Faded Lines

Chapter 20.

* Aiken *

I wanted to jump for joy. She woke up! As she fell back under, I ran out of the room to find a nurse. Finding a nurses station, I ran up to it. "She woke up! Said three words, then fell back asleep! This is good right?"

The nurse paged the doctor, then followed me back to the room. She stayed quiet, killing me. I needed to know what was going on! Walking back in the room, the doctor was already there.

"So she woke up? Tell me what happened."

"Um, well I was telling her a story, during half way through it I stopped looking at her, so I don't know how long she was awake, but when I was finished. She said my name. I looked at her, hugged her, then um, kissed her. She lightly pushed me away, smiled, said "I'm sorry," then passed back out. " I blushed.

"Alright, the doctor laughed, well I've checked all of her monitors. She didn't slip back in the coma. She is just sleeping for now. My guess by looking at her tear stained face, you told an emotional story and basically dragged her back. By doing this, she exhausted her body to the limit, so she might sleep for awhile. I'm going to have the nurse still give her pain meds but not such a high doseage. When she wakes up, I know you are going to want to talk to her, but make sure the first thing you do is press the nurse button. I need to ask her a few question about her pain, and the cops also need to have a word with her. I don't want to push her though,  so I'll ask her to tell me when she is ready. Have a good rest of the night."

I smiled, slumping down into the chair. Thank goodness! I called my mom and told her the story and what all the doctor said. She was happy, she even cried a bit saying that she knew she could do it. She told me she would call Kelly and to try and clean up, and get some sleep. So that's exactly what I did. I showered, changed clothes, and then got in the bed with Eva. Feeling her snuggle into my side. I smiled. Things were starting to look up.

I woke up to the sound of laughter. Jolting awake, I looked around seeing nobody in the room. Looking to my right, Eva had her hand pressed over her mouth, trying to contain herself.

"What's so funny, Barbie?" I joked with a playful smile.

"Your hair! And hey, you promised that if I woke up, you'd stop calling me Barbie!  I'm holding you to that."

I smoothed my hair down some before looking at her again. It was nice to see her smile. Her bruises had almost completly faded away. I reach over and pressed the nurse button, remembering what the doctor said.

"Yes?" I heard a noise come from it.

"She is awake." I told her, keeping my eyes on Eva. Not wanting her to disappear.

"Doctor is on his way."

I didn't reply to her. Searching Eva's face I saw a twinkle in her eye, making me smile. "So you heard everything?"

"I hoestly don't know. The first time I heard anything was when you made the promise, and begged me to wake up. I was confused. I thought I was awake. I also heard, Kelly and your mom, with you a few times in between. I hate to admit this, but I looked forward to you talking to me, I felt so lonely. Peaceful, but still alone. And I did try and fight. I promise. Every time one of you would talk to me, I tried. So hard." She started to cry.

I gently wrapped my arms around her, pulling her to me. "Shh, everything is fine now. You did it! You pulled through. You won, and don't have to fight anymore! Thank you Eva. For everything." I calmly rubbed her back.

She went to speak again right as the door opened and the doctor walked in. "Great, you're awake, he exclaimed, my name is Doctor Stevens, how are you feeling?"

"Um, I'm alright. My ribs are a little sore and I'm still kinda tired," she explained hesitantly.

"That's to be expected. I'll get the nurse to bring you some medicine.." he started.

"No, Eva raised her voice, um, I mean please no. I don't want anymore medicine right now. If it gets too bad. I'll ask for it, please. I don't like the way it makes me feel."

Doctor Stevens raised an eyebrow, but complied, "Well if you say so. Then alright. There is one other thing I needed to talk to you about. The cops are needig your statement, if you aren't ready yet,  then I will tell them to come back later. Also, everyone else is here to see you. Like I said, it's all up to you."

"I can talk to them now, but can you send Michelle in first, please."

"Will do," he exited the room.

"Im going to step out of the room so you can talk to my mom. If you need me just send someone for me. I'll be back after the cops leave." I kissed her forehead heading out of the room. I needed some time to think.

"Aiken..." I stopped at the door but didn't turning around.

"Thank you, she continued, for everything. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't of pulled through when I did. Your story... I'm sorry that happened to you. But it showed me that if you fight hard enough, and keep trying. You can win. You can push through. I could tell that when you told your story, you still felt all the pain. And that probably won't ever go away. But the self loathing, in your voice shouldn't be there. Don't make the same mistake that I did. Talk to someone. Whether it be a professional or friend. Don't carry the burden on your own, it not only hurts you, but the people who care about you as well. That's what I learned. I hurt everyone by keeping this to myself. I was selfish, thinking I was doing the right thing, not wanting to put my burden on others. But that's not true. If someone really cares for you, it won't be a burden to them, but a blessing. Just please remember that."

I nodded my head, but stayed quiet.  Then walked out of the room.