The Story Of Daniel

/s i x/

Chapter 6

Ten Years Before

When Daniel used to live in the orphanage, birthdays were just another day. So when he became part of the Johnson family and discovered that birthdays were meant to be celebrated, he was shocked. It was just a day, why did people make a big fuss about it? Eventually, he got used to the cake and the singing and the presents and found himself looking forward to his birthday every year. He usually had a small party with his family and since his birthday was on July fourth, they went to the park at night and watched the fireworks.

Daniel loved fireworks, ever since he was a child. He loved how the stream of yellow would shoot into the air, a whistle in the quietness of night. He loved how it exploded with a boom, each with its own color scheme and pattern. Something made him think it was for him. In the entire scope of the universe, right here, right now, fireworks were going off on Daniel's birthday.

"Aren't they beautiful?" Amelia asked. She was sitting beside Daniel on the quilt spread over the grass. Daniel could see the reflection of the colors in her eyes. It was the first birthday he had celebrated with Amelia.

"Yeah," he replied. He looked up at the black sky once they were finished. People cheered and clapped all around him.

And when he closed his eyes that night as he went to sleep, Daniel could still see the colors and hear the booms of the fireworks, even though they had ended an hour ago.

Now

Daniel grabbed the phone out of the nurse's hand. "No." he told himself. "No. No. No. No. This can't be happening!" he yelled. There was no way this could be possible and Daniel couldn't embrace the fact even though he knew it was true. He had been in a coma for seven years! It felt like only an hour!

Daniel turned his head when the door swung open and the nurse used the distraction to pry the phone from Daniel's numb fingers; probably afraid he would break it. The man had a long white coat so Daniel immediately recognized him as a doctor.

"Well, it's true then, the patient is awake! How are you feeling Daniel? Can I call you Dan? Danny?" Daniel knew the doctor was just trying to be nice but he was beyond frustrated at the moment.

"No. My name is Daniel. Only Amelia can call me Danny. Where is she?"

"I don't know exactly who you're talking about, Daniel. We need to focus on making sure your brain hasn't been affected by the accident, or by the coma."

"No, I don't care about that. I need to see Amelia. Amelia Cooper?"

Just then my parents walked in. Someone must have called them when I woke up. "Daniel!" my mother exclaimed. Both came in to hug me. "Oh Daniel, we missed you so much! We were afraid you would never wake up!"

"Mom, calm down. I'm fine. Where's Amelia?"

"Honey... after the accident, Amelia blamed herself for everything that had happened. We told her that was ridiculous, but she wouldn't believe us...she wouldn't even listen"

"So, where is she?" Daniel was getting more impatient by the second. He needed to talk some sense into Amelia. To assure her that none of this was her fault.

"Amelia tried to commit suicide six years ago. They took her to a mental hospital, but she hasn't spoken a word since..."

Daniel stumbled backward and sat on the edge of the bed; his mouth open and eyes wide. How could he have let this happen? It was his entire fault, not hers. Amelia was such a good friend and Daniel had forced her to believe other words without meaning to. A blank look came over Daniel's eyes and if you looked close enough, you might see the lone tear falling down his face.

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