I kept going back and rereading my text conversation with Wam. First he joked that I must like him. Am I that transparent? Am I that obvious? Then he said he might like it if I bit him... what the heck did that even mean? The only person I've ever bitten is my brother Kedron, and that was because he licked every slice of pizza so I wouldn't eat any. I was so mad at him.
I had come home from school and was hungry. Mom and Dad were both at work yet, and I preheated the oven and cooked a pizza. Knowing I had about twenty minutes, I took a quick shower before I took it from the oven. When I came out of the bathroom, he was taking it out of the oven, so I said, "that was nice of you. Thank you K." I went to my room and got dressed. I figured it was too hot to eat yet anyway.
It smelled delicious, but five more minutes wouldn't matter. When I returned, he was sitting at the table with half the pizza on a plate. I didn't think anything of it. I grabbed a plate and grabbed a couple slices for myself. As I sat down, Kedron said, "I wouldn't eat that if I were you Sis."
I looked at him puzzled and asked, "why not? It looks delicious."
"I licked it all so you wouldn't eat it." Kedron started laughing so hard he doubled over, holding his stomach. Teenage boys and their dumb pranks.
I growled before I grabbed his arm and hit him hard enough to leave teeth marks. Kedron jumped up and stepped behind his chair like that would protect him. He wasn't nearly as big or strong as he is now, and certainly not as nice.
He had the nerve to say, I'm sorry Kynlee, but I'm hungry. I'm a growing boy ya know." I proceeded to chase him around the table, but he was just a tad bit faster than I was. Just when I was about to catch him, Mom walked through the door and broke it up.
Mom sent Kedron to his room with the pizza and made another one for her, me, and Dad. I smiled at the memory, but the smile didn't last long. It hit me that my parents were gone and Kedron had yet to wake from his coma. I felt so alone as I lay, exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster I've been on since last Friday. I didn't fight the tears that fell from my eyes as I thought of how I took my relationship with Kedron for granted and may not get the chance to tell my twin how vital he was to me and my happiness. I could not imagine a world without Kedron. I knew that no matter how this turned out, life would never be the same for him or me again. Of course I'd sacrifice darn near anything just to have him live. I couldn't lose my last living relative. It simply wasn't an option. When he woke up, I would tell him so. I laid in my bed in Wam's cabin and cried myself to sleep.
My sleep was disturbed by one nightmare after another. When my alarm went off at 5am, I sighed and pressed snooze. When the alarm went off, a mere nine minutes later, I wanted to throw it across the room. Alas, I shut off the alarm and sighed as I forced myself to get up, shower, dress, make an extra strong cup of coffee, and threw the lasagna in the crock pot, before I drove to the hospital. I knew I was tired when I parked, but didn't remember the drive to the hospital from the cabin. I've heard driving tired is as bad as driving drunk, but I never believed it until now. Of course I haven't felt this emotionally rundown since our parents died. The biggest difference was that back then, I had Kedron to lean on, and he had me. Now, I had... no one.
Wait, that's not true either. Enough pity party Kynlee, snap out of it. Wam has gone out of his way to help me, to help us. Just when it seemed like all hope was lost, Wam swooped in and helped comfort me. He then went above and beyond the call of duty by offering me a place to stay, borrowing me his extra car, setting up the grant, and finally by being a friend when I desperately needed one.
I may not be a church goer, but I was raised in the church, and have a very strong faith. In fact, I'd done a fair amount of praying since Friday. Wam is like an angel sent down from heaven in my time of need. I knew the powers that be, had a plan. When Kedron's code blue was called, I thought maybe if I bargained enough, they'd (the powers that be), might let me keep Kedron. For some reason, it always seemed like the best people were taken from this earth too soon.
