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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A MONTH AND a half had passed, and there were no real significant updates in Leah's condition. Mr. Archer said that from the tested they had run, it was possible for her to wake up any moment. But day after day, week after week, everything was the same.
Each day after school, Caleb and I would make the drive to the hospital and do our homework while talking to Leah. Both of us found that we were able to get a lot done with her there; otherwise, we tended to spend a lot of our time worrying about her.
Each time before we walked through the door, something inside me hopes that we'll enter and Leah will be sitting up in bed, giving us a smile and asking us about our day.
Instead, we were greeted with the sight of an unconscious girl, her hair fanning out around her on the pillow and machines surrounding her bed. Today was the same as all other days, and we both took our usual seats and started pulling out our notebooks.
We worked for an hour or two, every so often falling into conversation that we made sure to include Leah in, even if she couldn't respond. It was just natural at this point. We were making a joke about one of our teachers when there was a knock on the door. The two of us look up as Caleb's parents enter the room.
I can tell right away from their faces that something isn't right and that they're not here to give us good news. They usually leave us to ourselves to spend time with Leah, but this time was different.
"Mom, Dad, what's up?" Caleb greets, but I can hear the apprehension creeping into his voice.
Neither of his parents speak right away, just looking at each other. They have one of those silent conversations with their eyes before his mom nods and turns toward the two of us.
"We... we have to talk to you, Caleb, and you too, Noah, about something very serious, but we don't want either of you to worry too much."
Those words don't sound good at all.
"What is it?" Caleb asks slowly.
Mr. Archer sighs. "There's no easy way to put this, but... but we have to start thinking about the future, and... and what we might have to do."
His words hit me like a freight train, and I can tell the exact moment that Caleb understands their implications. "No..."
Mrs. Archer moves to stand next to her son. "I hate this just as much as you do, Caleb, but.. we just have to start thinking."
"What's wrong with her current state?" Caleb asks, panic rising in him. I feel out of place in this conversation. Even though I was–am–dating Leah, this sounds like something they need to talk about as a family. "Didn't you say she could wake up at any moment."
"I did say that," Mr. Archer adds, "But that was four weeks ago, Caleb. No change is still no change. I'm not saying we need to think about anything soon–I'm definitely not saying that. We still have a lot of hope, but we... we need to consider the possibilities."
