One Day

Chapter 7: Life Support

Chapter Seven:

I couldn't remember anything of what had happened.
"Josh!.. Why am I out here but I'm right there?" I asked, panicking, looking at the white hospital bed my sleeping body lay in, covered in white blankets and wires attaching me to a life support machine.
But he couldn't hear me. I looked around what seemed to have been my hospital room. Everyone was there - Mum, Dad, Claire, Paul, Josh and even Jessica.

"Who would do this to her? And to just leave her there out on the road to die! Who could be so horrid?" my mother cried, nestling her head into my fathers chest.
My mother was always a worrier. Even when I was a little girl she would worry about me going out on the street in case I got hurt. Now I knew why.

"I don't know, but whoever it is I hope they're ready because when I catch them they will be sorry," Josh growled.
"Josh, calm down, she's going to be okay, I promise," Claire soothed, patting his shoulder warmly.
Josh and Claire both looked as if they hadn't slept in days. How long had I even been here for? Josh was pale and had heavy dark circles as if he hadn't slept in days. He was wearing the burgundy sweater I had bought him with his black jeans. His hair was all tossed and unbrushed. Claire, on the other hand, had no makeup on and was in old sweats. She obviously hadn't been sleeping either.
I walked toward Josh first. I tried to tell him everything was going to be okay but it was as if he couldn't hear me. Why couldn't he hear me!

"Hey, everyone, I have news on Isabelle's condition." Dr. O'Sullivan broke the deathly silence as he walked into my obviously private hospital room.
"Is she going to be okay?" Mum asked looking at him hopefully. I stood over beside my own resting body looking at my pale figure.
"Isabelle is in critical condition still. We thought that after a week she would have have recovered immensely but she's recovering slower than usual. We don't know if she's going to come out of the coma. She could very easily lose her life," Dr. O'Sullivan explained, walking towards my sleeping body and checking the high tech machine.
"Everything is going to be okay, Is, I promise you," Josh whispered, holding my hand as tears streamed down his face.

When everyone else had gone home, Josh stayed by my side. I wanted to crawl up in his lap and hug him but I wasn't in my body.
"What the hell has happened to me? Why am I standing here but my body is there?" I shouted. But Josh didn't hear me. Why couldn't Josh hear me?!

I stood in frustration, watching the man I loved crying. Who put me here? Who was in the car that night? All I could remember was walking out and hearing a loud car exhaust. But the car never slowed down, it kept driving at full speed. The lights were so bright that I couldn't possibly see who was driving. But I know I saw a face.

"Josh, wake up."
"Hey, thanks." Josh smiled, taking the coffee from Jessica.
"Is she okay?" Jess asked looking at my limp body. I was sitting on the bed looking at them both. I had come to terms with the fact that I was a ghost. I wasn't necessarily dead but I wasn't alive either... I was in between.
"The doctor came in this morning and said she is recovering but she may have some brain damage.
Brain damage...what?
"Who would do this to her?" Jess asked, looking out the window.
"Have you seen Chase?" Josh questioned, looking directly at Jessica.
"Not since the day he tried to come see me... Why? He wouldn't do this, Josh," Jess replied, looking shocked at the thought.
Was it Chase? It had been almost two weeks since the accident and my mind still hadn't been able to piece together everything.
"We don't know that, Jess." Josh coughed, holding my hand.
"Do you think she will ever wake up?"
"I know in my heart that she will," Josh replied, slowly looking right at me.
Like me. Not my body but me. As if I was really there not just a ghost.
"I can feel her here. Not just laying in the bed, but she can hear us." Josh began looking down at my body once again.
"Do you want to go home and shower, Josh?" Jess asked looking at him, worried.
"No I'm fine."

After all the doctors had been in and checked on me, Claire and Paul stopped by.
"Hey Josh you okay?" she asked as she walked in.
"How could I possibly be okay? This is all my fault! If I had've went and collected her from work she would be here, not in a coma fighting for her life," Josh admitted gloomily.
"Josh, how could any of this be your fault, buddy? Isabelle is a fighter. She will get through this, don't you worry," Paul concluded.
"I'm scared," Josh confessed "If she dies, I have nothing left. I have loved her since I was fourteen years old. She was there for me through everything and losing her will kill me." Josh started to sob.

As I sat there looking at him cry, I wished I could comfort him. His eyes were so bewildered by all that was happening. He had lost his way so many times before and now he didn't know what to do, and I couldn't help. All I could do is try and wake up!

After Claire and Paul had left, Josh was still by my side. He even had showers in the hospital. Mum brought him spare clothes and he would shower and change while she sat and talked to me.
"Wake up Isabelle," she urged, her grey eyes full of sadness.
"If I could wake up, I would be awake," I snapped, looking at her. If she could even hear me it would be nice. I loved my mum. She was my best friend. If only she could see me, maybe she could help me out.
"How is she?" Josh asked hopefully, walking into the hospital room.
"The same as she has been for three weeks." Mum sighed, looking across the bed at Josh.
"I just want her to open those big brown eyes even for just a few minutes," Josh pleaded with my limp figure.
"Trust me I'm working on it." I smiled, looking at them both.

It was December 19th, a whole month I had been in this coma. Josh held my hand tightly as he slept beside me. The kind old nurse got him a comfier chair that moved back so he could sleep. He sat in the chair holding my hand tightly, the creases on his forehead deeper than ever.
"Who did this to you, Is?" he asked me slowly.
"I don't know. I'm working on it, trust me."
"I wish you could hear me," he muttered, looking at me hopelessly.
"I can hear you, idiot," I giggled, looking at him.

"Isabelle!" Josh cried. "Dr. O'Sullivan! It's Isabelle, she's waking up!"