A light scent of water Lillies floated lazily on the still air. Faint mumbling carried from somewhere far away it seemed. Everything was black, just an empty space where there should have been light, sound, and movement. Nothing seemed to make sense, and all the thoughts kept swirling, racing around one another like a giant jigsaw puzzle trying to piece itself together. She could hold on, just barely, to one memory though. It was nighttime, there was a beautiful man next to her on a wonderfully soft bed. His eyes were molten silk, and his smile told her everything she had ever longed to hear. She loved this man. And then, he faded away into the darkness.
"So she can hear us, right Scott?" Crystal placed the glass bowl full of white water lilies on the window seat. She had remembered seeing them on the front of Rachel's journal. She figured that Rachel would enjoy them... if she was awake.
"Yes, she can hear you." Scott sat down on the bedside, stroking a heavy brown strand of hair away from her face. "She is doing quite well today actually. Earlier I thought I saw her eyelids flicker... but that could have been wishful thinking." Scott paused, silently cursing Logan for leaving a magnificent woman such as Rachel. In the past few weeks she had been under his care at the hospital, Scott had come to care a great deal about the mysterious Rachel. Each day he hoped she would open her eyes. But each day she stayed the same. Damn that Logan. Scott cleared his throat and turned back to face Crystal and Dani. "Her vitals are good today girls, but don't stay too long. I don't want to distress her mind at all, ok?"
"Ok thanks Scott." Crystal took his place on the side of the bed while Dani stood quietly at the foot of the bed.
"It's ok Dani. You won't hurt her if you get closer." Scotts hand found her arm and a warm swirling sensation formed in the pit of her stomach. She didn't know if she could handle getting close to Rachel. The pain of loosing one of her closest friends was almost unbearable. And it was her fault that Rachel had been so rash. If she hadn't pushed Logan and her together, then Logan would never have left and Rachel wouldn't have been so hurt and would have instead made the right decision instead of risking her life to save everyone else. "Dani. Really, it is ok." Another tumbling heat spread into her stomach. "It was not your fault, you know."
"Yeah, that's what everyone keeps saying. But Scott..." A blush grew across Dani's cheeks. "I'm sorry, I mean Professor Summers... I just... I... I have to go, ok?" And with that Dani rushed from the room, heading straight for her dorm. Yeah, it wasn't her fault... only like, a lot!
Dani only got as far as the elevator when a familiar roar snapped her back into the present. A motorcycle. A big motorcycle. The Ducati. She knew the sound. Scott had revved that bike more times than she could count. That only meant one thing. Logan was back. Dani took off at a sprint back towards the med lab, and ran directly into Scott, knocking him off balance and against the wall. Their bodies were flat together from the impact and Dani's hormones took a moment to cheer! But he brain told them to shut up, there were more important things besides smooshed body parts. They refused to quiet down, instead forcing her hips to wiggle a little bit. Shameless hussies!
"Dani? Is there a reason you threw me against the wall? Or was that just for fun?" Wait a second? Was Scott flirting with her? Boring, respectable Scott had just made a sexual innuendo. Someone write that down, historic day in deed!
"No, Professor Summers. I'm not trying to be funny. On the contrary, I am here for a very serious reason."
"What?! Is something wrong? Are you in pain? Post-traumatic stress syndrome?" His sexy chocolate eye brows knitted with worry. It was the sexiest thing Dani had ever seen.
"No I don't
have post-transmission stress symptom or whatever. It's about
Rachel. Well, actually about Logan. He's... here." Just then, a
tall, leather clad figure entered the sterile hallway. His heavy
riding boots echoed through the strained silence. In his hand, Dani
could make out some sort of note or envelope, but to be honest, she
really didn't give a shit.
Logan stopped a few feet from the door
to the lab. Scooter and Dani stood completely silent. He was
definitely unwanted. Well hell, that wasn't new!
"Kid, Scooter. Where is my welcome home party? I figured you two for the streamer type!" His cocky smile faded as Scooter pivoted on his heel and disappeared into the med lab. That couldn't be a good sign. "So Kid, is Rachel in there?" Logan already knew the answer. Xavier had contacted him from the plane on his way back from Washington. Logan had been just two hours away. He hadn't made it any further. He just couldn't force himself to drive that far. His rational side said it was because he felt a responsibility to the school and to Xavier, but his heart knew different. He couldn't drive that bike one mile further because of Rachel. The second Xavier had said that Rachel was in trouble; Logan left his sixteenth full bottle of Bud and drove straight back to Westchester. The two hour drive had ended after forty five minutes. Impossible to some, but a man sick with worry and guilt could do miraculous things.
