Mr. Whoever You Are

Chapter 16

Faith POV: 

My eyes peel open slowly, as slow beeps and stone cold silence fill my ears. My arms are freezing, goose bumps rising up on them as I begin to carefully look around. My body is sore, and tense, making it hard to move. I look to each side to see no one else in the room... only a small vase full of my favorite colored wildflowers. The side of my head aches, as the light coming in from the hall causes me a bit of a migraine. 

Why am I here? What happened to me? 

I was shot... Brad shot me in the head. I remember...

Where's Tim? 

I don't have an answer for that... 

I sit up slowly, my ribs burning as I do so. I look for a call button, but it's on a remote, sitting on a chair out of my reach. I sit still, my hands in my lap, as I debate what to do. I could go for it... Hell, if I sit on the edge of the bed, I can probably reach it. I scoot to the edge of the bed, and reach to the remote, my fingers just barely out of reach from it. I ease myself down onto my feet, grabbing onto the bed for balance, until I'm certain in my ability to walk. I'm doing surprisingly well, giving me the courage to instead walk out in search of Tim. Maybe he's talking to a doctor. 

I walk out into the congested hallway full of unfamiliar faces. People run into me, knocking me around a bit, as if they hadn't seen me at all. In the middle of the chaos, I spot Paul, due to his shiny-balding head. I follow him down the hall, knowing I'm not fast enough to catch up to him. He's on a mission. 

Halfway down the hall, he suddenly stops, and begins to stare through a window, coffee in hand. He takes a sip out of the cup, and stares down at something, a slight smile emerging. I slowly come toward him, the hall still busy enough where he doesn't even realize me. 

"Paul..." I call out, my voice small and rasping. He turns toward me, before paling out completely. He blinks quickly, before gasping, and placing a hand over his mouth. 

"What the hell are you doing out of bed?" He begins to chastise, trying to get me to sit down. I shake my head, and try to figure out what he's looking out. I peak over his shoulder into the window to see a nursery. One cradle is marked Audrey McGraw. He spots my stare, and begins to panic, as tears come to my eyes. "Calm down... Alright? You've been in a coma for a while... You... For all intensive purposes, you were dead... I don't understand why you're standing here right now, especially since they told us you'd be paralyzed..." He rambles, clearly freaked out. 

"Is that my..." I stutter, taking deep breaths. He nods slowly, breathing deeply with me. 

"Somehow the baby survived... She was born premature, but she's doing pretty good..." He answers, stumbling around the answer. I swallow hard, as I stare at her through the glass. 

"Tim... Where is he?" I spit out, trying to focus. He looks down at his watch and shrugs. 

"Should've been here an hour ago." He replies, offering me no help. I turn back to the little girl, and press against the window. 

"Can I go in?" I ask carefully. He shrugs, before waving me in. He follows me, and watches as I hover over her cradle. She's beautiful... She has his brown eyes and hair. 

"Go on and hold her." He says, motioning toward her. I slowly lift her up, holding her against my chest. I feel a little winded. 

"She's lighter than Gracie or Maggie..." I release, swaying slowly. She wraps her hand around my finger tightly, squeezing it so hard it pounds. 

"She's a grabber. About lost circulation in my finger the first time I held her." He says, brushing his fingers through her short hair. Part of me aches, as I think of the time I've missed. 

"How old is she?" I ask cautiously. 

"About a month and a half." He replies. "You were out for nine months total, I'm pretty sure. You opened your eyes the day after you got shot, but they said that was a spasm, not you gaining complete consciousness. They told us you were brain dead yesterday, so Tim went home for some sleep... He said he's be back by noon and it's two..." He runs on, making me feel numb. They thought I was dead? 

"Mrs McGraw!" A nurse shouts in the nursery, causing me to wince. Most of the babies are sleeping, and she's not exactly being quiet. "Mrs, you shouldn't be out of bed." She says, trying to coax me out of holding Audrey. I stare down at Audrey, before looking at the nurse. 

"I can't leave her..." I release in response, holding her tightly. She sighs, and begins dragging the cradle behind her as she leads us back to my hospital room. I sit down, as they hook me up to a ton of machines, while letting me hold Audrey. 

"How did you undo all of these?" Paul asks, impressed with the complexity of it all. 

"I didn't..." I reply, looking at the nurse. 

"They were running tests to see if you were brain dead, which led them to remove all of your IV's and such." The nurse says, jabbing me with a needle. I wince, and squeeze Audrey a little tighter. She's quieter than Gracie or Maggie was as an infant. 

"I'm going to try calling Tim again. Are you okay?" Paul asks. I nod slowly, and take a deep breath, looking down at the fragile body in my arms. She's beautiful... 

"Ms Hill?" The nurse releases after Paul closes the door. I look over at her, to see her looking as if she could cry. "You're so lucky to be alive..."