| Chapter 21 As I woke up it seemed as though time had stood still and I was still lying on the hard cold floor of the warehouse. Everything was blurry and hazy, and my stomach still had a piercing pain shooting through it. The only thing that was different was I couldn't see anyone. No one was standing over me, no one was even around me. But as I turned my head and my eyes adjusted I could see Hayden sitting beside my bed half asleep bouncing his knees trying to keep himself awake. Sitting a few feet away was Nikki, feeding Aiden. I reached over and grabbed Hayden’s hand jolting him back to the present. "How are you feeling? Are you in pain?" He asked as he stood up beside my bed. Nikki didn't move because Aiden clearly wasn't finished eating. "My stomach hurts, but other than that I am OK. What time is it? Is it still Sunday?" I asked as I looked around the room for a clock, but the only one I saw was on the TV and was too far away for me to read it. "It is 3:00 in the afternoon. You've been in a coma for a week." He said as I stared up at him in disbelief. That wasn't right, I couldn't have been in a coma for that long. "No, no, it hasn't been a week. It just happened." I said as I tried to sit up but Hayden held onto me. "Don't try to get up. You can't strain yourself, the doctors said you could bust open your stitches if you do." He said as I slowly laid back down. I ran my hand over my stomach and felt something on top of my skin. A bandage. I wanted to lift the covers up and look at it but I was so scared of what I would see that I didn't. "Where is Justin?" I asked. "Don't you remember? He shot himself after he shot you. Honey, he's dead." He said as he cupped my face in his hands and ran his thumb over my cheek. "Oh God. I think I am going to be sick. He didn't deserve to die!" I cried "I know he didn't, but he was very sick. He didn't know what he was doing." Hayden said as Nikki came over to the bed after she laid Aiden back in his car-seat next to Maddy. "It has been a week and I still don't know what to make of it all." She said. "At first, I was furious for what he did to you. I still am, but he didn't see what he was doing as wrong. He was my best friend, but he wasn't at the same time." Hayden said as he sat down on the side of the bed. "Did you call my parents?" I asked "Yea, I called them and they said that they would be here in a couple days, they were going to come down right away, but I told them that you were fine and that your coma was an enduced one just to keep your body still." Hayden said as I tried to register everything I was hearing. "Well I am going to go home. I have to go to work, it's my first day back since all of this started. I am glad you woke up, I was feeling really guilty leaving you." Nikki said as she came over and hugged Hayden and I before she walked out the door. |