The Love I Lost

Chapter 35: What If I Wanted to Break?

I sat patiently as I could in the waiting room, staring absent-mindedly at the television screen playing reruns of Bewitched. Victoria was sitting beside me, waiting for more news.

On the way back from their date, Victoria took a wrong turn to an old, dirt road. She went to turn around but suddenly she saw something in the road, swerved, and hit a tree. She turned to see if my father was all right, and he was, except for a mild cut on his head. The car had hit a tree on the lower right hand side of the car. Victoria and my dad got out to check the damages of the car. Victoria felt a painful blow to the head and heard my father scream before falling unconscious. When she woke up, my father was lying motionless on the hood of the car, his neck spilling over with blood.

The doctors said it was an animal attack. But what animal had time to club Victoria over the head? Unless the animal didn't want Victoria to see it was quite human-like. The doctors said he was suffering from major blood loss and a nasty wound that wouldn't seem to stop flowing with blood. They had given him a transfusion but that only helped a little. They also said he had gone into a temporary coma.

My Uncle Brian was on his way down from Washington. He was to stay with me while my father was in the hospital. I guessed this "temporary coma" was getting quick "extemporary" by the hour.

I sighed. "How you doin'?" Victoria asked me.

I shrugged. "As well as can be expected, I guess..."

My phone buzzed in my bag and I took it out mechanically. "Hello?"

"Rach? It's Uncle Brian. I need directions to the hospital."

"Oh, okay," Never could I ever convince my uncle to call me Elizabeth. Ever. I gave him the directions.

"Okay. Thanks, love. I'll be there in a jiffy."

"Alright..."

I sighed, leaning back in the chair. I was about five seconds away from calling Damon. Alex had stayed for about two hours, but I told him he could go home. He protested at first, but no one can refuse me when I was in this kind of mood.

The doctor came out and Victoria and I jumped to our feet. "What's going on?" I asked , the panic and stress in my nerves showing in my voice.

"The wound is starting to heal, he's not losing any more blood," the doctor explained. "But he's still in a coma. That seems to be the only thing that we should worry about. WE don't know how he's in a coma; there's no medical explanation I can think of. We've got people researching it, but as far as we can tell, I don't have an explanation now."

"Do you know how long it'll last?" I asked.

The doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid not. You should go home, though. We'll be sure to call if anything changes."

I nodded. "Yeah, okay..."

"Rachel?!"

I turned around to see the short brown hair of my uncle. It was hard, sometimes, when he would visit. My dad was an only child and his parents had died a few years ago. Uncle Brian really resembled my mo. They were twins, see. Same brown hair and hazel eyes, like mine.

I didn't even think of my mom as I let myself fall into my uncle's embrace. "Hey," I mumbled. He was a tall man, maybe five foot nine. He was still in his lawyer suit, as I often called it---brown long pants, creamy-white shirt, and matching brown button down suit top.

"C'mon, baby, let's go home," Uncle Brian soothed.

I nodded. "You leaving, Vic?"

She nodded. "I might as well. They wouldn't tell me anything anyway."

"Alright, I'll let you know if anything changes..." I said awkwardly.

Uncle Brian led me out to his beautiful silver Mustang. I couldn't admire it then, though. I closed my eyes, exhaustion sweeping over me. I thought it had only been five minutes, but the car slowed to a stop and Uncle Brian said, "We're here...right?"

I opened my eyes, looking at the familiar yellow and brick building. "Yeah, we're here." I undid my seatbelt, grabbed my bag, and walked mechanically inside.

"So..." Uncle Brian said awkwardly.

I sighed, walking over to my bedroom. "I'm just tired, Uncle Brian. I'm going to bed. My dad's room is over there," I pointed in the direction of his room. "Night."

"Good night..."

I didn't bother getting pajamas on. I crawled into my warm, safe bed. As soon as my mind wasn't swirling with shock any longer, the tears began falling until I couldn't stop. Somewhere in the midst of sobbing, Uncle Brian heard me and couldn't resist comforting me.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was even more alert of Andrew than ever now. I knew he did this to my father. Uncle Brian doesn't know anything about that. How could he? He rarely visits because of my mom. I asked him, the next morning, how she was doing.

Uncle Brian sighed. "She's married again."

My jaw clamped onto the carrot I'd been eating. "To the skank she left us for?" I asked tightly.

Uncle Brian shook his head. "No, someone else. They'd been married for two years now."

"Hmm..." Jackass didn't even bother to call at least her daughter. "Does she just disown me, or what?"

Uncle Brian looked pained. "No, honey. She doesn't disown you."

I kept my voice calm, monotone. "Then what's her deal?"

Uncle Brian sighed, pouring himself a glass of scotch. That was the funny thing about my uncle. He lived for scotch. Not like he was addicted or anything. It's like someone loving ice cream or candy bars or something. "Honey, she was just trying to figure things out, that's all."

I sighed. "Well...she sucks, so..."

"Rachel---"

I sighed pleasantly. "Uncle it's alright. I understand it all." I grabbed my bag and keys. "I'm going out for a while."

"Rachel, please stay," Uncle Brian asked.

I sighed. "I can't stay in the house, Uncle Brian. Please, understand."

I didn't wait for his consent. I practically ran outside and into my car, dialing my phone as I drove, near tears.

"Hello?"

"I miss you so much! I'm sorry I'm such a grudge holding bitch!" I said tearfully. "I need to be with someone right now. Can I come over?"

There was a pause. "Of course you can come over..."