"Logan? Damn, wake the hell up! I told you to leave! Crystal, Scott and I are doing just fine without you. We don't want you here." Dani placed her hands on her hip, red-faced from anger.
"What about what Rachel wants?"
"There is no
way to know what she wants, she is in a coma!" The news hit
Logan like a Mac truck, snatching the breath right from his lungs.
Coma?! Charles had said nothing about a coma! Oh God, it was all his
fault! He had tried to avoid hurting her, tried to control their
futures by leaving, but in truth, he had actually hurt her worse.
With out another word, Logan dropped the letter he had held tightly
in his fist, and turned away from the medical lab. His boots again
echoed, but this time the sound was somber, just like his heart. His
sweet, kind, wild Rachel was in a coma. She may never wake up, never
laugh again, never smile again, never kiss again.
Logan felt a
lump form in his throat and a stinging in his eyes, and for the first
time in his life, he cried. He sank down onto the floor by a wooden
bench and let everything pour out: his frustration, his anger, his
agony, and the bottomless sorrow that ate away at his heart. With out
Rachel, Logan would never be the same. His hand grasped blindly at
the seat of the bench and came across something denim and soft. He
blinked rapidly against the tears, trying to make out what the fabric
was. A moment or two passed and he realized it was a jacket. A soft,
blue, jean
jacket. It was
Rachel's jean jacket, the one she had been wearing when he had first
set eyes on her.
Logan clung to that jacket as if it were the real
thing. He would not let her go. He couldn't. She was the one thing
that had ever brought peace to the restless animal clawing away
inside his soul. She was the only woman he had ever truly loved. He
slipped a hand inside the pocket, stupidly hoping that she would be
tucked away in it, but instead he found an old looking photograph of
a beautiful young girl that looked exactly like... Rachel. So this
must be her mother. The one link to the past that forever eluded her.
Logan flipped it over and saw fine handwriting inscribed on the back.
'Reach for the things I never had... a warm bed, a loving family, a
kiss under fresh mistletoe, and a man who will love you until the end
of time'. Reach for the stars? Well if she wanted the stars, then
Logan would rope every damn star in the sky tonight. She deserved
that kiss, that warm bed, that family and by God he would be that
loving man even if it killed him. He would gladly die for Rachel, any
day of the week.
"Scott, here you can toss this." Dani handed over the thick, cream stationary with a look of disgust. "Logan dropped it. Must be some Idiots Guide to Being an Ass-hole or something."
Scott took the letter and gently opened the first fold. Long black strokes of ink spelled out an unmistakable name. "It's addressed to Rachel."
"Yeah well, so was that Fed Ex package of brownies but she never saw that, did she? What she doesn't know won't hurt her."
"Just in case, I think I will put it over here by the bed. There is a part of me that thinks she may want to read it, broken heart and all." Scott placed the thick letter beside Rachel's bed. He might hate Logan, but he wasn't blind. He had been watching from the lab window and he had seen the devastation clearly written on Logan's face. It was the look of loosing someone you loved. Scott should know, he saw that look every time he glanced in a mirror.
"Whatever. Let's just leave her be. She has had a lot of excitement today, don't you think?"
"Yes, of course." Scott snatched his chart from the foot of the bed, jotted a few notes on the last page and turned back to Dani. "So, have you had dinner yet?"
Dinner? Had she even had breakfast? Or for that matter, any food since Rachel had been in the medical ward? There was that pack of crackers, but those were a few days ago. "No, but don't worry, Doctor. I will find something to nibble on."
"Well..." Scott stammered for a moment, the words sticking in his throat like glue. Could he really say what he wanted to say? How long was that grieving period suppose to last? And would Dani say yes? "Would you like some company... you know, for the nibbling?"
"Are you offering to eat with me or be the food to be nibbled on?" Dani saw the horror in Scott's face as he realized what he had said. "Don't worry, big guy, I won't tell anyone you actually have sexual thoughts in that prim little brain of yours. Come on, let's go get some food." And with
that, Scott and Dani left, leaving Rachel completely alone in the darkness of the tiny hospital room.
