A Cashier and a Movie Star...Can They Really Fall in Love?

A nurse came over with a bed on wheels, and I placed Joanne gently on it. She was rolled away, and I ran after them. “Who are you, and what relation do you have with the patient?” asked the nurse as she wheeled her into an empty room.

“I’m her husband for God’s sake, now let me be with her!” I shouted very loudly, making the nurse a bit uneasy. “I’m sorry for scaring you like this, but I am very concerned about her. She was hurt bad, and I just hope we made it in time to save her. I love her so much, please do all you can to help her pull through!”

“Sir, we shall do all we can for her,” said the nurse quietly. “Since you are family, you can stay in the room. I’m going to get her hooked up to the iv now to get the blood transfusion she needs. I will be right back.”

I held Joanne’s hand, and brushed her hair out of her pale face. Her skin was getting colder by the second, and I knew it wasn’t because she was a vampire, she was dying. “NURSE! COME QUICK! SHE’S STARTING TO GO!!!”

The nurse hurried back in, bringing the doctor and the iv. She hooked Joanne up with tubes all in her hands and nose, and soon, Joanne had a bit of color in her. The doctor and nurse looked at me strangely, and took me aside. “Did you do this to her?”

I wanted to scream. Even thinking I could ever! Would ever hurt Joanne is ludicrous! “No, I did not. I have two witnesses who saw her get beaten up by two guys, and she will tell you I never laid a hand on her.”

“I got news for you,” said the doctor solemnly. “She isn’t going to be waking up any time soon. She is in a coma, and it could be a while before she breaks out of it. And if she somehow slips out of the coma and dies… well, you’d be tried for murder.”

I couldn’t believe what was happening. Not only was Joanne in a coma, but any chance that she would die, and I would be off to jail! Melissa had really screwed me over this time.

“There is nothing more we can do for her, but wait until she breaks out of the coma,” said the doctor as he and the nurse left the room. I sat there, not caring who saw as I sobbed hysterically at what my fate would soon be…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joanne Mazza
I heard a flutter of wings, and saw a bright light. I wondered where I was as I walked around this pretty blue scenery. Everywhere was fluffy white cotton candy and light blue, so I imagined I must be in heaven. So this is what heaven looks like. Wait a minute….I’m not burning in hell? I scratched my head, wondering why I was here. That’s when I saw her.

“Grandma Alice?” I asked as I she walked towards me. “Is it really you?” I ran to hug her, and felt her warm arms around me. She was smiling back at me, and ran her hands through my hair gently.

“You still have your long hair,” she said as she kissed my forehead. “Despite all I did to make you cut it short… Oh how I’ve missed you. I’m sorry I left you before Christmas. I’m sorry you had to watch me deteriorate…”

“Grandma, the fact of the matter is that we are together again,” I said as I squeezed her hand. “But, why am I here?”

Grandma took a deep breath, and sighed. “I’m sorry to tell you this but, your time on earth is very short. You are in a coma due to the trauma those beasts caused you. But do not fear, they will never hurt you or anyone ever again. God has put them in the lowest circle of hell, where they shall be subjected to the ultimate torture for all of eternity…”

“Sounds gruesome,” I said.

“Well, I pulled a few strings since you are my granddaughter,” said Grandma Alice. “It’s not hard to get on God’s good side. I gave him a couple of Bud Lights for his anniversary of the creation, so he decided to loan me out a favor. So, that’s what I asked of him…”

“Grandma, that was a waste of a favor,” I said as I held her hand. “But thank you anyway for that.. What’s going on down there? Where’s my body? I want to see what is happening.”

“I cannot take you down there,” said Grandma Alice. “But I know someone who can…”

I turned around, and was instantly being hugged by a very tall, old man. “My little Joanne… My little granddaughter.”

“Grandpa John?” I asked as I looked into his eyes, hidden behind thick glasses. He smiled at me and nodded. “I haven’t seen you since you were five. My, how you have grown and blossomed into a beautiful woman. You look just like your father…”

“Well, I think she looks like her mother,” sniffed my Grandma Alice.

