Chapter 11

            Chelsea slept on the old seventy styles chair, a pillow tucked under her neck, a shuffling sound broke her from her sleep and she sat up.  She looked at the end of AJ’s bed, her heart fluttered at who she saw standing there.

“Mom?” She said confused.

“Well he turned out to be quite the looker.” Her Mother said with a smile and Chelsea looked over at AJ lying in the bed.

“I’m dreaming.” Chelsea said sadly.

“Does it matter?” He mother asked.

“Yes” Chelsea replied to her.

“Why?” Her Mother asked.

“Because when I wake up you’ll be gone, and he...” she stopped and looked at him.  “He’ll still be there.”

“I’ll still be here; you just won’t be able to see me.” Her Mom told her.

“I miss you.” Chelsea said as a tear dripped from her eye.

“I miss you too but I don’t regret what I did.” She told her and Chelsea looked at her shocked.  “It let me be with you, it let me sit in that room with you and protect you as best I could.”

“But you’re not here now.” Chelsea said as she looked at her.

“But he is.” Her Mom said nodding at AJ.  “And he’s going to need you as much as you need him.”

A knock at the door made her look at the large wooden door, when know one came in she looked back at the end of the bed but her Mom was gone.  She looked around the room hoping her Mom had moved but she wasn’t there.

“Chelsea?” She heard Kevin say and she looked back over to the door as she did, her eyes fluttered and she lifted her head looking around the room.  “Have a good nap?” Kevin asked as he stood at the bedroom door.

“Yeah” Chelsea said still confused.

“Denise called, he’s back from the CAT scan and everything looks good.” Kevin said with a light smile and it made Chelsea sit up.

“Are they going to wake him?” She asked as she quickly got out of the bed.

“In an hour but Denise said it could take a bit for him to wake up, so there’s no rush.” Kevin said as he saw her rushing to grab her sweater.

“I don’t care I want to be there when they do.” Chelsea told him stopping at the door.

“Well have something to eat and then I’ll take you back down there.” He told her.  She lightly smiled at him and left the room; Kevin closed the door behind them and followed her down the hall. 

Chelsea ate as quickly as she could without making Kevin yell at her too slow down.  When she was done Kevin helped her gather some things and they both got into his car.  As they pulled out of the drive way she turned to him.

“Can you get into his house?” She asked.

“Huh?” Kevin said confused.

“Do you have a key to his house; he said a while ago he had one to yours.” Chelsea said as Kevin stopped at the stop sign.

“Yeah I do, why?” Kevin asked looking at her.

“We should get some of his things, like his pajama’s, his IPod, oh the dogs what about the dogs?” She asked.

“His Mom said he hadn’t picked them up yet, so they’re ok.” Kevin said with a light smile.  “And I think that’s a good idea.”  Chelsea lightly smiled; it made her feel good she was helping.

It didn’t take them long to go through the house, most of his things were still in his bags on the floor in the hallway.  It was a little surreal for her as she walked down the hall, everything stopped in time.  As she peaked into the living room something on the coffee table caught her eye.  She walked over to the book that sat on the glass and picked it up. 

“What’s that?” Kevin asked as he walked into the room.

            “His journal.” Chelsea said as her hand slid down it.  “It was sitting here.”

“Check the last entry maybe he was writing in it when he left.” Kevin said.

“Well that’s very Nick of you.” Chelsea shot at him. “And no I’m not reading it, I’ll just put it in his bag incase he needs it.”  She walked past him and over to the bag they had ready too take, slipping the book into a pocket.  “I think that’s it.” She said turning to him.

“Alright let’s head out.” Kevin said as he got his keys ready.

Holding the bag on her lap she stared out the window, much like she did when she was leaving the hospital.  She was starting to feel a little anxious, waiting for him to open his eyes, so she can look in them again, so he could talk and she could hear his voice again.

Kevin took the back way into the hospital to dodge as many cameras’ as he could.  There were only one or two and they didn’t see it was him until it was too late and security stopped them from entering the garage.

