The Coma Patient

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Christian grasped my hand and pulled me through the new door. This one was a purple door. The next place was a living room—one unfamiliar to me. On the couch sat Josh with his arm around…someone I’d never seen before, a strawberry blonde headed girl. Christian tugged me back and met my eyes. “Sometimes in this you will see things that aren’t in your head but are things your heart might suspect that are true. You might see things you don’t want to see that are from the real world—a part of someone else’s live—a person’s life that is connected or important to yours.”

I turned back to the scene in front of us and pushed my hair behind my ears. I bit my lip and wiped my hands on my black dress. It was the dress I was wearing when I got it. It was knee length with a thin black leather belt around my waist. The top of it was a lot like a fitted t-shirt. On my feet I had a pair of combat boots that went up to mid-calf.

Josh’s arm tightened and he kissed the girl’s head, making my heart squeeze. “Anna, can we do something else? This movie is terrible.” My eyes moved to the television screen and they widened. This was the movie Josh and I went and saw on our first date at the theater.

“You’re the one that wanted to rent it,” the girl, Anna, said running her hand up Josh’s chest.

“I know but…the case made it seem better than it is,” he groaned.

Anna smirked and swung one leg over his lap before settling down on his thighs. “So what do you want to do?” He gave her a smug smirk before leaning in and putting his lips on hers.

I bit my lip. This happened after our first date—I knew because the movie didn’t come out on DVD until months later. He and I were dating during this. Tears stung my eyes. “He cheated on me?” I asked, turning to look at Christian. “I never…I thought he cared about me.”

“I’m sure he does,” Christian whispered, rubbing my back gently. “How could he not?”

“You say that like it is a simple fact of life,” I commented.

Christian shrugged. “Isn’t it?”

I looked back at Josh and Anna. The scene had changed. It was a night. Josh was sitting farther from Anna. A different movie was playing. Anna was angry. “Have you broken up with her yet?” she asked.

            “I will, An, I promise. I just can’t right now,” Josh said. He was pleading with her.

            “You’ve said that so many times. Why can’t you just break it off with her! She’s nothing but a stupid girl! She isn’t me. I don’t even know what you see in her. She’s not even pretty.” Anna was seething.

            “Anna, you know I love you. You know that. But Chastity was my friend for a really long time. I can’t just break up with her like that. I don’t want to lose her as a friend. It’s not as easy as you think it is. Every time I try to break up with her I just feel like a jerk.”

            I pressed my hand to my forehead. He didn’t want to be with me. Josh was only with me because he felt bad for me. A tear rolled down my cheek, one that Christian was quick to catch. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. “It’s alright, Chas, you’re too good for him anyway. He doesn’t deserve you.”

            I curled my fists in his shirt. “How could he do this to me?” I asked as more tears fell. “I thought he cared about me. We’ve been friends since we were toddlers. He’s the one who originally wanted to go out with me.” I pressed my face into Christian’s neck. “Why did this happen to me? Why would he do this?”

            “I don’t know, Chastity, I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Christian whispered rubbing my back. “If I had someone like you I’d make sure I never hurt them.”

            I pulled back from him after another moment. The scene was different again. It was of my living room. “Are you almost done?!” he called. “We’ve got to go if we want to make the reservations.” This was only a month ago. Josh’s phone rang and he immediately answered it. “Hey I can’t talk now, Anna, I’m—no I haven’t—well I’m just about to—yes I am—No, Anna, really it’s not like that I just don’t know—alright…I love you too, bye.”

            I sucked in a breath. And moved around the couch Josh was sitting on. “I’m done with this,” I said harshly. I shoved open the next door.

            “No, Chastity—wait!” Christian said hastily. He grasped my upper arm as I was about to step through. “Don’t be so impulsive, you need to slow down. If you go through a door without some caution you might get hurt.”

            “I can’t be in here anymore,” I replied, tugging my arm away harshly. Seeing the hurt look on Christian’s face I couldn’t help but add more. “Look, Christian, I’m sorry but you don’t understand.” I waved my hand towards where Josh was. “That hurts, so much. I can’t stand in here another second, I can’t take another moment of it. I put so much faith in that ass and it turns out that it was good for absolutely nothing.” My tone was softer but I knew the words weren’t. It wasn’t right to take out my pain and anger on him. The betrayal hit me hard, it pierced my heart and I knew I couldn’t ignore it any more than I could jump out of my head with the snap of my fingers.

            “I know this sucks but getting through this is the only way—“

            “I know, I know. It’s the only way I’ll get back,” I groaned. “Can’t you just give me some magical red sparkly heels and tell me to click them together?”

            He gave me a dry look. “I’m not a witch and this isn’t Oz.”

            I gave him a mock glare. “Oh I’m very aware that this isn’t Oz.”