane ticket to fly out and see him there.

I didn't care what Blair just told me; I just had to see him. If it's space he needs, then I'll give him that, but only after I see him again and make sure that he's good and okay.

If it's normalcy he's seeking, then I'll help him find it. As long as I'm by his side again, that's all I need.

Alec was staying in a small town called Smithers in British Columbia. It's apparently snowing over there, so I packed and came really prepared. As soon as the plane landed, I took a cab to the car rental company to get the car that I had rented out online.

After getting my car, I drove through town and headed in the direction where Alec was staying. According to Danny, he was staying on the outskirts of town, on a hill where he's got himself a cabin there.

It was a thirty-minute drive up the hill; the snow took up much of my time, but I managed to get there. I spotted a figure outside, picking up some wood from the pile laying around the ground.

I immediately knew it was him.

He turned his head in my direction, when I parked the car. I took a deep breath and slowly stepped out of the vehicle. The cold, icy air whipped around my face, and I stuffed my hand inside the pockets of my coat.

I slowly walked towards him, and I immediately knew what Blair was talking about when she said that Alec had changed. Well, appearance-wise, of course.

He kept the beard and was wearing heavy layers of clothes, and a beanie was covering the long strands of his hair that he had grown out of while he was in a coma.

His eyes sharpened the minute he saw me, and he dropped the woods back on the ground. I tried to smile but stopped myself immediately when he started storming towards me.

He came right up to my face, and I stumbled back a little bit, surprised and confused by the sudden confrontation.

He visibly clenched his jaw, and his eyes glared down at me, causing the words I wanted to say to quickly die in my mouth.

"Get back in the car and get the fuck out of here. Now."

The coldness that seeped from his tone was colder than the snow that surrounds us. Every calmness that holds restraints to my composure dissolves the minute he spoke to me.

Blair was right. He is different.

This was not the Alec I knew, and there were no traces of the person I thought I had fallen in love with.