Finally the elevator dinged, breaking me out of my reverie, and I walked down the hall to room 1112. Everything was similar to when I left yesterday. Kedron was still in a coma, still intubated, had a ventilator assisting him to breath, and had tubes, wires, and cords running in most directions. The halo immobilizer reminded me of something you might see in a sci-fi movie. It looked so stiff and uncomfortable, but I knew it would be his best chance of his spine healing, and prevent further damage to the spinal cord. I waved at the nurses discussing report by the computer, as I sat down next to Kedron and took his hand. I listened quietly to what I could hear of report, before starting what had become a routine. Like the days before, I read Kedron the day's headlines, and tried to stay positive. He had to believe, that I believed he would wake up, and recover from this. Supposedly he can hear every word I say, so I was so positive that it would likely have made him gag had he been conscious. The thought made me smirk just thinking about picking on him. "Kedron, is that what it's gonna take for you to wake up? Do I have to pick on you and make you want revenge? That sounds like fun K!" I couldn't help but laugh, drawing the focus of the nurses. Nurse Kameron raised an eyebrow at me so I said, "do you think if I play a trick on Kedron, it'll wake him?"
Nurse Yin asked, "why would being the butt of a joke wake him?"
I couldn't help but laugh as I answered, "Kedron would be so set on getting revenge, he'd have to wake up to get me back."
The nurses answered with their own laughter. Shaking her head, Nurse Yin left for the day. Sadly, neither give me the green light to prank him, but something had to get through to him. Maybe Wam will have some ideas?
Oh, Wam....he would meet me here at the hospital before we head back to the cabin for supper. A wave of excitement rushed through me as I thought about seeing Wam again. Wam was coming for supper tonight. It was finally Friday!
We would go back to the cabin and eat lasagna. After the main course, maybe I'd get lucky and Wam would eat me for dessert. Oh my gosh Kynlee, I thought to myself, where did that thought come from? It's not like I've ever experienced anything close to having sex, so how in the world did I think of oral sex? Let alone oral sex with Wam.
No! Wam was nice enough to help me, he was a successful surgeon, and I refused to put him or myself in a situation where he would have to reject me. One kiss did not mean he was interested in dating me or even having casual sex with me. Would I have sex with him if the opportunity presented itself? We will be alone in the cabin this weekend. Surely he wasn't expecting me to put out in return for his help... was he?
Just the thought of having sex with Wam make my heartbeat faster and my breath rate increase. I had to get control of myself. I also needed to get my head out of the gutter. It's not Ike I'm necessarily saving myself for marriage, although that would be okay too. No, Wam seemed like too sweet a guy to expect something like that.
The day went by very slowly as I looked at the clock about every fifteen minutes. I wished that Wam would get here and tell me why Kedron wasn't waking up. There had to have been something they missed. They said once the sedation was off, he should wake up. I fought back tears as the frustration began to get to me. I decided to take a walk down to the chapel and say a few prayers. It couldn't hurt, and may help. Even if it didn't help, it would pass the time.
I chose a pew about halfway up the aisle to sit and pray. Shortly after, I heard the door click and someone entered. I didn't look back or pay any attention until someone next to me cleared their throat. I gasped and turned my head to side to look at who had sat next to me. I took in a petite, gray haired woman. Her clothing was all black except for a white collar that told me she was a religious leader of some sort. She smiled as my gaze met her bright blue one. She wore glasses, but her eyes shone so bright I could see them easily. She said just loud enough for me to hear, "I'm sorry if I startled you."
"Oh... it's okay. I was just praying for my brother. I was about done anyway." I sat back as I finished, then glanced at the clock. I didn't realize I'd been here over half an hour already. "I should be going anyway," I said as I sat forward to stand. Before my butt could leave the pew, I heard her laugh. I turned my head in her direction and just watched her. What an odd woman.
"Please, don't leave on my account," she said in a rather musical voice. "I'd be happen to listen and pray with you if that's okay?" She says quietly and studied me as I studied her.
"I should grab some lunch and get back to my brother," I cleared my throat. "Thank you though... for the offer."
"Oh no bother young lady. Do you have someone to eat with?" She studied me again before smiling and saying, "if not, could I join you? It's lunch time for me too."
I looked at her friendly smile, twinkling eyes, and demeanor that was as friendly as that of my sweet, Norwegian, paternal grandma. I nodded before I could change my mind, "yeah, I'd like that." I put my hand out, "I'm Kynlee."
She shook my hand and replied, "I'm Pastor Maggie Dickson. It's a pleasure to meet you Kynlee." I smiled in response. We stood up together, walked out of the chapel, into the elevator, and down the hall toward the cafeteria.