Comatose

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Chapter 9

Angelica fell to her knees dry heaving as the heavy white mist swirled around her. When she had graduated from high school, she thought that had been the last time she had seen Trent. Clearly, she had been very wrong. When she had wished to have ended up with Trent instead of Kevin it had been nothing more than wishful thinking in the moment. She had been moved by the bittersweet memories of her first love but had never thought it could have been a possibility. In the newest memory she had just witnessed he looked like a completely different person then the charismatic young man she had once fallen in love with. Had she done that to him? Had knowing her or because of the experiences they had shared changed him? And what of Kevin? She thought after her experiences with Trent and all that followed that she had gone into their relationship with her eyes wide open. That was very clearly not the case at all. How many times in her life had Trent been there and she had never noticed? Had Kevin ever really loved her at all or was he even capable of such an emotion? At this point she wasn't really sure of the answers herself.

The white world around her fell away as once again she was plunged into the depths of the water she was beginning to associate with the present. As she broke the water, she found that she was closer to the dock that everyone stood on then she had been the previous times. Angelica was thankful for that as she didn't want to miss a word of what was being said. Trying her luck, she hesitantly moved her hand forward hoping to get closer. Unfortunately, though the invisible barrier had been dropped inside her memories it was still very present in the here and now. Angelica huffed out an annoyed breath, but she had to admit she hadn't expected this barrier to be gone. Listening in intently she tried to ignore the invisible reminder that she was cut off from the world around her.

"I told you before I have no idea when the patient will wake up detective." The doctor bit out loosing his patience with the other man. Who knows how many times he had already answered that question already? Angelica wasn't even sure what day it was nor how long she had been in a coma. She was sure she didn't drop in everyday to listen to what was going on in the room. It was a thought that should have bothered her more than it did.

"I know, I know. If she weren't the only solid lead we had right now I wouldn't be bugging you about this as much as we have. The force needs her to wake up so she can give a statement." The detective answered back apologetically if not a bit frustrated.

"Honestly, it might not even matter when she wakes. The brain is a mystery in medicine. She could wake up completely fine. She could also wake up and not remember a single thing that happened to her." The doctor sighed.

"What do you mean? Is there something wrong with my wife?" Kevin growled at the doctor.

"Absolutely not. We've run scans for brain damage but thankfully there was none. That being said, sometimes the human brain, in order to protect us, will block traumatic memories."

"You can't be serious." The detective yelled in desperation.

"Unfortunately, I am. The only way we will know what she does remember, if anything, is to wait for her to wake up. If you'll excuse me now, I have other patients to attend to." His words were the last Angelica heard the man say before the form that represented him vanished from the dock. She knew the shattering of the image merely meant that he had left her room. It was still disconcerting to witness however as the particles that once formed the figure scattered on a breeze that Angelica herself couldn't feel.

"So now what?" Kevin asked petulantly.

"There's not much to do except wait. I have officers stationed outside her door just in case, other than that all I can do is work the case. At this point the F.B.I. has been brought in and a profiler has joined the hunt." The detective sounded worn out to Angelica's ears and her sympathy went out to him even if she didn't know the man. His voice rang with the tired notes of having worked long hours to find her would be killer before he found her. Angelica wished there were something she could do to help him. Short of waking up however she was at a loss of what to do.

"You all have done just a fine job let me tell you." Kevin sneered with sarcasm. Angelica wished she could reach out and hit him. It wasn't the detective's fault this happened nor was a case solved in a day.

"It's out of our hands now anyway. We're supposed to work a joint case, but they're not known for playing well with local authorities. I'm lucky I was allowed to watch over your wife. Weirdly enough I almost didn't get too."

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked speaking for the first time since Angelica had gotten there. The odd thing was his form had been standing on the dock along with Tiffany's. Perhaps in a way she could feel their presence even if they weren't talking or maybe she was still able to process the conversations around her even if she herself was traipsing through memories at the time.

"The profiler that came in with the feds was adamant on coming down to watch over her himself. If it weren't for the fact that they needed him at the task force base he would be here instead of me." The detective admitted as a silence fell over her hospital room. Angelica didn't exactly understand why that was such a weird request but apparently everyone else in the room knew the answer.

"Is there something we can do?" Tiffany asked sounding subdued in comparison to her normally bubbly personality.

"Go about your lives as usual. At this point everyone thinks Angelica died that night and that the forensic team is in possession of her remains. If you put your lives on hold for too long it will raise suspicions on what you all are doing."

"I don't want to leave my mom here all alone with strangers." Tiffany sniffed on the verge of crying. It broke Angelica's heart to think her kids were having to go through this because of her.

"She won't be. You each can visit her, but I would do it one at a time."

"About time. I need to get back to work. There is a limit of how many days I'm allowed to take off." Kevin stated in annoyance. At his words Tiffany started to bawl as Tyler tried to comfort his sister. For the first time since everything had happened that night, Angelica wished it were her husband laying in a hospital bed instead of her.

Angelica swam away from her family her mind swirling with everything she had overheard. Kevin's attitude to her situation should have surprised her but after all she was finding out it really didn't. She would have been more shocked if he all of a sudden acted like he cared. She knew there were men that found it hard to express how they really felt and would come off as cold and detached because of it. She used to think her husband had been one of them. After seeing him for what he was however she knew the words for the lie they were. A lie she had at some point convinced herself to believe. She knew two things for certain though. The first was that she needed to remember what happened to her the night of the attack. The second was that she needed to figure out a way to wake up out of her coma.