I See Sparks Fly Whenever You Smile

Brook

Almost twenty-four hours had passed since Alex squeezed my hand after I sang to him. I told the doctors, the nurses and all our friends and family members there were hanging around. At first I was really excited. Alex squeezed my hand; that had to mean that he could hear me and he would wake up any second. As the seconds, minutes, hours and even almost an entire day passed and he hadn’t shown any other sign of waking up, I started to feel awful. I wished I hadn’t told everyone what I felt. All that did was give them all false hope. A nurse had even questioned if I had even felt it at all, or if I just imagined it all – or dreamed it. I knew there was no way I dreamed it. I’d barely gotten any sleep and whatever sleep I did get was full of awful nightmare-ish scenarios. I guess there was a chance I had imagined it, but I really, really didn’t think that I did.

“Hey Brook,” Jack said, waddling into the room on this crutches early that morning.

“Jack,” I stood from my seat quickly to help him. “Hey. Are you okay?” I asked as I helped him to a chair. “Should you be up and around like this?”

He shrugged. “I probably shouldn’t be up. But I couldn’t stay in that bed any longer. I am going crazy.”

I cracked a smile. “It’s been like 2 days. That doesn’t sound too promising for all that resting you’re supposed to do once they let you leave this place. Where’s Jenn?”

Jack smirked. “She went to get coffee.”

“And as soon as he left, you took off?”

Jack nodded. “I left her a note.”

I let out a gentle laugh. It didn’t surprise me that Jack would be the one to be the most light hearted through all of this.

“She’s going to kill you.” I decided, reclaiming my seat besides Alex’s bed.

“So,” Jack lifted his leg and rested it on the foot of the bed. “This lazy ass is still taking his nap?”

I took a deep breath and watched as a look flashed over Jack’s face. He wasn’t okay. He wasn’t light hearted. He was scared and he was doing whatever he could to hide it.

“Yeah…” was all I could say.

“Here I am, busted foot and this stupid cast and these stupid crutches and having to rest and go do all this stupid physical therapy – and he’s taking a fucking nap….”

“Jack…”

“Why won’t he just wake up?”

“I… I don’t know. The doctors-“

“I don’t care about the doctors, Brook. They must not be very good if they can’t get him to wake up.”

He was starting to unravel and I wasn’t sure I was the one he needed to be doing this in front of. Clearly, I was going to have to be strong for him and I didn’t know if I could do it.

“Jack,” I got up and walked to where he was sitting and put my hands on his shoulders. “The doctors have done everything they could. They say it’s up to him now. When he’s ready to wake up, he will.”

It was taking all the control I had no to fall apart at this moment.

Jack shook his head. “It’s just not fair,” he squeaked out.

“I know,” I agreed. “But he’s going to be okay.”

“How do you know that?” Jack asked, looking up at me as tears began to well in his eyes.

I shrugged, pausing for a second as I glanced at the door –willing anyone else to walk into the room at this moment. “Because if I let myself think anything else I would be an inconsolable mess.”

Jack let out a loud breath and blinked his tears away frantically. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “The last thing you probably want to deal with right now is me blubbering like a baby.”

I smiled, reaching over and wiping away the one tear that managed to slip from his eyes. “Hey,” I held up my wrist with our friendship bracelet on. “What are friends for?”

Jack gave me a sad smile before pulling me into a tight hug. “I love you,” he whispered in my ear.

“I love you, too,” I replied, kissing the top of his head as I broke from the hug, wiping a few tears from my own eyes.

After I had gone back to sit in my seat by Alex, we sat in a weird sort of comfortable silence as we both just watched Alex lay there.

“Brook,” Jack finally broke the silence after a few minutes.

“Yeah?” I looked over at him.

“When he wakes up, what do you think is going to happen with you guys?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I guess that would be up to him.”

“But what if it was up to you?”

I looked back over at Alex, resting my hand over his. “None of this would have ever happened and we’d spend the rest of our lives together.”