87. Noah
NOAH
ONE WEEK LATER
*Bang*
That’s the only sound that keeps replaying in my mind.
*Bang*
It was the last thing I heard before everything went black.
I can still hear her screams. I can feel her pain.
*Bang*
I wasn’t fast enough.
*Bang*
Wasn’t strong enough.
*Bang*
Wasn’t able to save her.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
“Jesus, Jeremy. Would you knock it the fuck off? His heart monitor is going wild because you’re pissing him off even while he’s in a damn coma.”
Jenna?
“I can’t help it. I’m going stir crazy.”
That’s definitely my cousin's voice.
“Then go for a walk,” Jenna replies sarcastically.
“Sure, because I can definitely walk, let alone stand with this knife wound in my thigh.”
Stab wound? Who the fuck stabbed him?
“You guys. Can you please stop? He needs to rest and you’re stressing him out.”
Willow?
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
“I don’t know, babe. I think your voice is the one that just got his heart racing,” Jenna laughs.
“Can someone get a boner while in a coma?” Jeremy asks, then busts out laughing.
“Okay, everyone out. Now!” Willow snaps.
This has to be a dream.
The last thing I remember was bleeding out on the staircase.
I turned off all the lights in the labyrinth and waited as a cold sensation spread through my body.
My veins felt like ice. My hands were numb.
The world was silent until I heard her scream my name.
It felt like I was swallowing gulps of fire as I struggled to wake up.
I heard her scream, and then all I remember was the sound of a gunshot before everything went black.
The sound of a door shutting is followed by silence. Ear-deafening silence. The kind of silence where you can only hear your heart pumping the blood through your veins.
She left me…
Or was she ever even here?
Maybe I’m in Hell.
“I need you to wake up, Noah,” her soft voice calls to me.
I can suddenly feel a warmth against my palm before a gentle squeeze. She’s here. She’s holding my hand. Why the fuck can’t I open my eyes?
“Please, Noah. I can’t live without you. I need you to come back to me.”
There’s so much pain in her voice. I can practically hear her tears as they trail down her face. I’m hurting her. I need to fucking wake up!
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
Fuck that annoying sound.
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
“Noah? Oh my God.”
The warmth wrapped around my hand disappears causing me to cry out in the darkness demanding her touch, but my cry is silent. I can’t make a single fucking noise.
“He squeezed my hand as the heart rate monitor started spiking. His eyelids were fluttering, and I felt his fingers move.”
“Good, that’s very good. He seems to have a good amount of brain activity going on now. Have you been talking to him today?” a man’s voice I don’t recognize says.
Jealousy fills me to my soul at the thought of another man near her right now.
“Yes. Do you think he’s going to wake up soon?” she asks.
Her voice is so full of hope. I promise, Little Rabbit, I’m trying to wake up. I’m trying to get back to you. I just don’t know how.
“Only time will tell. He lost a lot of blood, and the coma is helping his body heal. There’s no way to tell when or if he’ll come out of the coma.”
“If?” her voice breaks. “I thought the other doctor said…”
“I know what Dr. Bellanger said, but it’s been a week and the patient…”
“Noah. His name is Noah!” my Little Rabbit practically growls. That’s my girl.
“Sorry. Noah hasn’t shown any improvement in brain activity in that time until now. With that much blood loss and the fact that he coded on us twice…I don’t want to lie and give you false hope.”
“But I felt him just now. He squeezed my hand. His eyelids fluttered.”
I can hear her crying now. I’m going to kill that fucker when I wake up. No one makes my little rabbit cry and gets to keep breathing.
“Yes, but that could’ve also just been a muscular response. Sometimes muscles twitch.”
“It wasn’t a twitch! He squeezed my hand back when I squeezed his,” she snaps.
“As I said previously, the only thing we can do is wait. His body needs to heal. I’ll stop back by later and check on him, but right now, maybe you should try and get some rest.”
“I’m fine. I’m not leaving his side until he wakes up,” she says firmly.
“Very well. Have a good evening, Miss Bennett.”