Lightly throwing the bag over her shoulder she closed the car door, the slamming sound echoed around the cement walls.  She hated the way these places smelled, gas, oil and exhaust all mixed into one big cancer causing cloud.  A small smiled came across her face, she had been around Kevin to long.

“I’m going to go check on when the other guys will be here, let them know about the crowed outside.” He said with a light sigh as they stopped by AJ’s door.

“I thought they didn’t care about you guys anymore.” She said jokingly.

“Not when we’re down.” Kevin said with a hint of anger.

“Well, then you know you’ve made it.” She said with a light smile. 

He smiled back at her and they hugged.  “I’ll come check on you in a bit.”

“Ok.” She said and then he headed down the hallway towards the waiting rooms.  She waited until he disappeared and then looked back at the large wooden door.  With a deep breath she stepped forward and reached for the knob.

“You’re back.” Denise said with a smile as Chelsea closed the door behind her.

“Yeah, had a shower, took a small nap, and ate.” She told his Mom.  “I also got Kevin to take me to his house and I grabbed some things for him.”

“Oh, well you didn’t have to do that.” Denise said as Chelsea handed her the bag.

“It’s ok, I didn’t mind.” She said with a shrug as she sat down.

“Is anyone else here?” Denise asked.

“Kevin is, he’s in the waiting room calling around, checking on arrival times.”

Chelsea sat down in the orange seventy style chair and as she looked around she got a weird feeling a déjà vu.  Her eyes drifted over to him, the way he looked less of a shock for her. Both woman sat there quietly, both not wanting to say anything, and both understanding why the other didn’t. 

Soon the doctor entered with a couple of nurses behind him. Chelsea stood up and moved to the end of his bed.  The Doctor explained to them what he was going to do.  He was going to turn off the pentobarbital and then they would wait for AJ to wake.  Her heart sank when he told them it would take a few days for the effects to wear off and for him to wake up.

“More waiting.” Denise sighed as she sat back down. 

The days slowly rolled by, once in a while he would mumble, his finger would flinch, but nothing that would be considered awake.  The doctor said it was normal as the oxygen started flowing through his body more, as his muscles and brain started to wake up.  Seconds, minutes, hours, days rolled by and Chelsea only went back to Kevin’s to eat and shower, sleeping when she could in the uncomfortable chairs.  She would wake up at every little sound, wondering if that was him, when her eyes and mind had shown her it wasn’t, she would switch positions and fall back asleep. 

It was the fifth day and she sat alone in his room.  His Mom had gone to his house to shower and freshen up.  She sat writing in her book of Sudoku, something Denise had shown her to help exercise her mind and help keep her mind off of AJ.  Something shook the railing to his bed and she quickly looked up, almost dropping the book.  She sat there staring at him for a moment shocked at what she was seeing, then his hand let go of the railing and reached for the tube. 

“Don’t.” She said quickly as she grabbed his wrist and stopped his arm, when she realized he was going to try and pull it out.  His eyes showed fear as he grabbed for her hand when he saw it was her.  “You need to leave that in, just let it breath for you.” She explained to him, repeating what the Doctor had told her and Denise to tell him when he woke up and his eyes fell in confusion. “You were in an accident and they had to put you in a coma until the swelling in your brain went down.”  His eyes filled up with tears and he closed them tight letting everything sink in.

“You’ll be ok Alex.” She said as she took his hand and squeezed it.  “You just need to say calm babe ok? Let the Ventilator breath for you.”  She placed the back of his hand against her face, he let go of her hand and touched her cheek, and she smiled at him.  “I need to get the Doctor.” She told him but he grabbed her hand, she could tell he didn’t’ want her to go.  “I’ll be right back I promise.”

Hesitantly he let her go and she made sure to hurry down the hallway towards the nurse’s station.  She told the nurse he was awake and the woman had paged the Doctor before she even walked away.  Then Chelsea stopped and turned back around.

“Can you call his Mother’s cell and let her know.” She told the nurse and then headed back towards his room.  For the first time she didn’t hesitate when she came to his door and opened it quickly. 

