Deep Asleep

Chapter 6 : California

Max's nurse explained her that Jane was in a reactive state of consciousness phase, meaning she could only open and close her eyes and her hands, but she couldn't communicate because she couldn't understand that the person next to her could understand her. It was complicated, she didn't understand everything, but she knew that Jane couldn't answer her for now, but it was a good thing apparently. The redhead wasn't allowed to leave her bed anyway, and it was creepy to talk to someone who wasn't understanding that you were alive.

- "When am I supposed to be operated again?" Max asked.

- "Tomorrow for you knee, and the doctor told that your elbow didn't need an operation, right?"

- "Yep, that's cool, I'll leave the hospital sooner than it was planned. How long is she going to stay like that?"

- "We can't know. It depends of many different factors; it can be fast as it can be very long."

- "I hope it'll be fast."

- "You're more optimistic than when you arrived," the nurse smiled.

- "Yeah, maybe, as she is my only company, I guess it creates bonds."

- "I'm not a good company?"

- "It's not the same, you can't stay here all day listening to my complaints, you're working. I don't even know your name."

- "It's Meredith."

- "Okay, cool, we are best friends now!" Max said with irony.

- "You want to sit next to her?"

- "I thought I wasn't supposed to move?"

- "Not alone, but if I help you, there is no problem to stay a little bit next to her if you prefer. Just be careful of what you say, okay?"

- "Yeah, sure, okay!"

Meredith helped Max to go in the wheelchair and rolled her to Jane's bed.

- "Here, it's your button, you call me when you want to go back in your bed, okay?"

- "Okay, thank you."

The nurse smiled to her before leaving the room. Max took a moment to observe the young girl on the bed. She waved above her face, but she didn't react.

- "Maybe my nurse doesn't hate me in fact, that's cool," Max smiled. "I heard you were coming back to us, that's cool, I hope you'll wake up before I leave. I'm curious to know how you are. I'm sure you're very interesting to listen to, or boring, I don't know yet, it will depend of your percentage of nerditude. I wonder what you're dreaming of, if you're dreaming. Maybe you're playing chess, again and again. For me, it sounds like a nightmare, but I guess not for you. Or maybe you're flying with all the birds that are in your book, 'must be cool, this is a real dream, I mean, who never wanted to fly? It's the best thing ever! No traffic, no assholes, no problems. And if you steal food, they can't catch you, that's perfect! I don't know why I'm telling you all of that, certainly because I'm sure you don't care, and maybe I'm annoying you, but you can't tell me, that's cool. Well, I hope I'm not annoying, it's hard enough to be in a coma, you don't need an annoying redhead next to you!...Maybe I should stop talking to you, you've other things to do..."

Once again, Max managed to ruin her mood alone. She didn't need her family for this, she was the best at it. She looked around and noticed more pictures on the nightstand. She took them to look closely at them.

- "Well, I'm sure this handsome boy is your boyfriend, and this girl must be your best friend, right? They both look great, they must be worried for you. Maybe they'll come to see you soon, like that I'll know more about you. It sounds creepy, I need to stop. You have a beautiful smile, if you were wondering. You certainly broke many hearts! Like me, I'm a heartbreaker, (chuckles) it's false. Or maybe I broke hearts without knowing it, as I don't really care. I'm gonna try to guess their names. Um...Andrew...and...Mary. Yeah, I'm sure it's that. I'm sure they're nice. When I was in California, I had a few friends, boys, my best friend was Nate. He was shy and all, I liked being with him, we used to build things; one day we built a ramp to skate, it was so cool! But Neil and Billy arrived in my life and everything changed. Billy terrified all my friends, so they stopped calling me to play with them, and then Neil decided to move, like that I was sure I was going to lose my friends forever! Thankfully I've found new friends, they're tougher than they look, except Mike, he is as weak as he looks. I'm joking, they're all cool, and they don't care about Billy. Of course they're scared of him, but they still call me to spend some time with me, that's cool. Anyway, I should let you alone instead of annoying you with my shitty life."

Max took her button and pushed it. A few minutes later, Meredith arrived and brought the redhead back in her bed.

- "How was it?" the woman smiled.

- "I don't know, I still think it's useless, but a part of me thinks she can hear me, and I've nothing happy to tell her, I don't want her to wake up depressed because of me."

- "What did you tell her?"

- "Oh, nothing important, just sad memories."

- "It's not a good idea."

- "That's all I have. Anyway, I'll be out soon, she will never know that I exist. And I'm tired, I'm gonna sleep a bit."

- "Good idea, you need to be ready for your operation tomorrow."

The nurse closed a bit the roller blinds and left the room. Max closed her eyes but didn't fall asleep. Talking about California made her realize how much she was missing this place; the sun, the beaches, the ocean...She wondered how her old friends were, especially Nate, they were very close to each other at one time. Well, it was in another life, now she was stuck here, far from California.