I'm Still Here

Ch. 6

I learned that if I laid back down in my body, which by the way just sounds so weird, I could sort of "turn off" the whole wandering spirit thing. Sort of like taking a nap. I could hear some of what was going on, like when you're half awake, and I could decide if I wanted to get back up and be more alert. This was key because after the first few hours of this whole learning 'I'm having an out-of-body spirit experience thing' it's been a bit boring. I haven't gained the strength to be able to walk out of the room yet. The furthest I've gotten so far is to the tv, which I can't even turn on because I haven't figured out how to touch things yet.

The idea of being a living spirit is wild and should seem exciting, but it's definitely starting to get monotonous. Grant was sitting in the same chair, playing games on his phone. My parents came in and out. I think they were feeling too anxious to just sit. The nurse came by every few hours to check on me and she told Grant that he should talk to me. She said sometimes coma patients can hear things and hearing a familiar voice might be helpful or at least comforting. The poor guy tried, but I think he felt awkward and didn't know what to say so after the "Hey, Caitlin. I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm here," typical thing he got quiet again.

"A real wordsmith you got there," Sera said sarcastically.

"It's awkward for him to talk to me when I'm unconscious. He probably feels weird and doesn't know what to say."

"Mhm." She sat on the window ledge and flipped through a magazine. The model on the cover looked like she was judging Grant too.

"You know, you could work on your bedside manner, Seraphina."

She kept flipping through and without looking up from the pages said, "So I've been told."

I sighed. Hopefully we won't be stuck together for a long time.

I decided to nap in my body for a little bit since Sera didn't seem like she was in the chatty mood and watching Grant play games on his phone and then scroll through TikTok for hours at a time was getting old.

A while later, I have no idea how long it had been since I took my spirit break, I heard footsteps by the door that did not sound like my parents, Grant, or the nurse. Yes, I had memorized everyone's footsteps by this point. Sera's footsteps have no sound so I knew it wasn't her.

"Ooh who is this hottie?" Seraphina said with the most emotion I've heard her express all day.

I exited my comatose body and looked at the doorway.

"Oh, that's my friend Hudson. Well, he's more Grant's friend, but we're friends too."

"He's cute."

"He is. But, so is Grant."

"I guess. If you like that golden boy look."

Grant had nodded off and Hudson walked in and put a hand on Grant's shoulder.

"Hey man," Hudson said quietly. He may have been talking quietly to not startle Grant or maybe because people have this misconception that they need to whisper when in the presence of someone in a coma. As if I were just sleeping.

Grant woke up and wiped his face with his hand. "Hey," he said groggily. "What time is it?"

"It's a little after 4pm."

Grant stretched his arms overhead and groaned.

"How is Caitlin doing?"

"No change. The doctor said she's stable. It's just a matter of letting her heal."

"She's okay though?"

"Yeah, minus the whole coma part."

"She'll pull through. She's strong," Hudson said reassuringly and gave Grant's shoulder a squeeze.