“See that didn’t take long.” She told him with a light smile as she took his hand again.  Chelsea noticed his eyes were red and wet from tears and as the back of his fingers touched her cheek, she watched as they fell in pain.  He mumbled trying to talk but the tube prevented him to do so and he almost chocked on it.

“I’m ok.” She told him as her hand gently slid down his arm.  “I almost lost it but your Mom’s been really helpful.” He looked at her a little confused and she couldn’t help but smile and lightly laugh. 

Just then the door opened and as she turned around she saw the Doctor walk in.  He walked right over to the bed and introduced himself to AJ.  The man asked AJ some questions and told him to answer by blinking.  When the Doctor was done writing he asked Chelsea to leave so his nurses would have room to help him remove the tube and get AJ breathing on his own again.

Leaning up against the wall across from AJ’s door, she leaned her head back against it and sighed.  A small smile broke from her lips as the weight lifted from her shoulders.  She had gotten through the first part, waiting for him to wake up.  Her thoughts went to ‘what now’.  Would he have trouble walking, talking, remembering, and how long will it take for him to get back to his old self, if he even could.

“Chelsea, is he really awake?” She heard Denise say and she looked down the hall to see the woman walking as fast as she could.

“Yeah, he’s awake.” She smiled.  “They’re taking out the tube now.”  The two hugged, holding each other, both crying, thankful he was going to be ok.

About fifteen minutes later the Doctor and nurses came out; Chelsea caught a glimpse of him sitting up in his bed, drinking something.  The door closed over him before she could make eye contact.

“Is it ok if I go sit with him?” Chelsea asked as the doctor as he opened his clip board.

“Sure, I just need to go over some things with his Mom.” The Doctor nodded.

Denise and Chelsea hugged quickly and then she turned to the door, opening it slowly.  “Hi.” She said with a bright smile as she walked over to his bed.  He put his water down on the table.  “Do you need anything? I got Kevin to take me to your house and I picked up some things for you.” She pointed to his bag as she stopped at his bed side.

He spoke slowly his voice strained and raspier than usually.  “I’m good.”  He took a breath and winced a little.

“Are you ok?” She asked quickly.

“Yeah, just my ribs.” He said with a light smile to her.  AJ looked at her and then he looked down, she frowned when he started cry and sat down beside him on the bed, the roll bar had been left down by one of the nurses.  She wasn’t sure if she should hug him, not wanting to put pressure on his chest.  So she took his hand but then he lifted her arm and gently pulled her into his arms. 

“I don’t remember what happened.” He said as he started to calm.  “I remember leaving my house but that’s it.”

Slowly Chelsea pulled away taking his hand in hers, she took a deep breath and looked at him.  “You were at a red light, some idiot was on his cell phone and hit you from behind, it pushed your car into the opposite traffic and you were hit on the driver’s side.”

“I got T-boned?” He asked quietly and all she could do was nod. “When did you get here?”

“Kevin called Anne that night then got us air tickets and I came right out here.” She told him as a tear dripped from her eye.  “That was about six days ago.”

“I’ve been out that long?” He asked a little shocked and again all she could do was nod.  “Are you ok, have you had any episodes or headaches?” He asked and she smiled at his concern.

“No, I’ve been keeping it together.” She told him with a small sigh.  “And like I said your Mom has been very helpful.”

“Really.” AJ said a little stunned.  Just then the door to his room opened and Denise came walking in, she smiled when she saw him.  Chelsea got up and let his Mom sit beside him.

“I’m going to call Kevin and let him know.” Chelsea said.  “All the guys are here.” She told him and he lightly smiled.

Chelsea folded her arms around her as she walked down the hallway and into the waiting room.  She stopped dead when she saw Kevin and Nick sitting in some chairs talking. 

“How long have you been here?” She asked as the two of them stood up.

“We just got here, is everything ok?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah, he woke up a few minutes ago, his Mom is with him right now, and I was coming here to call you.” She said and again as she said the words a weight left her shoulders.

“Can we see him?” Nick asked quickly.

“Yeah sure.” She said with a nod, she then followed them back down to AJ’s room.