Jayden jumped awake and was by my side in seconds. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tightly.
"I thought you were never going to wake up. You can't do that. You scared me half to death!" he pulled apart from me, cleared his throat, and stood up straight. "I... I'll go get the doctor." and before I could say anything he dashed out of the room and down the hall yelling for a doctor. I don't know how he was able to become even more handsome in such a short amount of time. I looked around the room. There were multiple vases with flowers. Each was labeled with a name from someone in my classes at school. Each vase had a different type of flower in it. It made the room lively. The room was hot. I could feel myself begin to sweat. I pushed the covers off of me but when I tried to move my legs, nothing happened. Just then Jayden rushed back into the room with a doctor and a nurse. The nurse immediately pulled out her phone and called someone. The doctor quickly walked over to me.
"Hello, my name is Ella. I've been taking care of you while you were asleep. I know this might be alarming and a bit confusing, but about a year and a half ago you fell into a coma, and you were brought here. This is nurse Maya. She is calling your legal guardian, Miss Maria. She is your new legal guardian. She also has legal custody of the twins from your former family." my heart fluttered with joy to know that the twins were safe before it sank at the thought that I'd been in a coma for over a year.
"I can't...move my legs." my voice was raspy. I haven't been able to speak in a long time. The nurse slowly approached me slightly waving her phone at me.
"Hey, your family wants to talk to you." I reached for the phone and she carefully placed it in my hand. I didn't understand why until she let it go. My body was so weak from not moving for so long that even holding a phone was a bit difficult. I struggled a bit but I was able to do it in the end.
"Hello? Alex?" it was a relief to hear her voice. I was so sure that she was going to die.
"Maria. I'm so glad that you're okay. I was so worried about you that day. Everyone had me so scared." I could hear her chuckle on the other end of the line. She began to sniffle as well.
"What's the matter?"
"You're just waking up from a coma, but you're so worried about everyone else. Don't you know how scared we were? It's been over a year since you last opened your eyes and you're worried about us? Honestly, Alex, you are something else." she was crying through her words but I was still able to understand. In the background, I could hear the twins begging her for the phone. I could hear the shuffling of the phone being passed around.
"Alex! We're on our way to the hospital right now, so you just hang on for a little while. Tell Jayden that he can't hog your bedside this time!" Angle was screaming into my ear but I didn't care. It was so refreshing to hear her voice.
"Yeah, we'll be there soon, so don't you lay back down okay? You're never allowed to go back to sleep again, do you hear me?" I couldn't help but laugh. Tyler was never the type to speak up like this. I missed them so much. I know that they must feel the same. It feels like I've only been asleep for a day, but for them, it's been much longer.
"I don't know about never sleeping again, but I can promise you that I won't be closing my eyes for a very long time, okay?" I could hear him huff in disapproval.
"No! I said never! I'll make sure that you never get another wink of sleep in the rest of your life!" it was so funny to hear the two of them go on and on about how much they care. Even though they hadn't said it directly, I knew that that was what they meant. "Hold on, we're here. We'll be up soon so just wait a minute, okay?"
"Yeah, I promise." as soon as the call was over my arm dropped down to the bed. I can't believe that I'm so weak that I can barely hold up a phone. "They're on their way up here. I was told to tell Jayden not to hog my bedside. Do they live close by or did Maria run all the red lights on the way here, because that was fast?" the nurse came forward and grabbed her phone as she and Doc. Ella giggled at my question.
"After you fell into a coma, Miss. Maria gained custody of you and the twins. She didn't want them to be too far from you so she packed up and moved closer to the hospital. They only live a few blocks from here." just then Maria and the twins burst into the room and came running at me. The twins jumped onto the bed and grabbed hold of me.
"We missed you!" it was sweet but also creepy because they said it at the same time while staring me down and squeezing the life out of me.
"I missed you guys as well, but you kinda squeezing all the air out of my lungs." they gave one final squeeze and then let go. They were sitting on my legs but thankfully I couldn't feel a thing. Maria walked over and kissed me on my forehead.
"I'm so glad to see you again. You slept a little too long this time. You gave everyone quite the scare, ya' know?" I shrugged and looked over at Jayden.
"Well after being kidnapped, held hostage, poisoned, and then having to save the day, I think I deserved that year-long nap. I needed it anyway." everyone started laughing except the twins.
"That's not fair. We had to go to school this entire time while you got to sleep. Now you have to suffer with us. Auntie Maria's going to homeschool you until you can walk again and then you have to go back to school too." I've never heard Tyler voice his opinion. A lot of things must have changed while I was away.
"I couldn't control it, but I get the hatred for school. It is a place that children go to...just to suffer. It's worse for you two though. You still have so many grades left to go." Angle shrugged her shoulders and then scooted off of the bed. Tyler decided that he wasn't leaving.
"Maria, can I talk to you in the hall? I need to get your signature on a few forms and to explain his physical therapy. Leave the kids to catch up. Come on Maya!" the nurse was talking to Jayden by the window when she jumped back to reality and rushed over to Ella. I guess that she's a young nurse who saw a young guy and tried to shoot her shot. Now that I think of it: since I've been asleep -an entire year- I've missed everyone's birthdays. Jayden is now eighteen years old. I'm sure the nurse knows that and tried her luck. I'm also a year older. I don't feel any different. Maya seemed annoyed at the fact that she didn't get what she wanted, but she wasn't angry with Ella, she was angry at Jayden. Once the adults left the room Tyler unfolded his arms and hugged me.
"I'm sorry. I was just mad that you slept for so long. I don't want you to suffer... any more than you've already had to. I'm sorry my mom was so crazy. She just wanted everything to be perfect, but I guess she didn't see that she was the one ruining everything." I couldn't help but sigh. I threw my arms around him and gave him a weak squeeze.
"Don't be stupid. You have nothing to apologize for. I know she's your mom and you love her -I mean I love her too- but she needs help that we can't give her. She hurt a lot of people and some of those people can't come back. I don't want you to think that her actions mean she doesn't love because you guys were her world. Our entire family was her world and she just lost her way while trying to protect us from every little thing. But you don't have to worry about that now." I looked over at Jayden. He was smiling at me. It made me want to cry. The last time I saw him smile is the day it all happened. The day that Alice shot him. I was so scared so he smiled to show me that he was alright. I guess it didn't help since I still cried but it was still a nice gesture.
"I'm really glad you woke up. I came here almost every day to see if you would even move. Maria gave me a book a few days ago. I was reading it to you yesterday and you held my hand. I knew you would be waking up soon." it was nice to hear that he stayed. Honestly, I was sure that he would walk out of my life pretty soon. Everything was getting crazy and he's been hurt enough.
"I'm sorry it took me so long to open my eyes. If I knew that you were out here waiting for me I would have tried to wake up sooner. I didn't mean to make worry all this time. Gosh, if only Chloe could see us right now, she'd be so sad. She always tried to keep everyone safe because she cared so much. I miss her so much." we sat in silence. Tyler squeezed me into another hug.
"You don't have to be sad. Chloe's in Heaven with the angels." with everything that's been going on in my life regarding my powers I wholeheartedly believed that Chloe went to Heaven. One day I'll join her and maybe my mom as well.
"Yeah, I'm sure she is." all I could do was smile. I felt like everything was finally okay. I was finally okay. The nightmares, the farsight, and foreshadowing dreams are gone. The abusive mother and neglective father are out of my life. I lost so much but along the way, I gained even more than what was lost. I don't know if I'm ready to say that I'm truly happy, but for right now this is enough.