A/N Hey guys, so this chapter is much longer than the most
recent. I hope its enough to satisfy you. And for those of you
who have been wondering, Matt comes back in this chapter. He
was gone for a reason, You'll see in this chapter.
Abuhinyou're review made me smile very much. Thank you so much
for reading this story. Your review meant a lot to me. Annie
thank you for reminding me of my promise to update. It is your
review that lead to the quickness in which this chapter was
posted. Jess Oh my goodness your reviews make me sooo happy.
If ever there was a doubt that I should keep writing your story
quickly erased the thought. Thank you so much for reading. And
thank you to everyone else who reviewed. I really appreciate
you guys taking time to read my story. More soon. I promise!
Lizzie must have dozed off. One minute she was screaming her head off and was naware of where she was, the next she was aware of someone standing next to her bed.
"So, "Lizzie thought to herself, "I've been in a coma for three years, something has happened to cause my mother to change her last name, and now there is a strange person lurking at my bedside..."
"Great" she said aloud to herself. She wanted desperately to open her eyes. The light might not be easier on her now that she'd been awake for awhile. Struggling she pulled her eyelids apart. She could only open them about a millimeter, so everything was pretty blurry. She looked around her. This was the place that she'd been living in for three years. It was your typical hospital room, nothing too spectacular. Everything around her was white. There were some flowers beginning to wilt on her bedside table and a birthday card. Across the room the was a corkboard with pictures of Lizzie's friends and family. Focusing on the dull brown of the corkboard was easing the pain in her watering eyes. So she decided to continue to focus on it. There was Ethan, and Miranda, and even Kate, smiling out at her as they had been for a considerable amount of time. There must have been at least 50 photographs. But Lizzie couldn't take her eyes off one of them in particular. A tangled mop of curls set upon a smiling face that Lizzie knew far too well. For the first time since she woke up Lizzie truly felt like she had missed something. All of a sudden the full impact of what had happened to her hit her like a ton of bricks. She no longer knew this person. She had, three years ago, but he was a different person now. He had gone through a full three years of life without Lizzie. She didn't know where he lived, what he was doing for a living, she didn't even know if he had gone to college. A horrifying reality had fallen upon Lizzie's quiet little hospital room and she suddenly had the urge to throw up. What if Gordo and Miranda had forgotten all about Lizzie, what if they had just gone off to college and pushed her out of their lives. This was all too much for Lizzie to bear. Luckily something occurred to her that took her mind off the situation. She had forgotten all about the stranger next to her bed. Now that her eyes were fairly adjusted she looked to her left. It was hard for her to move her neck and even when she had positioned it in the desired direction it had begun to ache. Surprisingly however, there was noone next to the bed. Lizzie furrowed her brow. "That's strange", she thought to herself, "I could've sworn someone was-"
A tiny giggle interrupted her thoughts. Using all of her strength Lizzie forced her head towards the edge of the bed, just enough to see a tiny little girl wearing a purple dress sitting on the floor. No wonder Lizzie couldn't see her. This girl was very tiny, no more than three years old. She had curly brown hair that fell around her shoulders in ringlets and the biggest puppy dogs eyes she'd ever seen. They were a deep blue and she was staring up at Lizzie with disbelief in her eyes.
"Hello" Lizzie whispered.
Suddenly the girl stood up and began to scream "DADDDDDDDDDY!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Lizzie thought for sure that her head was going to fly right off her shoulders. "great" she said aloud. Now this little girls father is going to come in and think that Lizzie was hurting her or something. As soon as the thought registered in her head, a tall guy with brown hair came in and scooped up the girl. Lizzie began to apologize immediately:
"Look sir, I wasn't hurting her or anything, I mean I can hardly move, she was just in here and then she started screaming and---"Lizzie gasped as the man turned to face her. Sure he had gotten older, and taller. But Lizzie recognized him instantly. She felt faint. After all, it's not everday that a little two year old girl calls your kid brother "daddy".
"M-M-Matt?" Lizzie stuttered in disbelief.
"Finally! That was some long nap" Matt half chuckled to himself. He was hoping that by making jokes they could somehow avoid the awkard situation that had just been brought to both of their attention. He immediately focused all of his attention towards the tiled floor.
"is, is that...yours?" Lizzie chirped.
"uhh yeah, umm Lizzie this is...my daughter." This was harder to talk about than Matt had expected. He'd already been lectured by everyone for the past two years. He was hoping that Lizzie wouldn't continue the trend. Matt was genuinely surprised when the shock was washed from her face and replaced with a wide smile.
"She's beautiful "Lizzie said staring at the little girl. "Who....well, umm, who is her mommy?"
