Becoming Miss Visible

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I woke up to Carla shaking me.

“Wake up. I need to go back to the hospital.” She said softly.

“Okay, give me two minutes.” I said running to the bathroom. I changed quickly into sweatpants and a tee shirt. I was nervous because Carla seemed panicked. Hopefully everything was alright with the boys. I ran out, grabbed my keys, and met Carla at the door.

“So what’s going on?” I asked Carla as I backed out of the car.

“I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen. I can’t tell you what it is, maybe just my maternal instinct. Thank you for getting ready so quickly. You really are a wonderful girl.” I was touched when Carla said this, but I couldn’t help but worry over the boys.

We arrived at the hospital and we went to check on Peter first. He was in the most critical condition. The doctors told us he was holding up, and he was in critical, but stable, condition. He was burned badly and would have to go through several more surgeries before the healing process could begin. Needless to say he wasn’t going anywhere for a while.

Dalton was better than Peter and he had woken up briefly, but was now asleep. He would have to stay in the hospital for several more days, but he was doing okay.

“See you were worried for nothing.” I said as we waiting in the waiting room, hoping one of our boys would wake up.

We sat there for several hours talking, waiting, and hoping for something positive. It never came.

Peter stopped breathing and they had to put him on a ventilator and they felt he was slipping away. Carla was a wreck when she came back from seeing him. We stayed all day hoping for a miracle that Pete would be alright.   

Our hope was continued to grow over the night. Pete was becoming stable again, but he was still very much in danger. Life was very uncertain for the Worth family at the moment.

We were so worried about Pete that when Dalton’s doctor came with a smile on his face we really didn’t notice.

“Well hello Carla, Callie, Dalton is awake. I know that you are both worried about Peter, but I hope that this news cheers you a little bit. He doesn’t remember anything, but we hope that you both can refresh his memory.” We both got up and followed the doctor to Dalton’s room.

When I saw him I wanted to cry. Half of his face was covered in a bandage. The other half looked the same. I couldn’t imagine the kind of pain he was currently in. I was glad he was safe, but I wanted him safe.

“Hey baby. How are you feeling?” Carla asked as she went to sit by his bed. He looked around confused.

“Who are you?” He asked looking from Carla to me and my heart wanted to break.

“Well, sweetie, I’m your mother and over by the door, that’s Callie. She’s your girlfriend. How are you feeling?” Carla asked again, trying to keep the tears from flowing.

“Confused and hurting really bad. They asked me what happened and I couldn’t tell them. I can’t even remember my mother and my girlfriend for crying out loud. My body feels like it’s on fire and no one knows why.” He started to cry and Carla did as well.

“Well Dalton, you were hit over the head really hard. And then I’m told there was a fire that burned our house to the ground. No one knows why, and we were all hoping you could tell us what happened, but its okay if you can’t remember. What we need to focus on right now is you getting better and healing. In no time flat you will be back to your old self. So don’t worry about it.” Carla said as she wiped the tears from her son’s face. I felt like I was intruding on the moment, but Dalton called me over with his hand that was also bandaged.

“So what’s your name?” He asked when I reached his bedside.

“Callie” I said quietly. It was hard to see him like this, but I needed him to know that I was here for him.

“How long have we been dating?” He asked.

“Well we’ve known each other for several months, but we’ve been dating for three or four weeks, and then we broke up and then we got back together the day of your accident.” I told him as honestly as I could, hoping to jog his memory a little bit.

“Why did we break up?” He asked looking upset.

“Well it’s a funny story actually. You pretended to be gay.” I said with a chuckle, he did not seem amused. Carla had not heard this story and she looked at me shocked.

“Am I?” He said with a little more worry and stress on his face.

“Are you what?” Carla and I asked together.

“Gay?” He said in more of a whisper. I burst out laughing at they both looked at me confused.

“No there is no way that you are gay. In fact we’re in…” I started to say love, but I didn’t know how much he was ready for.

“We’re in what?” He asked.

“Love” I whispered and he pulled me closer. I was now sitting on his bed and he just looked into my face. I could tell that he was trying to remember me, but he couldn’t. I was trying not to cry, but when Dalton brushed a tear from my face, I knew that I had failed. I was supposed to be strong for him, and not the other way around. I looked up and saw tears in his eyes also.

“I want to remember you so bad. How could I not remember the prettiest thing in the world?” He said tears streaming down his face.

“Shh, it’s okay. It’s not your fault.” I said bending down and kissing the bandage free side of his face. I looked into his eyes and noticed that his eyes were more black than green because he was in so much pain.  I held his hand and tried to comfort him the best I could when Peter’s doctor came in.

“Carla I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to talk to you right now.” He said with a sad look in his eyes. Carla looked panicked and rushed from the room after a brief kiss to her son and strict instructions for me to stay put.

“What was that about?” Dalton asked after the door closed.

“I’m not sure.” I said. I had an idea what it was about, but I didn’t want him to know about Pete just yet. He would find out soon enough.

I spent the time while Carla was away telling him about myself and about how we met and became friends. I also told him what I could about him, leaving out the death of his father and the current unknown state of his brother. He laughed over all the silly things that we had gotten ourselves into. He listened as held my hand as I told him about how kind he was during and after my dad’s funeral and during the Mr., Freeloader period of my house hold.

He wanted to know everything and I was willing to tell him what I could. I could tell he was in pain and when the nurse came in and gave him his medicine, I knew that he would be asleep soon. I held his hand until he fell asleep. After I was sure he was asleep I walked out to confirm my suspicions.

When I saw Carla, I knew. She looked at me and started sobbing loudly again.

“He’s dead. How could my baby be dead?” She bawled. I held her as she cried and I cried with her. She had already lost her husband and now she lost her youngest son? I didn’t understand the cruelty of it all. And to top it all off her son did not remember anything. This was turning into such a mess.

All of Carla’s friends and several of her co-workers surrounded us and the chaplain for the hospital was praying for the group and for Carla. Tonight was just a nightmare.  

Rest in peace Peter.