The Guarded One ✔

Chapter Twenty-Three

I stand by my car, waiting for the others to join me. In the distance, I spot Jess, Tyler, Duncan, and Ayla.

They're smiling and laughing for the first time since Hayden's accident. I'm glad that they are able to experience joy again.

I watch Duncan bid Ayla goodbye, with a kiss on the cheek before he makes his way over to me, with Tyler and Jess behind him.

They're finally moving on. I wish that I could say the same for me.

No matter how hard, I can't seem to let go of Hayden. I know it's very likely that she'll never wake up, but I still feel as though it is my duty to protect her.

"What took you guys so long?" I fold my arms.

Duncan grins "I had to see Ayla one last time before Christmas break," he says dramatically.

"Speaking of which, we better get going if we want to get there before the mall closes" Jess groans impatiently.

"She's right, Jas" Tyler agrees.

I nod "yeah whatever, get in"

Jess and Tyler fight for the front seat, shoving each other violently while Duncan slides into the back.

I sit in the driver's seat while Jess punches her cousin in the stomach, sending him to the ground.

"Was that necessary?" I cock a brow when she takes a seat beside me.

She shrugs as a response as Tyler gets into the backseat. "fuck, Jess" he cusses.

Duncan and I can't help but chuckle just before my phone buzzes. I look down to find a message from Hayden's mother. My smile immediately drops

"Who is it?" Jess asks.

I gulp down hard "we have to go to the hospital"

***

"What's going on? Is she okay?" Jess cries out to Hayden's parents when we walk down the hallway of the hospital.

Her parents don't respond.

"Well?" I raise my voice.

"She's...." Hayden's father starts slowly while adjusting his tie nervously.

"Dead? Alive? What?" Duncan yells at the pair.

I inhale deeply.

"She's...Awake" her dad starts hesitantly.

What? My heart beginning pounding in excitement. A week ago the doctors recommended turning off her life support, now she's awake?

"What?" Tyler raises his brows just as I begin to walk down the hallway.

"No Jason, wait!" Hayden's mum calls after me when I quickly enter Hayden's room.

The lights are dim and the room was cool, as they have been since she slipt into her coma. I find her laying on her bed perfectly still, with wide-open eyes.

"Hay" I greet causing the nurse to look at me in annoyance.

"Shhh," she hushes quietly.

When Hayden was in a coma they told us to whisper and to keep the lights dim, but she's out so what's the problem?

I take a few steps towards Hayden who doesn't acknowledge my existence. She stares at the wall behind me for a minute straight without even so much as blinking.

Something's not right.

Sure, her eyes are open, but she's not moving, or speaking, or showing any signs of consciousness. Her eyes look a though she's had the life drained out of her and her lips remain dry and pale. There are fewer machines and tubes surrounding her, which is all I've wanted for weeks.

"Hay?" I whisper before taking a step back.

I look beside me to find Tyler and Hayden's dad. I furrow my brows but they just shake their heads. Inhaling deeply, before I quickly exit the room to find Duncan, Jess, and Hayden's mother.

Jess wraps her arms around me. "I thought..." I whisper.

"They call it a vegetative state" Hayden's mother announces from in front of me "where a person shows no awareness of their surroundings...The doctors say that she's showing no improvement"

"But she's in the vegetative state" Jess points out, "two weeks ago she was in a coma...that's gotta be an improvement right?"

"Its what they're saying" her mother shrugs when Tyler and Hayden's dad return.

I pull away from Jess and begin walking in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?" Tyler calls out. "We've been here less than five minutes"

I turn around to face the group of people.

"I'm going to head off," I tell them before directing my gaze at Jess,
"make sure you hand up your paper on time" I order.

"When do I not?" Jess folds her arms.

I nod slowly before continuing down the hallway.

"Yeah, we'll just walk home, you dick!" Tyler screams.

"Not me!" Duncan cries before running to my side.

I look over to Duncan and he just smiles.

The two of us walk in silence for a few minutes while I travel deep in thought. She's no longer on life support or in a coma. But instead, a vegetable. Barely a person. Barely alive. She just lays there with her eyes open like a dead person.

"Maybe we should have turned off her life support when we had the chance" I admit out loud to Duncan when we arrive outside.

Duncan looks over to me in surprise. "Jason..." He pushes his brows together.

Now she's completely lifeless. Sentenced to a life trapped in her own body, unable to move or speak.

If only I had just let her go, she could be in a better place.

-----------------------

Hi all,

Persistent vegetative state is a chronic state of brain dysfunction in which a person shows no signs of awareness.

It is caused by head trauma or brain damage (in Hayden's case, caused by the head injury that she sustained from a car accident).

People in a vegetative state are able to wake and sleep but have no awareness of their surroundings. They may open their eyes, make sounds, move, have basic reflexes, such as blinking when they're startled by a loud noise, or withdrawing their hand when it's squeezed hard.

They are able to regulate their heartbeat and breathing without assistance.

Treatment involves supportive care (ie tube feeding, mechanical ventilation, life support, or nursing care).

This condition can be permanent or can be improved over time.

Thank you