His Name Was Damian

thirty-seven

Damian

Melanie, Xavier, Lana, and I sat around our usual table as we ate our lunch. It was shit like always but that didn't prevent me from scarfing down four turkey sandwiches.

"Dude, slow down, you're going to choke," Xavier scolded me. "Try swallowing."

"Fuck off," I laugh. "Were eating the same exact way."

Melanie attempted not to laugh, as it would hurt her ribs, but failed, "You guys can't say shit like that, it hurts me."

"Sorry, Mel."

"Apology accepted."

I sneak a glance over at Lana as she ate her food in silence. She stared hard at her phone, focusing more on it then on the conversation at the table.

"You've been quiet, more than usual," I say quietly to her.

She spares me a glance before returning to look at her phones "I'm just reading," She says simply. "No big deal."

"Well then what are you reading?"

"Nothing."

"If it's 'nothing' do you mind if I read too?"

"I don't think you want to read this."

"What are you two talking about," Xavier asks, moving away from his conversation with Melanie.

"Lana over here is reading something on her phone that she doesn't want me to see," I reply, taking another bite of my sandwich.

"What are you doing on your phone? Reading porn?"

"No," Lana yells in defense.

"Then let me see," Xavier says snatching away her phone at the table.

"Xavier!"

Xavier scanned the phone quickly before turning it off and sliding it across the table. "We've already done all our research. Reading about comas won't tell us anything."

"Don't you want to know what Naomi is going through right now," Lana asks, almost yelling at us

The table goes quiet as the rest of the cafeteria remains loud around us.

"I mean, guys, come on! We can at least try to understand what happens when she comes out of it. People who come out of commas can recover normally or can take years; we should be prepared for what we see. I don't want to be scared."

Scared. That's the opposite response Naomi would give off.

"We won't be," I say. "It's Naomi. She could wake up a little different but it's still her."

"Damian..."

"It's still going to be her!"

Melanie only stared at me as her response to my yell and I couldn't take it. I take my lunch tray and dump it on the way out of the cafeteria.

"Damian!"

"Go back to the cafeteria, Xavier."