Compelled (a Hat Films Fanfic)

Waiting

        "Hey Ross," the regular nurse, Ruth, said from behind the desk. "How are you?" she asked as she unlocked the door.

        "Good, yourself?" I asked as I pushed through into the hallway. She replied similarly and I made my way past the now familiar doctors and nurses and turned into the even more familiar coma ward.

        It had been four weeks since the accident, a month this Thursday. A few people had left the coma ward, either back to their homes or to the morgue, and even more had replaced them. Amanda still layed there in her corner, not getting any worse but not getting any better. On the bright side, the cuts and bruises on her face and arms were fading back into clear skin or faint scars.

        We had yet to reach her mother, but I met her lawyer one day while I was here and he was the one that was taking care of the lawsuit and insurance for the medical treatments. As much as I wanted to help her as much as I could, I couldn't even begin to understand the process that was needed to deal with the expenses. I felt stressed just thinking about it, so I can't imagine what her lawyer is going though and what she's going to have to go through when she wakes up.

        If she wakes up.

        I couldn't spend a lot of time with her during the day now, but almost all of my time after dinner before visiting hours ended was spent here, working and talking to Amanda. I talked about a lot of stuff, from my job to where I went to college to different YouTubers and telling her about the insipid things Trott and Smith did that day.

        I walked it and immediately noticed something different. Amanda's face was clear of tubes and masks, only a small tube was wrapped around her head and stuck in her nose for oxygen. I pulled over a doctor and asked him about it. "Actually, Miss. Romeo is breathing on her own now," he said, giving me a brief grin before continuing. "We still don't know if she will wake up..." he trailed, "but it is a good sign." I turned and walked over to her as he resumed scribbling notes on a clip board.

        "Hey," I greeted her, "you're looking great!" I smiled, even though she couldn't see it. I plonked down in my usual spot and pulled out of my laptop. "I hear your breathing well," I said more seriously. "I...I hope you wake up soon. I'm dying to meet you..." I told her quietly.

        I tried doing some editing and then some animation but I wasn't able to concentrate very well tonight. I logged into YouTube and went onto Acidburngaming's channel. He was hilarious; he did gaming videos like Minecraft, Skyrim, and a lot of indie games. I followed him religiously, he was one of my favorites and I've gotten to meet him a few times at Minecon and Rezzed. I tried to keep my giggles down in respect to the others in the ward as I watched his Skate 3 play through. I would even explain a few of the funnier parts to Amanda.

        The next video was an update video and normally I didn't watch these, but there were no other videos to view. I clicked on it, watching Nick's face pop up on screen. "Hey guys!" he said in his American accent, "I just want to do a brief update on what's happening to the channel right now..." He looked down at his notes, "As you know, I've moved to my new house and now I have an actually job," he rolled his eyes, "as well as the fact that my editor hasn't talked to me in a month and has practically disappeared off the face of the earth..." he grumbled.

        "So the videos will be a little slower as I, A, get settled in and, B, find a new editor," he said. He then told the audience about a few cons he will be going to and the charity events he does for Christmas every year. I tried to picture his editor but I don't think I've met him before, so his face escaped me.

        I checked the clock in the corner of my screen and realized visiting hours would be over in 10 minutes. I shut my laptop and looked over at Amanda. "I have to go now," I said, "visiting hours are over, but I'll be here tomorrow..." I told her, getting up to go.

        I allowed myself a brief look at her. Many times have I sat, staring and her unmoving face and wondering what her story was. I didn't even know what state she was from, and I hadn't thought of asking her lawyer when he was here. I also wondered what she was going to school for. Bristol had a ton of different private owned businesses, and she could have been working at any of them. The uni was most famous for it's art, but it had a school of business and science, so that didn't give me any clues either.

        I began to doubt myself, wondering if I should get so attached to her. My idea of her might be completely different than what she's actually like. It was stupid to develop feelings for someone you don't know anything about, yet I did feel something towards her. I couldn't place the emotion yet, but it increasingly worried me. I had to protect myself; I can't get my hopes up by creating a dream girl and then have reality crash down on me when I find out she's completely different.

        I shook my head, pulling myself out of my thoughts. I said goodbye and left, but thoughts of her continued to keep me awake the rest of the night.

A/N I've been trying to shorten my chapters a bit, so they will be more frequent but smaller. Atleast, I'm going to try, but don't get mad at me if the chapter ends up being 2,000 words. Thank you, happy reading!