"Melina." Matt stated matter of factly. He really hoped that Lizzie wouldn't want to know all about him and Melina. It wasn't a very complicated story, but it was one that Matt didn't like to share. Matt and Melina had begun dating during their freshman year. A couple months after Lizzie's accident they shared their first time together. About a year and a half ago Melina informed Matt at one of his baseball games that she had missed her period. That very night they purchased a pregnancy test and, surprise, surprise, it turned pink. Melina was pregnant, at a very young age. They told Mr. McGuire first, he didn't really care about much at that point, in fact he seemed kind of, happy about it. Jo was busy with her new boyfriend, but she lectured both of them for an hour despite her apathy. Melina's parents took the situation much more seriously. They told her that she was to get an abortion immediately. Matt didn't view that as an option. Using the money in his college fund he purchased a dainty diamond ring and proposed to Melina over the intercom at school. He was suspended for two days, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Melina was going to be his wife. This made Matt the happiest that he had been in a long time. To be honest, he was thrilled to be starting a family. It meant that he could be done with his. Ever since Lizzie was gone his family had gone to shit. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. That's why Matt didn't like discussing his family life with anyone else. It was private. It was his own. And maybe, if he kept everyone away from it, it wouldn't change. He could have the love of his life, and his sweet baby girl and no stupid car accident would take that way from him, not again.
Matt and Melina were living with Sam. Melina's parents had basically disowned her and their grandchild. Melina was bringing the baby the bottle when Sam came running downstairs. Asking frantically for Miranda's phone number. As soon as Matt heard the name "Miranda" he knew. He knew that his sister was awake. And he felt terrible saying so, but he wished that she would just stay asleep. He had his life figured out now. Everything was going perfectly fine, and now, here comes Lizzie to fuck everything up. Why couldn't he ever be happy. Melina was all smiles
"Isn't it great honey? Your sisters awake! I know you missed her and now she's back! Everything is going to be okay!" Matt didn't have it in him to tell her how he really felt. He smiled along with her and they gathered up a diaper bag and headed to the hospital.
Now Matt was standing next to his 21 year old sister, whom he hadn't spoken to in 3 years. There she was, smiling at her neice. Matt wanted to run. He wanted to set down his daughter and just run. Instead, he put on his fake smile for the billionth time that day and continued his conversation with his sister.
"What's her name" Lizzie asked while waving her hand at the shy little girl, who had her face buried in Matt's shoulder.
"Brooke.", said matt, "It was umm Melina's idea. We didn't know if you were going to ...ya know, so we just named her in your honor Her name Is Brooke. Brooke Alyse McGuire." Matt smiled down at his little girl who was now cautiously eyeing the strange woman in front of her.
"Matt, She's wonderful." Lizzie smiled and then layed her weak head back on the pillow.
"Well, umm I'm gonna go get Mom and Dad, They're pretty anxious to see you. The doctor said that you were asleep, and we decided not to wake you."
"Say Bye-Bye Brooke" Matt cooed
"bye-bye" The little girl replied in a hushed whisper. Lizzie waved in reply. Sweat had beaded on her forehead. Just turning her head had taken all the strength that she had. Matt was a father. She couldn't believe it. If Matt was able to have a child, imagine what else I have missed. Lizzie was afraid. Afraid to hear what else had happened during her so- called "nap." She took a deep breath and settled into bed, waiting for her parents to enter the room.
She didn't have to wait long. About thirty seconds later he teary eyed mother appeared at the door. "Oh Lizzie!" she sobbed! Jo McGuire hadn't changed much. She had hardly aged at all. Her hair was longer now, down to her shoulders, and she had traded in her glasses for contacts. She still had that wonderful smile that comforted Lizzie almost immediately, and she still wore the same perfume. Lizzie breathed it in heavily as her mother wrapped her arms around her. Lizzie began to cry. Her mother and her sat sobbing in eachother's arms, and, for an instant, it was as if nothing had changed. It was as if this had been a terrible nightmare and that everything was okay. Lizzie soon discovered that was not the case. When her embrace with her mother finally ended Lizzie was able to see her father standing in the door way.
Unlike Jo, Sam McGuire had aged a lot. He had new wrinkles and his hair was beginning to gray, he hadn't shaved in what looked like weeks and he was developing a little pot belly. Lizzie bit her lip to hold back more tears. What had happened to her father. She called him over to her and they also hugged. There hug lasted nowhere near as long as the previous one had, but it felt just as wonderful. Both of her parents stood looking down at her. She smiled up at them. She didn't know she had missed them at all until she saw them.
Jo was still crying, and it was all Sam could do to keep from reaching out and holding her hand. He clenched his hands firmly onto the bed rail and let his own tears run down his cheeks. No one knew that his tears weren't tears of happiness.
