CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: “I MISS HER”
-‘W-w-w-what do you mean?’ the woman asks, confused. –‘I mean, who are you?’ –‘It’s me, Jessica? Jessie? JJ? Cupake? C’mon, you must recognize me!’ she cries out, burying her face in her hands. –‘I’m sorry, but no…’ A doctor enters the room. Strange, I haven’t seen him before, and I know almost everyone in this hospital. –‘Great to see you’ve woken up, Mrs Cornish.’ I look at him confused. –‘Cornish?’ I repeat, ‘What kind of surname is that? I think you’ve got the wrong one,’ I tell him, laughing slightly to myself. –‘Wait, so, you don’t know who’s sitting next to you?’ –‘Never seen her before in my life. Anyways, how did I try to kill myself this time?’ –‘What do you mean, Mrs?’ –‘Well, how did I end up here? Didn’t I swallow enough pills? Didn’t I jump off the highest building? Tell me, who saved me this time?’ I stare at the doctor, waiting for him to answer, but it’s another voice who speaks up. –‘You didn’t try to kill yourself,’ says the woman next to me, ‘You were really happy. You had brain surgery, and now, your memory, it’s all gone…’ she whispers. –‘Mrs Cornish, how old are you and what are you doing with your life at the moment?’ –‘My name’s Emeli, I’m in a band called Skyway with three blokes named Phil, Michael and Jim. We’re uploading videos on YouTube, trying to get a bit well-known, and gig around here, in LA.’ The doctor writes something down. –‘Mrs Cornish, would you follow me, please?’ I give him weird look, but the woman next to me stands up and follows him around. Is she my wife? I am married to that goddess? I did well.
The doctor and Mrs Cornish, other Mrs Cornish, re-enter the room, and I see her wiping some tears. She sits down next to me and takes my hand in hers. –‘The doctor needs to run some tests, I’ll see you later sweetheart- err, Ms Taylor.’
I had only been in coma one day. Yesterday, I knew everything. I gave Mrs Cornish, ‘Jessica,’ a kiss on her lips, said goodbye to the fans, tweeted something and I was just very lively and calm. So I’ve been told.
Later that day, eight years older Phil and Jim enter my room. –‘Hey guys!’ I smile brightly at them , because you know, I actually recognize them. They haven’t really changed much. The doctor told me I would be able to leave tomorrow, as apparently, I have a concert in two days. I don’t even know the lyrics to our new songs. Apparently, I’m also a guitarist of Mrs Cornish’ – Jessica’s- band, and also sing songs with her. My wife.
To be honest, I still can get over the fact she’s so pretty. When she’s with me, telling me about all the things she and the Emeli she knew did, I just stare at her face. She could tell me weird stories about poo or puke and I would still be sat there with a smile on my face. Because she’s absolutely gorgeous, and apparently mine.
-‘Keep your head low, don’t look into anyone’s eyes, just hold on tight,’ says Mrs Cornish, I mean Jessica, I just keep calling her Mrs Cornish!? She wraps my arms around her waist and opens the hospital doors. I do as I’m told and ignore the scream, shouts and cries for my attention. We sit in the car, and I feel the goofy grin on my face. I aim it at Jim and Phil. –‘We made it guys,’ I say to them, and they nod proudly. –‘Where’s Michael, though?’ Jim and Phil exchange a painful look, full of hurt. –‘Did he leave the band?’ I ask, tilting my head slightly to the left. –‘In some sort of way… We… The four of us were in a car crash… and… he didn’t survive, Emeli…’ Phil whispers faintly, burying his head in his hands. –‘A-a-a-are you kidding me? No, he can’t. He was always so damn strong; the one I could rely on. He can’t be… gone.’ I run a hand through my hair. This is a lot to take in.
Jessica –applause please, I had her name right- opened the door for the two of us and she led me inside. A terrifying small animal jumped on my leg. –‘Holy fuck, what the hell is that!?’ I ask, jumping away and hiding behind Mrs Cor- Jessica. –‘That’s Kisses, our second dog.’ –‘What happened to the first one?’ I ask her bluntly. –‘He died,’ she says, and points at a photo on the wall facing us. I take a step closer to the photo and see Jessica, and in her arms a dog similar to this thing. And next to her, is a woman, tall, long, dark hair, blue eyes… It’s me. I study the photo some more, and see I got my arms wrapped around Jessica, and I see how our eyes sparkle. –‘That was on a family barbecue, three years ago.’ –‘When did we… when did we got married?’ Jessica smiles proudly and shows me her hand, and a beautiful ring. –‘Four months ago, it was a great wedding,’ Jessica smiles at the memory and drags me into what I assume is the living room. She grabs a thick book, and opens it, showing me pictures of us.
