Silent all these years

Chapter 14: As the days go by

71 

Kim crossed off another day on her calendar. It had now been 67 days since Shannon had been in her coma. She'd spent as much time as she could by her side. All of Shannon's siblings had rotated shifts to be at the hospital in case she woke up. Kim had been grateful for them so she could get a little sleep too. 

Ron had been good to her also. He brought her coffee and food often, some from the cafeteria and some from fast food places. Marissa had apologized for trying to be so pushy with trying to get Kim to move on with someone else. She'd even brought flowers for Shannon three days ago. Marissa had stayed a few hours talking to Kim and Hego. And still Kim wasn't a fan of hers. 

Drakken had been in and out of Shego's room. His anxiety of being in a hospital was almost outrageous. He had to breathe in a paper bag and pace like a mad man. He'd even confessed that when he was in high school he'd been bullied and had to be in the hospital for two weeks. The bullies had broken a few bones and bruised him badly.  

Kim knew now that had to do with his insanity of wanting revenge. The whole taking over the world schemes and so many other things. In the end it was more of him being emotionally broken inside. Drakken had found not only a sidekick in Shego, but a friend too. 

Talking to Kim had made Drakken feel a lot better and he was looking less blue these days. And still seeing Shego in her veggie like state was torture. He couldn't be alone with her for more than five minutes at a time. It wrecked him inside to see her so unlike herself . . . so helpless. 

72

"It's 1:30 in the morning, Kim, why don't you go home and get some rest." Hego said as he sipped his coffee. 

Kim yawned and her very tired green eyes slowly opened and then closed. "I don't think I should drive. I'll sleep in the lobby." 

"I could have Mego come and pick you up." Hego said , looking worn out himself. 

Kim shook her head. "Nah, I'm good." She stood up from the chair and wobbled in place. She caught her balance and headed for the lobby. 

Hego put his cup of Joe down and rubbed his tired face of sleep. "If you can hear me, Shannon, we're waitng for you. We love you and we miss you." He closed his eyes to rest for a few minutes. 

The doctors had talked with him about pulling the plug on her. He absolutely tore that down at once. Kim would never allow it either and he knew it. Hego had never mentioned it to Kim. The last thing he wanted was to see her even more broken. 

Kim plopped down in a corner and stared at the ground. Mr. Sandman wanted to send her to dreamland, but she fought it off for almost five minutes. "Crap." She complained as her body forced her to sleep for her own health. 

73

Hego sat in the cafeteria spooning around melted chocolate ice cream. He was trying so hard to be strong for everyone, especially Kim. Inside he felt powerless even though he had super strength. A message binged in and he looked at his phone. It was Kim saying it was now day 68 without Shannon waking up.  

Hego messaged her back that he was in the cafeteria. Kim showed up five minutes later. She sat across from him. They weakly smiled at each other. Not sleeping much had taken a toll on them. Both had heavy dark circles under their eyes, but neither cared. All they wanted was Shannon back. 

Kim hid a yawn with her hand. Then she spoke, "Every time I go to sleep I have nightmares." 

Hego looked at her. "I recently had one too. That you and Shannon were trapped and I couldn't save either of you." 

"The doctor's will tell us if anything changes. Maybe we should go to the Go Tower and get some sleep." Hego said, trying not to catch Kim's yawn. 

Kim agreed and stood up. Together they left and Hego slowly drove them there. 

All was peaceful and quiet as Kim lay in Shannon's bed. She hoped the nightmares would back off so she could get some actual rest. 

74

Kim had spent most of her days at the Go Tower. She did chores and helped Hego with many other things. He had asked her to move in. She politely declined the offer. She would rather have her place with Shannon in it. Plus there was way more privacy there. 

Kim sat on the rooftop watching the clouds and birds go by. She wondered how that kind of freedom felt. Sure she had skydived several times, but to have actual wings was different. A control she didn't have, but wanted badly. 

For the first time in a long time what Shannon was going through was completely out of her control. This whole thing was making her crazy. She was still angry with Hego knowing Shannon was alive almost all of the time she had been gone. 

"Is it okay if I join you?" Drakken asked, trying not to scare her. 

Kim looked at him. He'd lost weight and his hair was graying even more. "You look sick." 

Drakken came over and sat down. "Sick with worry and disgusted with myself. I should have known she was alive." He grimaced. "Now we don't know if she'll even wake up." 

Kim sighed, "Yeah, I know. All we can do is keep on praying for a miracle." 

Drakken smiled tiredly at her. "True. It really is a nice day. Shego loved cloud watching. She always found the strangest things in them. Bugs, snakes, and one time she said there was a cloud shaped like one of those men you find on money. I forget which one." 

Kim found that odd, but laughed. "When she wakes up she can tell us."