The Unraveling of Isla Rose

A Turn for the Worst

I hung up the phone in disbelief. How could this have happened? He was fine yesterday and now this! I ran home and explained it all to my parents. If only felt like seconds later that I was in the ER running to the front desk and asking the lady with bubble gum pink hair and a button up shirt with threatened to give way for Tom Mathews. She gave me his room number and the name of the ward he was on. My heart sunk when I realised Tom was under constant medical supervision in the ICU. I walked along the corridor feeling like this was all so surreal. This couldn't possibly be happening to me, it had to all be a horribly realistic nightmare. I opened the door to his room seeing his parents sitting next to his bed looking tired and stressed. His mother smiled at me sadly and ushered me over to the bed. He was lying there motionless almost as though he was sleeping. He had all number of tubes and monitors running off him and was wrapped in bandages. Tom had been driving home from the cinema yesterday afternoon. Angry and not thinking straight when he ran straight into a tree at the park opposite the school. The very same one I had leaned up against the first time he had asked me out for a Winnie The Pooh quote. He had made his car look like it was mad of paper and now he was lying here wrapped up like a rag doll and begin kept alive by monitors and machines. He had been flung forward and had hit his head on the windscreen which shattered. He had 3 broken ribs had tissue damage to his legs a broken right foot and broken collar bone. The worst part was that he was currently in a coma lying next to a little machine that was helping him breathe. I looked at him hopelessly, hardly knowing what to do or say. The last time he saw me, he had hated me. Driven off angry after watching his girlfriend kiss another boy. The last thing I had done was accuse him of kissing a girl that hasn't talked to me in months. I didn't think it was possible to feel as ashamed and ridiculous as I did right now as I looked at him and watched his eyelids twitch and flutter slightly, the same way they did the first time I ever saw him sleeping. Last time he had woken with a smirk curving his lips this time I was worried he may not wake at all. I had spent the night at the hospital the same way Tom had when I was high on painkillers and antidepressants. That seemed like such a minor thing compared to now. I heard the machines humming and purring in time to his breathing and I couldn't help but wish that I could switch them all off and he would wake up and laugh saying,

"Hey weirdo!" and we would skip out of there and I would yell,

"You tried and you did not succeed this boy belongs to me."

Sadly I didn't think that day would ever come. Overnight he had been relatively stable with most signs looking fine. The only bad sign was that he still hadn't woken up... I was told by some of the nurses that while Toms accident was serious it was not uncommon. he would most likely wake up and be just fine perhaps some things might be a little hazy but things should go back to normal within a few days. My parents finally managed to convince me that I couldn't spend my life next to a hospital bed and I would one day soon, have to go back to school. That afternoon I got in the car and we drove home. Similar to the way back from the hospital last time I sat in silence receiving looks of concern from my parents. I woke early the next morning to a phone call. It was Tom's mum. "Tom has woken up but he is a little confused. His memory is poor and his speech is a little slurred. We were hoping that by seeing you it might help him to remember some things."

I was shocked, relieved and scared all at the same time. I muttered something back and said I would be there as soon as I could. When we finally arrived back at the hospital I almost ran up to the ICU and barged into the room to see Tom's parents again by his side and him looking hazy. I approached more slowly this time a little scared of what I was about to see. I looked down at his face and was relieved to see that he didn't look too bad. A little sleep deprived and a bit dazed. "Hello," I said timidly waiting to see how he would respond. He slowly brought his focus to my face and looked at me for a few seconds desperately trying to recognise me. "Mum, who is this?" I felt my heart break a little. He really had forgotten everything.

"That is Ilah, darling." I glanced back down at him and said,

"I am your girlfriend and you used to call me a weirdo..." I felt a wash of relief flow over me again as his face split into a huge smile and he said,

"Hey, weirdo! Now I defiantly remember you." I laughed and I heard his parents sigh in relief as though they had been holding their breath.

"I think we will leave you to be for a bit." His mum said suggestively. I thanked her and went to sit in the chair next to his bed.

"Tell me everything you remember about me," I said curiously as to exactly what he could remember.

It was probably a good sign that he had smiled rather than sneered when he put a name to my face.

"I remember you smiling because we were celebrating something. We were on a beach and you were wearing red I think."

"It was my birthday," I said smirking at the first memory that came to his head.

"I remember...kissing you and laughing and.... crying." The smile faded from my face I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

"You had done something bad and I was really upset but I knew it wasn't really your fault."

I was about to start apologising when he said,

"You had bandages on your left arm and you were lying in a hospital bed." This wasn't what I thought he had been referring to.

"Are you ok now?" He asked anxiously.

I laughed and assured him I was fine. At that moment a nurse walked in and smiled.

"It appears that he has every piece of memory except for the day of the accident. He can't remember what he had for breakfast or how he got here, but everything before that is crystal clear."

I thought about this for a second before I realised this meant he wouldn't remember the argument or the kiss between me and Adam. I suddenly cheered up and began talking animatedly to him as he recounted everything he could remember and I filled in minor details. Just before I left later that day I leaned forward and whispered,

"Seeing as you can remember most things I thought I should add to the moments a little more, perhaps add some texture."

He looked at me confused then I leaned in and kissed him. His lips felt just the same as they had a few days ago and if I closed my eyes I could pretend I was back on the beach in the cool salty water, with his arms wrapped around me. I stood up and looked at him as his eyes lit up and he grinned at me.

"See ya later weirdo." He called out as I shut the door behind me I thought I heard him say something under his breath but thought it was just him mumbling through the painkillers. I was walking down the hallway when I heard a sound like a buzzer going off and all these nurses began rushing into the room I had just left and I heard someone yell

"Code Black!"