What She Forgot

Chapter Fifteen

"Wake up!" I turned groggily in my sleep, drowning out the sounds. I put my pillow over my head, blocking my ear from the voices. The pillow was ripped from my hands. I forced myself to blink away the sleep. When my vision cleared, I saw Jai Luca standing over me. His face was close to mine. "Wake up!" He yelled. 

I jerked up from the hospital floor. I almost hit him in the head. "What? Why? What's wrong? Have they done it yet?"

By they I meant Mr. and Mrs. Brooks. By it I meant cut off Ariana's life support. It was five months now. It becoming too expensive and Ariana wasn't improving. By now, all of us had lost hope. Her parents were supposed to cut Ariana's life support tomorrow night. We had time to say our goodbyes. Shawn said his goodbyes yesterday and had flown out to finish his tour. That's what Ariana would have wanted. 

But I didn't want her to go.

"No!" Jai yelled. 

"Why are you yelling?" I yelled.

"She's awake, Sam!" 

"Say what now." 

Jai gripped my shoulders and shook. Hard. "Ariana woke up!" 

In a daze, I reached down and pinched my arm. I pinched really hard. I winced in pain. Looking back up, I saw Jai still looking at me. Still gripping my shoulders. So this wasn't a dream after all. With his face so close to mine, I realized that there was something different about Jai. Despite the dark circles underneath his eyes and that paleness to his skin, he looked happy. There was an unmoving smile on his face. His eyes screamed happiness.

So this was real. 

"They're only letting us see her one at a time, so she doesn't get overwhelmed. She's already seen her family, but they're letting friends in now. Peyton's already gone, and Luke beat me into seeing her first. We did rock paper scissors. He knows I always shoot rock first so he did paper," Jai rambled.

"Jai, slow down."

"Sorry," He grinned sheepishly. "I'm going next. Is it okay if you go last?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Jai slapped my shoulder. "See you soon," He grinned. Luke walked out of Ariana's ICU room, a smile almost as big as Jai's. Jai's smile grew and he darted into Ariana's room. Luke and Peyton shared a hug. 

I needed to process this. She was awake. After all this time, I had lost hope. I had gotten used to the idea that Ariana wasn't going to make up. And when her parents decided to take her off of life support, I was getting used to the idea that she wasn't going to be on the earth anymore. And now, all I had thought was wrong. 

Ariana Brooks woke up.

I put my head in my hands. What would I say when I saw her? I couldn't tell her all I had thought all these months. 

"Hey Ariana! While you've been in a coma I've learned a lot about you! Oh by the way, I'm really super jealous of your ex boyfriend Seth Hutchings and I'm secretly insecure that you'll want him and not me. Your parents approve of me pursuing you though! But I'm also not sure if I should fight for you or not! Oh and I might be in love with you while you've been dying. But otherwise, you come here often?"

No! That's not how flirting works! 

Oh my God. Ariana wakes up from a coma and I'm worried about flirting with her. I'm insane! Crazy! Off in the head! Mentally unstable! But that's not news. By now, you should've realized that. If you haven't, you're probably as crazy as I am. 

I stared blankly at the floor. What was I going to do? 

It might've been minutes or maybe hours, but eventually Jai walked out of Ariana's ICU room. His smile was brighter than the North Star, honestly. "Your turn!" Jai crowed as he walked past me. He held his hand up for a high five and I hesitantly complied. As I got up, Jai started running to a bunch of random nurses. "My best friend isn't in a coma anymore!" He screamed. 

I stumbled to Ariana's ICU room. As I crept in, my eyes widened. Ariana was sitting up in bed, completely casual. Her skin was still pale, her cheeks still hollow, and her cheekbones protruding. Her hair was wild, like a bird's nest. Her brown eyes scanned the room, full of wonder. Her expression was "Wow. I really slept for a long time!" 

To me, she'd never looked more gorgeous.

"Hey," I croaked. Ariana's brown eyes snapped to me. I nearly sighed in relief when I saw that normal defiant glimmer in Ariana's eyes. A coma hadn't changed that about her. "How you doing, Ariana?" 

My heart sank and my blood ran cold when the glimmer disappeared. The glimmer was replaced by fear and panic. For me. 

"Who are you?" Ariana demanded. "Mama! Papa!" She shrieked. Her parents ran in. They pushed past me to her side. I stood there numbly as Ariana said in panic, "I don't know who that boy is but he knows me. Please get him out of here!" Mr. and Mrs. Brooks looked at me with sympathy. 

My body went numb. My vision blurred. Hearing left my senses. I lost feeling in my body. My blood stopped flowing. I blindly stumbled out of her hospital room. I had got what I wanted. She woke up. With one thing.

Ariana Brooks didn't remember me.