“Both of you, you are not going to start a fight in heaven!” I scolded. “Now, Grandpa John, can you take me to see what is going on with my body? I want to see what is happening to me on earth…”

“It’s not going to be pretty, but I shall show you since you so desire to see it,” said Grandpa John as he took my hand. We went speeding through a bright light, wind whipping our hair and clothes. “I am not going to stay with you through this. I’m sorry Joanne. I had to witness my own death, and that was worse enough for me to handle. I don’t think I want to see my little granddaughter die. Now, there is something you should know. You have no contact with anyone; you are invisible to all. Some may feel your spectorly presence, but then it is soon forgotten about. There is no way you can survive this ordeal, so do not try to make things worse for yourself. There are far worse things than dying, Joanne. Take care beautiful…”

I was instantly flung forth into the hospital room, where Tom was sitting next to my still body. I was hooked up to many tubes and wires, some feeding me, some giving me blood, some monitoring my heart. My heart was beating steadily, and Tom was holding my hand tightly. I floated over to him, and put my hand on his. His facial expression did not change at all; his face remained gloomy and melancholy.

The door opened to my room, and Dan and Mary walked in, bringing a bouquet of flowers for me. “How is she?” asked Dan quietly.

“She’s in a coma… she’s in a coma because of me… If I could have made her happy, she wouldn’t be in this position right now. It’s all my fault…”

“Tom, don’t say that,” said Mary as she sat down next to Dan near my bed. “She would have probably been taken by Melissa and Alex whether you pissed her off or not. There was nothing we could do!”

“Joanne, please wake up,” Tom’s soft voice whispered in my ear. “Please, I’ll do anything! I will cut back on my work schedule, I will move us back to America. Anything to make you happy again, and for you to open your beautiful brown eyes. I‘ll do anything to see you smile at me once more…”

“Well, if you want her back so badly, I could-” began Dan.

“NO FUCKING WAY IN HELL!” said Tom as he pushed Dan into the wall. “I will never let you turn her! I’d rather die than have her kept alive that way!”

“Both of you stop it!” cried Mary as she held my hand. “It’s not making the situation any better!”

My heart monitor continued to beep at a normal rate, and Mary started to cry again. “I can’t believe this… Why can’t the two of you for once be friends? I mean, you used to be so tight, and now look! Poor Joanne might not even make it out of this fucking coma, and you two are fighting! It makes me sick! If you aren’t going to be here for her, GET THE FUCK OUT!”

No one moved an inch, and watched as Tom inched towards my bedside and kissed my lips. “Joanne… wake up for me? Please? I’ve kissed my true love, my princess, my world, my everything. Why won’t she wake up?”

“That stuff’s only in fairy tales,” said Dan spitefully.

“Yeah, but what we are is also fairytale, myth crap,” said Tom. “And look at us. Who says vamps and wolf men don’t exist?”

Tom stroked my cheek with his thumb, and kissed me again. “If you wake up, I promise that we will make our engagement finalized, I’ll make love to you as many times as you want. I will cut my heart out and offer it to you on a platinum necklace if only you’d just… wake… up.”

But I didn’t wake up. I just lay there, still as a corpse. Tom held me in his arms and started to sob. Seeing him all upset over me broke my heart. I wasn’t going to pull out of this coma, I was going to die, and once again, break Tom’s heart.

Mary began to sob into Dan’s shirt, and even Dan started to tear up a little. I glided over to where my body was, and started to hit it. “WAKE UP!” I screamed, slapping my face. But my hand just went through it, and nothing changed. “DAMN IT! WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!”

After I had tried one last time to wake myself up out of the coma, I fell to the floor, overcome with grief. I felt a hand tap me on the shoulder, and then brought me back to heaven. “That is only what is happening at the present,” said my Grandpa John. “You are going to be in a coma for a long time. Doctors will try to cure you, but nothing will ever change. And then… one day, you will die.”

“Grandpa, isn’t there anything I can do to change that?” I asked.

“It is very unlikely to change what has already been set in motion,” said Grandpa John. “But, things can always change. Good luck Joanne, I’m off to play bocce ball with the other senior citizens…”

I laughed as he disappeared into the distance. So my death was already set in motion? But then again, things can always change… can’t it?