While I Was Away(30)

“It's not unusual at all for coma patients to open their eyes. Some move their limbs around, moan, make noises, get out of bed even. I'm going to page her doctor, but don't get your hopes up. And no more fighting, or I'm not kidding, I will have all of you banned from this hospital.”

No one said anything and the nurse jogged out of the room. They just stared at Adele. Eventually, August cut the tension by clearing his throat.

“I've never seen her open her eyes,” he said.

“Not once,” River agreed.

“Me, neither, and I've been here almost every day,” Zoey piped up.

“Me, too. She hasn't moved at all,” Charlie added.

Ocean cleared his throat, as well. Tried to speak. Couldn't bring the words up. Zoey moved so his hand was clenched between both of hers.

“I don't care what that nurse says. I think it's a sign. I think it's a really, really good sign,” she stated.

He still couldn't speak, but Ocean smiled. He didn't know Zoey all that well, but there was one thing he already loved about her – her absolute confidence in everything she said. It made him feel assured. Comforted. If Zoey thought it was a good sign, then hell, it WAS a good sign.

“I agree,” he whispered.





17




Adele gasped as she sat up. Almost choked on the air – it felt like she'd been holding her breath for hours. She was shaking, shivering cold, and when she looked around, she realized she was back in the poppy field.

The cliff was still there, but the tree was gone. Something else had appeared, though. In the distance there was now a cabin. It was small, and very rustic looking, something maybe a hunter or trapper would use.

Adele didn't even think about it, she just got up and started jogging towards it. The storm that had been bubbling when she'd left had turned into a full boil. The wind was strong, running against it was like swimming in a strong current. Before she was even halfway to the building, it started to rain, but she didn't slow down.

It doesn't matter. None of this matters.

By the time she reached the cabin, Adele wondered if they were in a hurricane. She could barely keep her feet on the porch as she gripped the doorknob. It took all her strength to pull the door open enough for her to slip through, and when she finally did, the sudden lack of wind resistance caused her to stumble and fall to her knees.

“You're back.”

Adele lifted her head to find Jones sitting on a small bed. A kitchenette was off to her right, but looked like it hadn't been used in years. An easel was set up in a corner near a window, but there was no canvas on it, no painting supplies near it. And then there was Jones, sitting on the bed.

“Back ...” she let the word out on a breath as she pushed herself to her feet. “That's one way of putting it.”

“I love this place,” he sighed, smoothing his hand down the rough wooden headboard. “We used to come here when I was young. Fishing. I was a horrible fisherman, but my dad brought me anyway, year after year.”

“This is your memory,” she stated, then ducked as thunder crashed directly overhead, strong enough to make the windows rattle. The wind was shaking the roof, threatening to tear it clean off.

Maybe not a hurricane. Maybe a twister. Better keep an eye out for that pesky wicked witch ...

“I guess. You created a castle with your brain. A whole town. An entire house, filled with every detail, every memory. But this cabin was the best I could manage. Or who knows, maybe it's all you,” he suggested, his gaze traveling over the space.

“No more riddles. I hate your riddles. So many circles! No wonder why I could never get out of this place – if there was a straight path, you bent it beyond recognition,” she accused him. She understood so much now. She'd been in the dark the whole time they'd been together, and opening her eyes in that hospital room, it had been like stepping into the light. A wealth of new information was magically in her brain, explaining so many things.

“No circles, Adele. I never tried to mislead you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Honestly. I only ever wanted you to open your eyes.”

“Really? Gee, then maybe just say 'hey, you're in a coma, wake up', instead of literally everything but that!” Adele was almost shrieking by the end of her statement.

“I tried. God, believe me, I tried, but I couldn't get through to you. You were convinced you were dead. I can only tell you what you're willing to listen to, so you only ever heard me halfway,” he tried to explain.

“That makes even less sense than what you said before.”

“What did you think the black outs were? The spaces between moments? You think you just blink and no time passes? Adele, I've told you dozens of times that you're in a coma, but it never helped. You refused to recognize it, your brain wouldn't accept it, and your soul didn't understand it, so you just ... didn't listen.”

She was blown away. He'd told her she was in a coma? Time passed when she closed her eyes?

“So you're saying I close my eyes, and time passes by without me noticing? That all of this is because I didn't understand what was happening to me?” she tried to clarify, though she was pretty sure she was beyond clarification.

“All of this is because you imagined it. You created it. You fell asleep, and you dreamed a dream so wonderful, you didn't want to wake up.”