Just The Way You Like It - Under Construction

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Blake was so relieved when he went into Alice's room and saw that Tess was there with her. At least she wasn't alone after being assaulted by the nine doctors. He thought he would give Alice a little gift to try and show her that he was not upset by her actions the night before. After he had gotten a decent amount of sleep, he had felt a lot better, and had decided to put last night's actions to the side.

Finding out that she could indeed talk, was like someone had lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders. The speed at which they could now work was going to make his life a whole lot easier. Alice still needed a lot of work, but at least she had a voice. Blake wasn't quite sure if she had said 'I'm sorry' when she first spoke to him, she had been so quiet. It didn't matter though, she had talked, and it made his day.

He was still furious with the other doctors for not allowing her some time before their tests, but he was more upset with himself for not being there to help protect her. Alice was so small and ill, and they had unknowingly taken advantage of her. She was not a lab rat, not something they could just cart from room to room and perform their experiments on. She was a woman for God's sake! She was beautiful and none of the other doctors had cared.

He had Tess go fetch the Sheriff, which left himself and Alice alone together again. She looked tired, but happy. He was going to sit next to her, before remembering the events from the night before. Quickly, he tried to change tactics, and switch to chair. Blake hoped that she hadn't noticed, although he was pretty sure she had. He watched Alice carefully, trying to get an idea as to how she was holding up under the stress. He was going to have to get her caught up on the last four years of her life. He knew she remembered what had happened before she got to St. Micheal's, but nothing after that.

Gently, he tried to break the news to her. “Alice, you've been in a coma for the last four years. Do you know what that means?” Blake watched as Alice shook her head no. “A coma is like a very deep sleep, one that is really hard to wake from.” Alice was looking straight at him, trying to understand his words. He felt like shit, having to tell her all this now, but it had to be done before Luke got there. “When you came here, Alice, you were really hurt. You had a lot of broken bones, and your brain was bleeding.” He paused, giving her time to think about what he was trying to tell her. “We had to perform a lot of surgeries on you to make you better. And afterward, there was too much damage to your brain, and you went into a coma.”

Blake was fighting back the tears, just watching her face was enough to make the faucets turn on. Blake rarely cried, the last time he had was at his Dad's funeral, almost three years ago. It was strange to think, that even back then, Alice had been here, at St. Micheal's. “Nobody knew if you were going to wake up or not, and then yesterday you did! So here you are, and my job is to make you healthy again. You're going to have to learn to walk again, eat, write, that sort of stuff. Do you understand?” Again, Alice slowly nodded her head. “Its going to be a lot of work, and I know this morning was really scary for you. But, those doctors that took you out of here were only trying to help. They did a piss-poor job of it, but it was all for your benefit.”

Alice looked doubtful, but she continues to nod her head that she understood. “Do you have any questions for me?” Dr. Hansen asked, thinking now would be the best time to get her talking again. When she had spoke to him for the first time, she sounded very unsure of herself, and he wanted to reassure her that she was doing a good job. Alice was still looking straight at Dr. Hansen when she finally opened her mouth and spoke.

“Am I ugly?” Blake's mouth almost fell to the floor.

“No at all Alice, why would you say such a thing?”

“From before, I thought maybe you thought I was ugly. I know my hair is short now, and I have scars. . .” Alice began drifting off into her own thoughts.

“Alice, what is it, what are you thinking about? Please tell me.” Dr. Hansen felt so badly for her now. She obviously didn't understand just yet what was going on. “Alice your not ugly at all. Your hair is short because that’s how we cut it for all of our coma patients. Short hair just easier for the orderly to keep clean, that’s all. And your scars are nothing to be ashamed of, they certainly don't make you ugly. Whats on your mind, Alice?”

“Some of these scars weren't here before.” Alice was now looking down at her own body, trying to remember what her body had felt like in the darkness. “I'm not sure, but I think this one is new.” She traced a long scar that ran down her left arm from her elbow to her wrist.

“We had to perform a lot of surgeries on you Alice. I'm sure there are a lot of scars that you don't remember.”

“Oh.” Alice said, still deep in thought.

“You're beautiful Alice, inside and out. Never forget that.” Blake got out of his chair and sat back down on the bed next to Alice. He was sure he was breaking some kind of rule by speaking to a patient like that, but he didn't care. It was obvious she needed someone to reassure her right now, and he was the only other person in the room who could do it. He certainly didn’t feel like he was lying to her, she was beautiful. Blake still found it amazing that her face had not been touched by the years of abuse she had obviously endured. They talked for another hour or so, well Blake did most of the talking, before eventually just starring off into space. Both were deep in thought about what needed to be done. A knock from the door, brought both Alice and Blake out of their stupors. Nurse Tess popped her head through the door.

“Sheriff Luke is here you to see you Alice. Is it alright if he comes in?"