He Was Mine, I Was His

Christmas Miracles

    "Ms. Rouse?" The nurse asked. 

    "Yes, that's me," I said, standing up. Soda stood up with me. 

    "Charlie is stable," she explained. "The seizure was caused by the damage he received to his brain. We don't expect him to have another one but we will be monitoring him closely."

    "Can I see him?"

    "Yes, he is back in his room."

    "Thank you." The nurse walked away and I turned to Soda. "Do you want to come?"

    "I'm not going anywhere unless you want me to," he smiled. 

    I smiled back and took his hand. I called Elizabeth to give her an update before I went into his room. We didn't stay long, mostly because I didn't want to bore Sodapop. The hospital isn't the most exciting place to be. 
   

    I went to see Charlie everyday that week. Thankfully, he didn't have another seizure. He was actually healing quite well. So was Sodapop. He was feeling a lot better and finally managing to get to sleep. 

    Friday came quickly. It was Christmas Eve. Elizabeth decided to not hold Christmas here but Sodapop had invited me to stop by for a Christmas lunch at his house. I usually loved Christmas but this year, I wasn't feeling much of the Christmas spirit. 

    Ada tried cheering me up by watching Rudolph. That was one of my favorite Christmas movies. It was nice to sit down with my family, drink hot chocolate, and watch a movie. The only problem was, two years ago, I was sitting with a completely different family. I missed that family. I missed my brother. I missed my dad. Worst of all, no matter how angry I could say I was at her, I missed my mom. 

    They were all I could think about that night. I missed being little. The only thing I had to worry about was going to bed early enough so Santa wouldn't skip our house. That's what dad used to tell me; if Charlie and I weren't asleep by the time Santa got there, he wouldn't bring us our presents. Now, I could hear Elizabeth setting up presents under the tree. I wouldn't get to sit with mom and dad in the morning while we eat our breakfast. I wouldn't get to race Charlie down the stairs to see how many presents were left under the tree. Christmas was just too different now.

    I woke up in the morning, once again, to Ada jumping on my bed. I think that was her favorite way to wake me up. 

    "Wake up, M&M. It's Christmas!" She cheered. 

    I smiled and grabbed her, mid-jump. I hugged her and started to tickle her, "One of these days, I'm going to jump on your bed. See how you like it!"

    She just kept giggling. I playfully pushed her off the bed. She got up and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the living room. It was snowing outside. Elizabeth had Christmas music playing softly as she took her breakfast casserole out of the oven. 

    "Good morning honey," she smiled.

    "Morning Elizabeth. Merry Christmas," I replied. Ada dragged me to the tree. 

    "Look!" She yelled. 

    There were quite a few presents under the tree. I looked to Elizabeth and raised my eyebrows. I remembered her telling Ada how there weren't going to be as many presents this year. Elizabeth just smiled. I smiled back. She was such a good mom. She always did the best she could to keep Ada happy. Sometimes I forgot she was only twenty-six. She acted so much older.

    We ate breakfast before Elizabeth let Ada open her presents. She was so excited. She got a lot of new clothes and toys. Then Elizabeth grabbed a few boxes and placed them in front of me. I was a little shocked. I hadn't asked for anything. In fact, since she said she may not be able to afford Christmas, I told her not to get me anything. I looked up at her and she just smiled back. I opened the boxes. She got me canvases, paint, pencils, and a few clothes. 

    "I remember you saying something about getting back into painting. I figured you would find some use in those," Elizabeth said. 

    I hugged her, "Thank you so much!"

    I got up and went to my room. I dug through my closet where I was hiding everyone's Christmas presents. When I found Elizabeth's and Ada's, I brought them back into the living room. 

    "You know you didn't have to get me anything," Elizabeth said. 

    I handed her the present and gave the other to Ada, "You didn't either."

    Ada ripped hers open to find a doll that she had been begging me for and five dollars. She squealed and hugged me. It's amazing how excited she could get over something so little. 

    Elizabeth opened hers next. I had gotten her a necklace that she had circled in a magazine. It had a gold chain and a dainty, gold flower pendant. She smiled and put it around her neck. 

    "It's beautiful. Thank you dear."

    "You're welcome," I replied, happily.

    We all sat around while Ada started to play with her new toys. She eventually dragged me into playing with her for a while. I had an hour until I needed to be at Sodapop's so I got dressed. I wore a white skirt and a red sweater, trying to match the Christmas theme. As I was getting ready, Sodapop called. 

    "Hey love. Merry Christmas," I greeted. 

    "Merry Christmas to you too," he replied. "Speaking of that, I wanted to let you know that we had to push our party back a little bit. Darry had a work emergency that he needed to take care of. What do you say about coming over around five o'clock?"

    "Work emergency on Christmas?"

    "Yeah. He didn't give much detail but let me tell you, he wasn’t the happiest camper when he left."

    "Okay well I will be there. I'll see you later."

    "I love you."

    "I love you too." I hung up. 

    Since I had time before going over to Soda's, I thought it would be nice to see my brother. Whether he was in a coma or not, no one should be alone on Christmas. 

    When I got to the hospital, I went straight up to his room. It was the same old thing I had been doing for the past week. I sat down, grabbed his hand, and just talked to him. I was starting to hate him not being able to answer me. It no longer felt like I was talking to him. It just felt like I was talking to a wall. I stopped. 

    I sat there in silence for a while. I couldn't take it much more. I broke down. I cried and I prayed. I prayed for him to wake up and be completely healed. I knew it was a lot to ask but it was all I could do. I looked up and waited. Waited for something to happen, anything to happen. Nothing. 

    "Come on God," I pleaded. "I don't want to see him like this anymore. You've got to wake him up."

    Still nothing. I laid my head down on his hand and cried. I missed him. I needed a miracle. A Christmas miracle. Just like in the movies. I sat there for another ten minutes before I started to get up to go home. Then before I could leave, his hand tightened around mine.