Don't Give Up On Me

Chapter 15

   Dreams aren't just something you can play with, yes sometimes you get those dreams where it just makes no sense because they have to do with a duck fighting Freddy Krueger. At the end of the day it just means you should probably stop feeding the ducks at the pond and you watch too many scary movies. The dream I had about Thea seemed real to me because it was Thea. I know there are always these stories about people in a coma seeing Jesus while they were out, and then they wake up and have this newfound religion. I'm not saying Thea is going to wake up and think I'm some God. I'm just saying people can experience things even when they are unconscious. I remember reading that when people are in a coma they can visit people in their dreams and talk to them. It doesn't mean their dead it just means that they are probably bored lying down in the hospital bed with nobody to talk to. Before going in the room my phone vibrates in my pocket about one hundred times. Standing outside of Thea's hospital room I try to build up the courage to go inside, but the fear of seeing her in that bed consumes me. I can't believe I am standing outside my unconscious friend's room by myself. I start to remember how painful it was for Laine to see Thea and now I was about to face that hurt. I have never lost anyone or anything in my life like Laine has, but the feeling that I was about to made me feel extremely queasy. I slowly reach for the doorknob and twist it. I can hear the gears grinding and turning as I twist. It's like I've become aware of every sound and just like that the door opens, the first thing I see is a closed curtain. As I walk in further I take slow steps because that's the only speed I can manage to move at. As I near the opening of the curtain, my body starts to shake and my legs feel like jello. I push past it though, and soon I am face to face with my best friend. Lying on the hospital bed, I see Thea's unconscious body connected to tubes and monitors with loud beeping sounds. I feel sick so I walk over to the empty chair next to Thea's bedside. For a few minutes, I sit there quiet and still until a nurse walks in.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know anyone had come to stay with her tonight. Who are you? I can't say I've seen you here before?"

"I'm her best friend and I've known her since we were babies. It's just been a tough time for me, and I couldn't build up the courage to come see her."

"Well, now that you have I hope you get some closure she's fighting I can tell, but they are only giving her until the beginning of next month."

"What?"

"Yeah, the doctor talked to her parents this morning and told them that if she doesn't wake up then they might want to consider letting her go, because the longer she stays unconscious, the more her memory will start to disappear."

"They can't do that her body is getting healthier she could wake up at any moment."

"Well, whatever fight she has left in her she needs to use it now. I'll leave you two alone for a little while."

"Thank you."

"No problem! I'll be down the hall at my desk if you need me. My name is Wendy by the way." I wait until Wendy leaves the room and then I rest my hand on Thea's fragile hand.

"Thea, I know you can hear me, and I know that was you in my dream this morning please move your hand or something to show them you are still in there. I'm sorry for everything I did to you and I treated you so badly. Everyone showed up today at this fundraiser we threw for you and it was great. So many people love you, and you don't even know it. I can't stop thinking about the day I fell in love with you, we were sitting in the library after school in eighth grade, and you said you were done with school, and you were just going to travel the world. I laughed at you because you were so serious about this you even showed me a map of all the places you were going to go. You asked me to go with you, and I hated that my parents never took anything serious so I told you I would go anywhere with you, but then you looked me in the eye and said I couldn't leave my family because they'd miss me too much. So to convince you not to go I told you Tatyana would have nobody left and you said, 'Damn it that's true.' So you continued to go to school and said how I was such an asshole for making you responsible for taking care of Tatyana. That was when I first realized I loved you, the second was when we graduated middle school and you came up to me, showed me your certificate, and said you did it. You were so proud of yourself and you were so happy I couldn't help but hug you. The moment I knew I didn't want anybody else but you was the day after the first day of high school. When you came home crying about how people talked to you, that was when you first showed love for yourself and the real you came out for the first time. Only for a brief moment and I was completely head over heels in love with you. Thea if you decide not to wake up know that I love you, and you have made me the man I am today. I have a lot more growing up to do, but you are the reason I continue to get through life. Seeing the endless amount of strength you have had through the years and continue to have even while you lie here in this bed. I love you more than you could ever imagine. If you decide to wake up I know it will be hard for you to be confident and get back to the real world, but I will be right next to you forever and always." I rest my head next to Thea's arm and hold her tight she's so skinny, and she feels warm, but still no movement besides her breathing. I fall asleep and for the first time in weeks I sleep with comfort. Wendy wakes me up at ten o'clock and tells me I need to leave because visitor hours are over and only family can stay overnight. I kiss Thea on her forehead and walk out of the room and back into the hallway. Leaving Thea is the hardest thing to do, but I wait until I get in my car to cry. This time, I cry out and talk to Jesus.