"Brian?" Mariah called again. She sat there confused as
to why Brian wasn't there with her. He had told her that he was going to leave
the next day, so why isn't he there with her as usual?
Mrs. Henson opened her eyes at the sound of her daughter's voice.
"Mariah? Sweetheart, I'm so glad you're awake! I was so
worried!"
"Mom? What are you doing here? What's going on? Where's
Brian?" Mariah had a million questions in her head.
"I came to see you, honey. You were in a small coma, but
you're alright now." replied Mariah's mother.
Mariah didn't know what to say. Coma? How could that be? She was
only asleep for an hour, or what felt like an hour. She couldn't think and
didn't know what to think.
"Mariah," said Mrs. Henson, interrupting Mariah's
thoughts. "Who's Brian?"
"Um...no one mother, I think it was just some guy from my
dreams that's all." replied Mariah. "So tell me what's going on. Why
are you here?" Mariah changed the subject. She didn't want to tell her
mother about Brian, she knew that her mother will just jump to conclusions.
Besides, Mrs. Henson was so set on Jake.
Mrs. Henson went and called the doctor and then sat down next to
her daughter's bed and explain all that had been going on. A week and a half
had gone by since Mariah went under a coma. Mariah's head swirled with thoughts
and questions, but didn't bother to ask them. The most important thought was
that Brian had left and she didn't get a chance to say good bye. Mariah was saddened
by this.
"Mariah? Are you listening?"
"Oh yeah, mom, I am. I'm just trying to take it all in that's
all."
"I know there's a lot to absorb. Everything's going to just
fine now. I've got my baby back."
Mariah smiled at her mother. It was so nice to see her mother
again, but she still couldn't shake that feeling inside her that Brian was gone
and he was probably gone for good.
* * *
It was a week later, her mother had gone back to her job, but
promised that she'd be back in two weeks. She couldn't leave her job for very
long or she'd be fired. During that week, however, Jake came back to visit
Mariah. Mariah was so surprised to see him and how he handled the fact that she
had cancer. She admired him all the more. He brought flowers, and every other
day for that week he would come and eat lunch with her. They talked and chatted
about many things. Jake filled Mariah in on how much she was missing, but he
would make it up to her when she got out of the hospital. Mariah was beginning
to think if she was ever going to get out.
Jake came by very often for the next couple of weeks. Mariah was
so surprised, that all the doubts that she had about Jake slowly faded away.
They had great times even though she was in the hospital. He would come by
during some afternoons and take her out for a walk in her wheelchair for a
while. Things went well for a while until suddenly Jake stopped showing up.
There were no phone calls, no visits, no flowers. Nothing. Until one day...
"Hello?" asked Mariah.
There was no answer.
"Hello?" asked Mariah again, getting a little impatient.
"Look, whoever this is, I'm going to hang up if you don't say
anything."
"Mariah?" said a voice.
"Brian? Is that you?" asked Mariah in astonishment.
"No, it's Jake. Who's Brian?"
"Oh Jake! B--Brian's just one of my mom's friends, that's
all. He calls once in a while to check up on me for my mom."
"Oh, okay. So, um...how are you? I'm sorry, I haven't been
around. I've been...uh...busy. You know, university and stuff."
"Oh yeah, it's okay. Are you okay? You sound a
little...nervous or something. Is there something wrong?"
"No, well...listen Mariah, I've been thinking and I think we
should stop seeing each other. I don't want to rush anything, you know. It's
going to fast for me and I just want to be single for a while. By myself."
Mariah sat there speechless for a moment. She always thought that
the conversation would be started by her and not Jake. Tears began to well up
in her eyes.
"But why?" she asked. "I thought that things were
going well. What happened?"
"Well," said Jake, "I just need time alone."
He felt so bad lying to her.
"Oh," said Mariah in a quiet voice. "I see. Well, I
hope you have a nice life alone, Jake."
She could tell that he was lying. He probably met someone
prettier, someone who would follow him anywhere and also someone who he didn't
have to take care of in the hospital.
"Good bye, Jake."
"Mariah, wait! Let--"
Mariah put down the phone and sat there motionless. She didn't
know whether to cry or just forget about it.
'It was bound to happen sooner or later,' thought Mariah. 'Stupid
me actually thought for a while that it would work. I'm such an idiot.'
She went over to the window and looked out at the moon. For the
first time in weeks, she thought about Brian and all the things that he did to
cheer her up, to make her laugh. He actually cared. Tears slowly slipped down
her face, but not because of Jake, but because she missed her friendship with
Brian.
Mariah just stared up in the sky and
looked at all the stars and the moon. Little did she know that somewhere under
the sky, someone else was doing the same thing and thinking about her.