Who is Blake Evans

The good and the bad

I'm on the phone with Jane. She sounds tired and her voice is low. "...not okay..." "...no bleeding..." "... diffuse axonal injury..." "...brain damage could lead to death." "...being put in a coma."

Liam hit his head pretty hard, Blake saw the whole thing happen. From what Jane said he was drifting in and out of consciousness and because his blood vessels were damaged, they decided to put him in a medically induced coma.

I'm at home sitting in my bed. I went home after the ambulance got to Liam's house and Jane went with him. I walked really fast, stopping sometimes to catch my breath. It's 8 o'clock and only now did Jane return my calls. For hours I've been sitting in the same spot on my bed, sometimes getting up to pace around the room. Now that I know Liam's condition, I feel like I can finally breathe. I notice my wet bathing suit underneath the clothes I put over it. I get up and touch the bed, feeling the wet spot I left behind. I need to take a shower.

I scrub, and I scrub and it still feels like there's some chlorine smell lingering in my pores. I try using almost forgotten, possibly expired, extremely perfumed body washes I've gotten as presents. I get out the shower smelling like a mixture of banana coconut and cacao mint.

.

When I go to bed that night it takes me a while to fall asleep. I keep thinking about how Liam looked like he was sleeping when he was unconscious and it makes me not want to sleep. I hear the heavy pouring of rain while staring at the ceiling. The rainstorm makes it seem like mother nature is angry. I'm angry too. Later, my eyes get heavy and my exhaustion leads to me falling in a deep sleep. I don't dream that night. Or at least I don't remember anything in the morning.

.

-Do you want to get smoothies and sandwiches and have little picnic? In our old spot? - Dad asks me, his eyes hopeful.

-I don't know... It doesn't feel right without Jane.

-Jane would want you to cheer up and do something nice. Don't you think? - I Shrug. Then I nod.

-Yes! It'll be just like when you were little. Just without Jane this time.

My dad drives us to the hill. When we get there, I can barely recognize the place. There are small little magenta and white flowers covering the entirety of the hill. I jump out of the car and run around in circles, my mouth hanging open. My dad locks the car and calmly follows me. At the top of the hill we get to our and Jane's spot, a viewpoint overlooking the whole town. When we were little mostly my dad and sometimes my mom would take Jane and I to see the view. It was beautiful all year around. In January and February, it would sometimes rain but the rest of the year it would be just dry and hot. Our town looked beautiful with the earth tones of the buildings and the vast sand desert around it.

-Look at what the rain is bringing out of this place. Pretty cool, huh? It's called a super bloom. It happens when there's a lot of rain in a desert. - My dad explains.

-The flowers... they bring so much life to this place. It's beautiful.

There's a big depression on the ground. Jane hoped the rain would bring frogs to lay their eggs in the puddle that formed there. We talked about bringing water bottles and filling it up when it would be sunny but after the accident, we didn't get a chance to do that. There's no need anyway because it unexpectedly rained yesterday night. I decide to take a closer look at the puddle.

-What are you looking for? - My dad asks. He has the heart of a scientist even though he works at a grocery store.

-I'm looking for tadpoles. They look like small fish, right? - I keep looking but there's no sign of them. I swirl a stick around in the water. - Ew, there's some sticky transparent substance in here.

-Take a closer look. - My dad says, excitement in his voice. - Those are frog eggs. They have been laid between one and three days ago. In a couple days they should turn into tailbuds then later into tadpoles and eventually into young frogs.

-I've got to take a picture! Jane is going to flip!

-The rain brings the good and the bad. Remember that.