Flying to Neverland

Chapter 13: Wasting Time

       Trace's POV:

I sat next to Lily's bedside. It's been a week now and she still hasn't woken up. I've occupied my time telling her stories of what I remembered from our childhood. I told her how her friends were doing, how mom's been doing, and even asked her questions.

I knew she was listening somehow, because whenever I talked or told stories, her face became more relaxed. Once she smiled in her sleep. I almost cried at that.

        "I can't believe he's still here." I heard a nurse say in a hushed tone. I listened. Two nurses were standing outside the door, thinking I couldn't here.

        "Hasn't left her bedside to even eat. We finally got him to take a shower one day and as soon as he was out he ran back in, dripping water all over the poor girl." Nurse 2 said.

        "He's wasting his time. I mean, it's a sweet gesture and all, not to leave his sister's side, but if she doesn't wake up, I don't think he's gonna make it." Nurse 1 said.

        "What will become of him?" Nurse 2 asked.

        "Don't know." Nurse 1 replied.

I heard them walk away and the breath I've been holding escaped me. What would become of me if Lily never woke up? No. I shook the thought out of my head.

Lily is a strong girl. She's been through so much, and managed to survive a terrible self against self battle. She'll make it through the coma. No doubt about it.

I took her hand in mine, squeezing it tight.

        Lily's POV:

I lay in my bed in the cabin, and I felt my hand get tingly. I closed my eyes and imagined Trace holding it. In fact I was sure that at this very moment, he was holding my hand. I've felt his presence with me all the time. Which means he's never left my side. I'm very glad and thankful for that, but it's made me even more homesick by the minute.

Around 3 am, I couldn't take it anymore. I got out of bed in my pajamas and ran to Ash's cabin. I pounded on the door. A very sleepy Ash answered it, his hair messed up and his eyes half open.

        "Lily? What are you doing?" He asked me. 

        "I need to see my family." I said, tears running down. He opened his eyes more and wiped my face with his hands.

        "Hey, it's gonna be okay." He said. I shook my head and he took me in his arms, giving me a hug. He smelled really good, like pine trees and mint.

        "How can I see them? There has to be some way." I said, looking up at him. He led me inside and pulled out a laptop.

        "Here, I've been using this to check up on my family, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And pizza." He said. He handed me the laptop and went over to the fridge, opening it and pulling out a cardboard pizza hut box. He put a few slices in the microwave while I stared at the laptop screen, not knowing what to do.

He came back and smiled at my confused expression.

        "Ah, right. Here, I'll show you how to do it." He said.

He went through a list of instructions and typed stuff on his keyboard, while I nodded, paying attention to every word. Finally my hospital room popped into view. It was freaky, seeing myself on screen asleep. Trace was kneeling next to my bed, talking to me, holding my hand. Every once in a while he'd stroke my face, or brush my hair out of my eyes. 

My eyes never left the screen. Tears slowly made their way down my face and my heart felt so broken beyond repair as I stared at my twin brother, going through so much pain.

I clicked on to search for Lydia, and saw her and Patrick hanging out at our elementry school park. I turned up the volume to hear their conversation. Lydia looked distressed as did Patrick.

        "I can't believe she really did that. After all this time I never knew." Lydia said sadly, tears dripping down. Patrick nodded.

        "I know. Did we do anything wrong?" He asked. She shrugged.

        "We didn't pay enough attention." She said.

I shut the computer, setting it next to me on the bed and covered my face. Ash wrapped an arm around me. All the pain I was putting my friends through....

        "Will a movie help?" He asked. I nodded.

***

I spent the rest of the night in his cabin, snuggling close to him. We were watching disney movies, on his request. I found out he adored disney movies, all the more reason to like him.

        "Hey Ash?" I asked. 

        "Ya?" He asked, tearing his eyes away from Lady and the Tramp.

        "How did you get to be in a coma?" I asked. He grimaced.

        "Oh...just reasons." He said. I picked the pepperoni off my pizza.

        "Ash it's only fair. You know my story." I said. He looked down, shrugging.

        "Let's save it for another time." He said. I was still curious, but I let the subject drop.

As I lay back down next to him, I noticed words tattooed on each wrist. In the flickering TV light, it was hard to make out what they said. I finally read them and was left more confused.

The Higher You Fly was written in cursive on the inside of one forearm, then on the other one, The Harder You Fall was written in the same handwriting.

The higher you fly the harder you fall? What does that mean?