COMA

O

Macalister Jay is standing by my hospital bed.

I cannot believe this.

Why is MJ, the school's most prized athlete, visiting me in the hospital?

The only people who came to see me - well, my body in a hospital bed - are Mother, Father, and China. Nobody from school or any of my friends have visited. Not even Xoe, my best friend of six years, has stopped by. That's why seeing Macalister Jay right now in my hospital room is a humongous surprise to me.

MJ runs his hands through his silky blonde hair, making it messy. His eyes scan my spiritless body with unknown emotions in his eyes.

Out of all of the days, why did my crush of a year and a half decide that today is the day to talk to me? Couldn't MJ have waited until I woke up or chatted with me before I got into this coma?

Timing is horrible, I tell you.

MJ sits in the plastic, blue chair China was sitting in earlier. He rests his elbows on top of his knees. His fingers lace together, and he places his chin on top of them. His eyes bore into my closed ones.

"People at school are worried sick about you, you know." His rich voice spoke into the dead silent room.

Ha! Yeah-wait a minute. Is Macalister Jay speaking to me?

"Everybody says you're going to wake up. Xoe has been moping around ever since you slipped into a-" MJ squeezes his eyes shut.

My eyes soften.

MJ can't even say the word "coma". Is he in so much pain that he can't accept me being in a coma? Does my absence in school bother him?

"I can't do this." MJ sighed deeply.

Yes, you can.

He stands up and paces up and down on the side of my hospital bed. He glances at me, then he shakes his head.

"I can't."

You can do this, MJ.

MJ sits back down in the chair. He runs his hands through his hair, tangling it and leaving his hands in it. His multicolored eyes lurk to my face.

"This is my fault." He muttered.

What?!

His eyes start to tear up, but no tears escape them. "It's my freaking fault that you're in this stupid coma, and I'm too afraid to admit it."

How did Macalister Jay put me into this coma? Did he shove me to the ground? Did he smack me with something that knocked me out? Did he accidentally hurt me and put me into this hospital bed?

"God, I hate myself for doing this to you." MJ groaned furiously.

What on earth did MJ do to me?

He grabs one of my hands with both of his.

I'm holding hands with my crush.

This cannot be happening.

Oh, but it is. Too bad you can't feel it. My mind said.

Apparently MJ heard my pleading questions because he speaks up again.

"I haven't told anybody this yet, but you deserve to know how you ended up in this hospital bed." He signed.

Okay, now I'm feeling a little petrified.

"Remember that day whenever you and Xoe were out on the football field with the athletic boys? You two were told to toss us our water bottles and footballs whenever we asked."

I smile as I rewind my mind to that day. Xoe and I didn't want to run our mile, so the gym teacher assigned us to help the athletic boys. We were excited because the weather was amazing and I was able to see MJ...from a distance obviously.

"Whenever I saw you and Xoe walking to us, I was thrilled. I couldn't wait to talk to you."

What?! He couldn't wait to talk to me?!

MJ rubs my hand with his thumbs. "Before I could talk to you, I was called by my coach to run through a play. I'm the quarterback for our high school varsity football team, so I had no choice but to run my play."

He's the best quarterback our school has ever seen. He won outstanding awards for performing his position perfectly. I know because I've gone to all of the football games. Yeah...my crush on him is huge.

"Whenever I was backing up to throw the ball, I saw nobody there. So I ran to the right and didn't pay attention to my surroundings." He squeezes his eyes shut. "I rammed into you. You fell and slammed your head on the ground.  You didn't get up, and that scared me."

MJ was worried about me?!

"And you know what the worst part is?"

What?

"Nobody saw me hit you." A tear escapes his eyes. "They thought you were severely dehydrated. They thought your lack of water was the reason you fainted and got put into a coma."

Oh. My. God.

I cannot believe this!

My crush put me into this coma, and nobody saw him do it!

"God, I feel like a coward. I put you in this coma. I didn't admit it because I was too terrified to get kicked off of the team."

What a prick! He was-

"I was horrified you didn't want to see me again for putting you in this horrible state. I wanted to come up here myself, but I haven't grown the courage and balls to do so."

My heart clenches.

"But I'm here now. That must count as something, right?"

I smile sadly, as if I'm saying, Yes, it does count because you're confessing to me and not running your mouth off to anybody else.

"I hope you can forgive me, Mango." He sniffled.

A tear escapes my eye.

I forgive you, Macalister Jay.

Ugh! I wish I could say that to him!

With one last shaky breath, MJ stands up from the chair. He walks away from my bed and to the door. He looks back at me, regret in his eyes. He exits my room, shutting the door gently behind him.