Leah Archer was just 12 years old when she hit her head on a rock and fell into a coma, one that doctors weren't sure she'd ever come back from. But when she wakes up four years later, she faces the struggle of recovery and fights to regain any hint...
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4 years ago.
I let out a groan as my eyes barely flutter open. All I can feel is pain in my back and my head; it feels like a metal rod has been driven through my body, and it hurts. A whimper escapes past my lips and I close my eyes tightly.
"Leah, Leah baby, it's going to be alright. You fell and hit your head," my mother whispers to me soothingly. She turns away and yells, but the noise still jars my head. "Somebody call 9-1-1!"
Tears flow out of my eyes, but my body feels weirdly numb and light, like I'm not really here. "Momma," I cry out, and she grasps my hand even tighter.
"Just hold on baby, help is coming."
Her voice lulls me into a slow, drifting sleep.
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When I wake up my head is still stuffy and I feel far away, like there are cotton balls stuck in my ears. The voices around me are muffled, and I can barely make out words like 'trauma' and 'concussion' and 'brain damage,' and all those words scare me. I let out a quiet whimper and my hand is squeezed once again, and I hear my father's voice this time.
"Leah, you're being airlifted to the hospital, but you need to try and stay awake, okay? Just focus on my voice and it will be fine. I wish you could see out the window, baby, the view is beautiful." His voice floats through my ears and I pour all my attention onto it, trying think of what it must be like to ride a helicopter through the air, even if we're going to the hospital.
My head gets fuzzy and everything goes out of focus, my dad's voice sounding even farther away. I groan.
"Stay with me baby, I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you."
Everything fades out.
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The next time I wake up everything is calmer. I'm not moving, and the only sound that travels through the air is a quiet beeping and a muffled crying. My eyes peel open carefully and I notice my family standing next to the bed I'm lying in. Lindsay is too little to really know what's happening-I don't really know what's happening.
My mom lets out a sob when she notices that my eyes are open, moving towards me and cupping my face in her hands. It's only now that I notice there's an oxygen mask covering my mouth and probably an IV in my arm. Her teary eyes met my hazy ones, and she smiles at me.
"It's okay, Leah baby. It's okay. You're going to feel tired in a little, but it's going to be okay. I don't want you to fight it, you just need to go to sleep and have some happy dreams for me, okay?" By now the tears have fallen from her eyes and are traveling down her face. I don't know what's going on, but my parents seem to know.
My father appears next to her, my brother and sister on his other side. "Leah, we love you," he whispers, and I notice that Caleb is crying. They're all still wearing the clothes from the beach, so I couldn't have been out long. "We love you very much, Leah, and we always will."
Am I dying? I wonder, and I look for any signs of fear on my parents' faces but all I see is support and love. So much love.
My head suddenly gets foggy like before and I feel drowsy, my eyelids heavy. I fight to keep them open, scared that if I fall asleep I may never wake up. Looking at each member of my family, I try to memorize their features. My brother's blue eyes, my sister's round face, the curve of my mother's nose, the dimples of my father's cheeks. I love them all so much.
Finally, I run out of fight, and as my eyes slip closed all I can hear is the words of love coming from my family's mouths.