Just then Matt's figure appeared in the doorway. "Umm...Kelin wants you Ma" Matt said quickly, hoping that Lizzie wouldn't catch his words.
"Mom, who the hell is Kelin?" Matt breathed a heavy sigh and exited the room. This is one conversation he didn't want to be in on.
Lizzie must have dozed off. One minute she was screaming her head off and was naware of where she was, the next she was aware of someone standing next to her bed.
"So, "Lizzie thought to herself, "I've been in a coma for three years, something has happened to cause my mother to change her last name, and now there is a strange person lurking at my bedside..."
"Great" she said aloud to herself. She wanted desperately to open her eyes. The light might not be easier on her now that she'd been awake for awhile. Struggling she pulled her eyelids apart. She could only open them about a millimeter, so everything was pretty blurry. She looked around her. This was the place that she'd been living in for three years. It was your typical hospital room, nothing too spectacular. Everything around her was white. There were some flowers beginning to wilt on her bedside table and a birthday card. Across the room the was a corkboard with pictures of Lizzie's friends and family. Focusing on the dull brown of the corkboard was easing the pain in her watering eyes. So she decided to continue to focus on it. There was Ethan, and Miranda, and even Kate, smiling out at her as they had been for a considerable amount of time. There must have been at least 50 photographs. But Lizzie couldn't take her eyes off one of them in particular. A tangled mop of curls set upon a smiling face that Lizzie knew far too well. For the first time since she woke up Lizzie truly felt like she had missed something. All of a sudden the full impact of what had happened to her hit her like a ton of bricks. She no longer knew this person. She had, three years ago, but he was a different person now. He had gone through a full three years of life without Lizzie. She didn't know where he lived, what he was doing for a living, she didn't even know if he had gone to college. A horrifying reality had fallen upon Lizzie's quiet little hospital room and she suddenly had the urge to throw up. What if Gordo and Miranda had forgotten all about Lizzie, what if they had just gone off to college and pushed her out of their lives. This was all too much for Lizzie to bear. Luckily something occurred to her that took her mind off the situation. She had forgotten all about the stranger next to her bed. Now that her eyes were fairly adjusted she looked to her left. It was hard for her to move her neck and even when she had positioned it in the desired direction it had begun to ache. Surprisingly however, there was noone next to the bed. Lizzie furrowed her brow. "That's strange", she thought to herself, "I could've sworn someone was-"
A tiny giggle interrupted her thoughts. Using all of her strength Lizzie forced her head towards the edge of the bed, just enough to see a tiny little girl wearing a purple dress sitting on the floor. No wonder Lizzie couldn't see her. This girl was very tiny, no more than three years old. She had curly brown hair that fell around her shoulders in ringlets and the biggest puppy dogs eyes she'd ever seen. They were a deep blue and she was staring up at Lizzie with disbelief in her eyes.
"Hello" Lizzie whispered.
Suddenly the girl stood up and began to scream "DADDDDDDDDDY!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Lizzie thought for sure that her head was going to fly right off her shoulders. "great" she said aloud. Now this little girls father is going to come in and think that Lizzie was hurting her or something. As soon as the thought registered in her head, a tall guy with brown hair came in and scooped up the girl. Lizzie began to apologize immediately:
"Look sir, I wasn't hurting her or anything, I mean I can hardly move, she was just in here and then she started screaming and---"Lizzie gasped as the man turned to face her. Sure he had gotten older, and taller. But Lizzie recognized him instantly. She felt faint. After all, it's not everday that a little two year old girl calls your kid brother "daddy".
"M-M-Matt?" Lizzie stuttered in disbelief.
"Finally! That was some long nap" Matt half chuckled to himself. He was hoping that by making jokes they could somehow avoid the awkard situation that had just been brought to both of their attention. He immediately focused all of his attention towards the tiled floor.
"is, is that...yours?" Lizzie chirped.
"uhh yeah, umm Lizzie this is...my daughter." This was harder to talk about than Matt had expected. He'd already been lectured by everyone for the past two years. He was hoping that Lizzie wouldn't continue the trend. Matt was genuinely surprised when the shock was washed from her face and replaced with a wide smile.
"She's beautiful "Lizzie said staring at the little girl. "Who....well, umm, who is her mommy?"
