'Zack. Zack, wake up. Zack. Zack!' I was stirred by Maddie shaking me.
'Huh?' I shot up, remembering that Cody had squeezed my hand. 'How is he? How's Cody?'
Maddie looked surprised at my comment. 'No change. Why do you ask?'
'Because he squeezed my hand. Yesterday.' I tried to jog her memory, but she just looked confused.
'Zack, you were asleep yesterday. You slept through the whole day.'
'What?' No. It can't be.
'Cody hasn't done anything since the time he went into a coma. Your mom's been handed the papers that agree to him being taken off life-support.'
Neither she nor I were able to make another sound. I jumped up from my seat in the waiting room and ran to my little brother's room. I saw my mother sitting there, using her lap to sign at the bottom of the blue paper.
'No!' I yelled. 'No, I won't let you!'
'Zack…'
'No!' I reached over and tried to pull the papers from her hand, but my mother had a surprisingly strong grip. 'Mom, you can't!'
'Zachary. You want him out of pain, don't you?' She was obviously trying to keep calm.
'The only way to keep him out of pain is to be with him, to show that we're not going to give up. If you turn off that machine, you'll only be a coward!'
'Zachary! Do not talk to me like that!' She had anger flaring in her eyes. She calmed slightly. 'Zack. I have to. There's no other way. He can't be in a coma for years.'
'I heard a story about this guy that slept for 18 years, and he's perfectly fine.' I knew this was a pretty lame argument but couldn't be bothered to say anything else.
'Do you want your brother in pain?' Did I want my brother in pain?
'No! How can you say that?!'
'Then let him go.' She didn't mean it that harshly but I was in such a tumble to emotions that I slapped her.
My mom looked down at her lap. I looked at my hand, biting my lip. 'I don't want him to die.'
'I know.' She whispered. 'But sometimes you have to do what has to be done.'
'Oh God.' I ran a hand through my hair. 'Oh God.' The steady beeping of Cody's heart machine that I had got used to like the ticking of a clock suddenly caught my attention.
The sound buzzed round the room like a swarm of angry wasps. It got faster, louder, scarier.
I stepped closer to my twin's bed, resting my hand on top of his. I prayed this wasn't another dream. Cody's eyelid twitched. Oh God, no. Please don't be another dream. They slid open and his gaze landed on me.
'Hi Zack.'
Mikromb13 helped with this. You people must think I'm awful at writing. Please Review.