The sound of the door closing causes a wave of light to ripple through the darkness. It’s the only sign of light I’ve had since the darkness surrounded me in that Hell.
“He’s wrong. You’re going to wake up.”
I will. I promise you, I’m going to wake up.
I need to wake up!
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
“Yes?” Willow nervously asks. “Kyle?”
“Hey.”
Kyle…
Kyle?
Fucking Kyle Bentley.
What the fuck is he doing here?
“What are you doing here?” she asks, mimicking my thoughts.
“Fire chief, remember? All stations within two hundred miles are notified when there’s a target still on the loose. They still haven’t found the man who attacked you guys?”
Attacked us? What the hell?
“No, they haven’t. The guy broke into Noah’s house while we were out on a date. We interrupted the robbery, and he stabbed Noah. I didn’t get a good look at him because I was in the truck.”
“How is he?”
“He’s…The doctor said we won’t know until he wakes up.” I can hear Willow choke up, holding back her tears.
“I’m so sorry, Willow. Is there anything I can do to help?”
No, Sir. You don’t do a damn thing with my woman. I’m going to kill him and the fucking doctor when I wake up.
“Have you eaten? Let me take you for a bite to eat. It’s the least I can do to help.”
“No,” I growl.
I know I said it, but I didn’t hear the sound.
“Holy shit, Noah. Kyle, go get the doctor. I’m here, Noah. Oh my God!”
I can feel her warmth covering me as that stupid beeping starts going off again.
“Hey. Calm down. I’m here,” she whispers.
I can feel her hands on my face touching me everywhere.
“He’s awake?” the doctor from earlier says.
“Yes. Help him.”
“Noah, can you hear me? My name’s Dr. Snider. Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?”
I struggle against the darkness trying to drag me back down. Light ripples like rays of sunlight peeking through the clouds. It’s too bright, and I quickly shut my eyes again.
“Willow,” I mumble, but the word is never vocalized.
“Hold on. You can’t speak with an endotracheal tube in. We’ll get it removed. Just please stay still,” the doctor demands.
Stay still? Where the fuck do you think I’m going?
A strange pressure can be felt in my throat, and I swear it runs all the way to my stomach. A burning sensation fills my lungs as I begin to breathe.
“There. We dimmed the lights. Try to open your eyes again,” the doctor says slowly. I can feel hands on my face, but they aren’t hers. They smell sterile and like latex.
My eyes slowly open, adjusting to the change of brightness.
They scan the room, searching for the only person that matters to me.
She’s standing as close as the doctors and nurses are letting her.
Her eyes lock with mine, and it’s like a wave of warmth flows over me relaxing my body, but then I see him standing next to her.
My eyes narrow, and an unintelligible string of words comes out with a growl.
“Fuckingsonofabitch.”
“I think I’d better get going. Call me if you need anything, Willow. Noah, glad to see you’re still alive, buddy,” Kyle says quickly before darting out the door.
I’m sure you are, Kyle. I’ll hunt him down later, but right now she’s the only thing that matters.
The nurses and doctor moved to the side after a few minutes of checking me over. I still haven’t actually been able to speak clearly because my throat feels bruised and tight. The second they’re moved away from my bed, she rushes to my side.
I try to reach for her to pull her onto the bed, but I’m too weak. I can’t even lift my arm. It feels like it’s one hundred pounds of numb, dead flesh.
“Don’t move. The doctor said you’d be weak when you woke up. It’s okay. I’m here.”
She gently climbs onto the bed and curls into my side.
Her wrist is wrapped, but other than that, she looks completely unharmed.
She helps me move my arm around her and rest it over her shoulder.
Warmth spreads through my chest, and when I feel her silent tears start to dampen my shirt, I know everything is real.
I’m alive. She’s alive. Nothing else matters.
I tighten my weak grip around her as much as I can to give her the comfort I know she’s desperately needing right now. She needs to have this feeling solidified to believe it’s not just a dream.
We survived.
“I love you, Noah.”
I still can’t speak, but I press my lips to the top of her head, breathing in that familiar scent, the one that I’ve always loved.
I love you too, Little Rabbit.