"Melina." Matt stated matter of factly. He really hoped that Lizzie wouldn't want to know all about him and Melina. It wasn't a very complicated story, but it was one that Matt didn't like to share. Matt and Melina had begun dating during their freshman year. A couple months after Lizzie's accident they shared their first time together. About a year and a half ago Melina informed Matt at one of his baseball games that she had missed her period. That very night they purchased a pregnancy test and, surprise, surprise, it turned pink. Melina was pregnant, at a very young age. They told Mr. McGuire first, he didn't really care about much at that point, in fact he seemed kind of, happy about it. Jo was busy with her new boyfriend, but she lectured both of them for an hour despite her apathy. Melina's parents took the situation much more seriously. They told her that she was to get an abortion immediately. Matt didn't view that as an option. Using the money in his college fund he purchased a dainty diamond ring and proposed to Melina over the intercom at school. He was suspended for two days, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Melina was going to be his wife. This made Matt the happiest that he had been in a long time. To be honest, he was thrilled to be starting a family. It meant that he could be done with his. Ever since Lizzie was gone his family had gone to shit. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. That's why Matt didn't like discussing his family life with anyone else. It was private. It was his own. And maybe, if he kept everyone away from it, it wouldn't change. He could have the love of his life, and his sweet baby girl and no stupid car accident would take that way from him, not again.
Matt and Melina were living with Sam. Melina's parents had basically disowned her and their grandchild. Melina was bringing the baby the bottle when Sam came running downstairs. Asking frantically for Miranda's phone number. As soon as Matt heard the name "Miranda" he knew. He knew that his sister was awake. And he felt terrible saying so, but he wished that she would just stay asleep. He had his life figured out now. Everything was going perfectly fine, and now, here comes Lizzie to fuck everything up. Why couldn't he ever be happy. Melina was all smiles
"Isn't it great honey? Your sisters awake! I know you missed her and now she's back! Everything is going to be okay!" Matt didn't have it in him to tell her how he really felt. He smiled along with her and they gathered up a diaper bag and headed to the hospital.
Now Matt was standing next to his 21 year old sister, whom he hadn't spoken to in 3 years. There she was, smiling at her neice. Matt wanted to run. He wanted to set down his daughter and just run. Instead, he put on his fake smile for the billionth time that day and continued his conversation with his sister.
"What's her name" Lizzie asked while waving her hand at the shy little girl, who had her face buried in Matt's shoulder.
"Brooke.", said matt, "It was umm Melina's idea. We didn't know if you were going to ...ya know, so we just named her in your honor Her name Is Brooke. Brooke Alyse McGuire." Matt smiled down at his little girl who was now cautiously eyeing the strange woman in front of her.
"Matt, She's wonderful." Lizzie smiled and then layed her weak head back on the pillow.
"Well, umm I'm gonna go get Mom and Dad, They're pretty anxious to see you. The doctor said that you were asleep, and we decided not to wake you."
"Say Bye-Bye Brooke" Matt cooed
"bye-bye" The little girl replied in a hushed whisper. Lizzie waved in reply. Sweat had beaded on her forehead. Just turning her head had taken all the strength that she had. Matt was a father. She couldn't believe it. If Matt was able to have a child, imagine what else I have missed. Lizzie was afraid. Afraid to hear what else had happened during her so- called "nap." She took a deep breath and settled into bed, waiting for her parents to enter the room.
She didn't have to wait long. About thirty seconds later he teary eyed mother appeared at the door. "Oh Lizzie!" she sobbed! Jo McGuire hadn't changed much. She had hardly aged at all. Her hair was longer now, down to her shoulders, and she had traded in her glasses for contacts. She still had that wonderful smile that comforted Lizzie almost immediately, and she still wore the same perfume. Lizzie breathed it in heavily as her mother wrapped her arms around her. Lizzie began to cry. Her mother and her sat sobbing in eachother's arms, and, for an instant, it was as if nothing had changed. It was as if this had been a terrible nightmare and that everything was okay. Lizzie soon discovered that was not the case. When her embrace with her mother finally ended Lizzie was able to see her father standing in the door way.
Unlike Jo, Sam McGuire had aged a lot. He had new wrinkles and his hair was beginning to gray, he hadn't shaved in what looked like weeks and he was developing a little pot belly. Lizzie bit her lip to hold back more tears. What had happened to her father. She called him over to her and they also hugged. There hug lasted nowhere near as long as the previous one had, but it felt just as wonderful. Both of her parents stood looking down at her. She smiled up at them. She didn't know she had missed them at all until she saw them.
Jo was still crying, and it was all Sam could do to keep from reaching out and holding her hand. He clenched his hands firmly onto the bed rail and let his own tears run down his cheeks. No one knew that his tears weren't tears of happiness.
Just then Matt's figure appeared in the doorway. "Umm...Kelin wants you Ma" Matt said quickly, hoping that Lizzie wouldn't catch his words.
"Mom, who the hell is Kelin?" Matt breathed a heavy sigh and exited the room. This is one conversation he didn't want to be in on.