My Knight in Shining...Ah, Screw It. He's an Egotistical Asshole.

I could hear the echo of the hospital machine’s beeping in my ear. The rhythmic beating of the heart monitor was enticing. I had a massive headache at once, and I knew I’d have to get a nurse to give me some medicine for that. I didn’t know how long I had been out, but I hoped that it wasn’t too long. I looked at the clock, 4:30 in the afternoon.

What time had I fallen asleep?

Gah, I couldn’t remember.

I groaned and opened my eyes. The bright light that reflected off the white walls of the hospital was almost blinding. I flinched instinctively, before adjusting to them.

I felt a clammy hand rested on mine. Jake’s head was leaned against my hospital bed, and he was sound asleep.

I couldn’t believe he had been here the whole time.

How long had he just sat and stayed? I looked around and my eyes scaled down to a pile of soda cans on one of the silver rolling carts.

I smiled despite myself. I take it that he probably hadn’t left my side.

I maneuvered so that I didn’t move Jake much from his spot, and crept out of the bed.

Leaning over, I then turned off the monitors, so they wouldn’t beep when I left.

Of course I had to hobble from all the different casts on my body. But I was alive and conscious, Max on the other hand-wasn’t. So therefore, he came first.

I followed some bustling nurses to the front of the hospital.

The receptionist there pointed the way to his room.

My heart accelerated as I made my way down the hall.

I couldn’t help but repeat to myself how everything that happened to him was my entire fault.

I gulped.

Room number 1204- here it is.

The same beeping sounds that echoed in my room, seemed to bounce off the walls in here as well.

Except they were slower, in a scarier kind of way.

I didn’t want to look at Max’s face, but I had to.

I wanted to cry instantaneously.

His soft black hair was resting on the pillow, and he looked really pale.

I grabbed the nearest chair and pulled up next to his bedside. Much like the way Jacob was in my room.

I rested my hand on his arm. I felt the tears tickle my cheeks as one after the other fell without warning.

I didn’t really care about that though, the tears were needed to get my point across.

“Max…” I spoke softly, not knowing if he could hear me or not.

“Max, I’m really sorry about all of this. If I could take it all back I would. I should have just been honest with you from the beginning.”

“Honest about my feelings, and the way I care about you. How your one of the few people in my life that I actually care about. Your someone I can easily depend on without having to hesitate to know if they would be faithful. This is why you can’t do this…”

“You can’t stay in a coma any longer. I won’t let you. Or so help me God, I will come into your dreams, and kick your ass out. You have to wake up, I can’t face the world again without you.”

“Don’t let such a deep sleep come between us. I chose Jacob, so what? You’ll find someone better for you, because you’re such a great, great guy. You’ll excel to be someone important. Like a CEO or a big doctor-guy I know it.”

“But Max….you,”

I stopped, trying to control my emotions.

“You HAVE to wake up. Please!” I said clutching onto his arm forcefully.

“Please….”

No response.

I leaned over onto the bed, with my head facing down.

The heart monitor’s constant beat made me feel like it was cruelly mocking me.

Well it could just kiss my crippled as-.

“Beep……beep…beeep…beep..beep..beeep..beep.”

The heart rate was going up, and for a second I thought the machine had taken offense to what I had thought.

But I felt the arm underneath my grasp twitch.

I shot up, scanning Max’s face. His eyelids peaked open, very, very slowly.

I felt my eyes sting with a new feeling of happiness.

His gray, stormy eyes looked like the clouds, clearing out from a ominous rainstorm.

My breath was caught in my throat as I waited for him to take in his surroundings.

His eyes traveled to the wall, then the window, then the machines, then his body.

Next was his arm, to where I was holding, and finally up to me.

His face broke out into a smile.

A few tears fell from my eyes, and I jumped out to hug him.

“Owwww! Geeze, I’m awake, not superman! I’m still really sore.” He complained.

But the healthiness in his voice was enough for me. I ignored him and continued with the hug.

After I let go, I sat back down in my seat. A permanent smile plastered onto my features.

I playfully hit Max in the arm.

“You scared the bageezus out of me! I was about to die if you didn’t wake up!”

His smile widened, almost ear-to-ear. “Then I’m glad I woke up.”

“Me too….”

I felt like such an anxiety washed through me.

“I heard what you said, in my dreams that is. It was weird. I was speaking to you in my mind, but you couldn’t here it.” He explained.

“But finally it was like I could grasp a-hold of myself and I found the strength to wake up.”

“I mean, yeah teenagers love to sleep, but that much sleep was getting a little boring.”

“Really? I’m glad you could here me. I truly am sorry about my dad and about everything though.” I repeated.

“Look.” He instructed, keeping a strong eye-contact.

“Don’t be sorry about anything. I’m the one who teamed up with that dirt-bag Cody and went delusional in the first place- not you.”

“So promise you won’t blame yourself any longer.” He said, sternly.

“I promise.” I smiled up at him.

“TOBY, I HAD TO LOOK ALL OVER THIS DAGGON HOSPITAL FOR YOU, BECAUSE I WOKE UP AND YOU WEREN’T THERE, AND I ALMOST HAD A FREAKING HEARTATTACK BECAUSE I TOLD MYSELF NOTHING WOULD EVER HAPPEN TO YOU AGAIN. AND WHAT DO YOU DO!? YOU GO OFF WITHOUT IV’S AND MONITORING PATCHES ON, AND YOU…..”

“Holy crap. Max, are you awake?” Jacob said as he stepped into the room.

Max grinned heroicly and waved towards his cousin.

Jake then mimicked my movements and gave Max a big old bear hug. He flinched at first, but embraced it all the same.

It warmed my heart to know that they got along again.

“I’m gonna go get the nurse.” Jake said after a few minutes of us talking.

He left the room, and I was still in shock.

I had been sleeping for three days straight, and Max was in a comma for about a week.

The nurse had to do evaluations and such, and I took it as a time to contact the family.

I called my mom right away.

She was thrilled to hear my voice, and said it made her happy that I was happy, and how glad she was that Max was now awake.

She promised that she would gather up Blaire and Adam and take them over to the hospital to see everyone.

Max had to change clothes and be checked out, and Jake was in the room helping him do so, so I took it as a time to go get something to eat.

I know the stereotype of how hospital cafeteria food is gross, but I had to say that the ice cream, and pizza was not half bad.

I hummed quietly to myself content, as the warm and coldness of the food soothed out my throat.

I then picked out a paper cup, and decided to fill it up with water from the water fountain.

As I made my way there though, one thing on the news caught my eye.

It was a picture of my dad on the screen.

Immediately my heart fell.

As I tuned into what the anchorwoman was saying, I thought I’d pass out.

Cody was going into Juvenile custody after he got out of the hospital because he was still not 18. But as for my dad: The police couldn’t find him.

I almost chocked on the sip of water I was taking.

How could that be? How could they not know where he was?

I bent the paper cup, as I angrily gripped it in my hand.

Instinctively I wanted to curl into a ball on the floor, but I had learned something by being in that basement, and being here in this state, with my friends.

You can’t let everything get you down; you’ve got to appreciate life as it comes.

So that’s what I was going to do. I wasn’t going to worry about my dad.

Not now, not while Max just woke up, and everyone was safe again.

I was determined to live life to the fullest. And that included spending more time with the ones I loved.

Smiling I trailed down the hallways, more than excited to see my newly-found friends and family.