Chapter 8
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Samantha was reviewing Paige Hobson's confession for the umpteenth time when her cell phone rang. She put down her pen and dug her cell phone out of her jacket pocket. She looked at the caller ID: Katherine. With her pulse quickening, she flipped it open and pressed talk. "Spade."
"Hello, Samantha, it's Katherine." Katherine's tone was neutral and even.
"Hi, Katherine, this is a surprise. How's Martin?" Samantha tried to hide the edge of worry in her voice but did a terrible job.
"I have good news, Samantha, Martin's awake."
"He's awake?" Samantha felt her heart skip. She had been waiting for months to hear this news but now that it happened it felt surreal, like she must be dreaming. "How is he?"
"He's fine," Katherine's normally strong voice quivered, "No sign of any brain damage. Most of his memories are intact but he doesn't remember the shooting. Dr. McConnell said that is pretty common and it is highly possible that those memories will return."
"This is great news. I can't believe it." Sam was thrilled. He was awake after all these months. That's when Sam realized, he's awake after all these months. How would Martin handle the learning he had lost two months? "Katherine, how is Martin taking the news?"
"Um, he's…." Katherine's voice cracked.
"Katherine?" Sam's fears were starting to rise.
"He's…I don't know, Samantha. After we told him about what happened he just shut down. He listened to everything we told him about what happened, he said he understood but he seems…..detached. Dr. McConnell thinks he is just in shock."
Katherine continued, "He said that is pretty common for coma patients when they awake after a long period of time. Martin just needs time to adjust. To process what happened." Katherine's voice sounded hopeful.
"Can I….can I talk to him?" Samantha cursed that his parents moved him to another city. She wanted to go directly the hospital to see for her self that he was okay.
There was a long pause before Katherine finally replied, "I think it might be best to wait a bit. Give him time to settle in, adjust."
Sam put her elbow on her desk and rested her head in her hand. "Why?"
Katherine cleared her throat. "Samantha, I know you are worried but he just needs some time. It's a lot for him to take in at once. I think we should give him a few days."
Samantha winced, that seemed like an awfully long time away. "I don't understand Katherine. I'd really like to talk to him."
"Samantha, I'm sorry. He just isn't ready yet."
"Oh." Sam realized what Katherine was trying to not tell her. "You mean he doesn't want to talk to me."
"Samantha, I'm sorry. Try not to take it personally, it's not just you. He's just having a hard time and isn't really ready to talk to anyone. I'm sure once he's had a bit of time to process it all he'll feel differently."
"No, that's okay. I understand." She lied. "I'll tell everyone here at work. This is great news."
"Samantha, I'll talk to him."
"No, don't worry about it." Sam was struggling to maintain her composure. "Listen, Katherine, I have to go."
"Samantha…"
"I'll talk to you later, okay."
Katherine hesitated a moment before answering, "Okay, goodbye, Samantha."
Sam hit the 'End' button and put the phone down. She honestly didn't know what she was expecting. It's not like she and Martin were on the best of terms when the shooting happened. And while she had spent the last two months seriously re-evaluating the relationship, Martin had been in the coma. Did she really believe that he would suddenly wake up with a change of heart? Those kinds of things only happen on Lifetime: Television for Women.
As far as he was concerned, Sam was still the bitchy ex-girlfriend who pushed him and pushed him until he had no choice but to push back and push her out. She tried to remind herself that he was in a coma for goodness sake! She was the least of his worries right now and she should try and see it from his perspective. Give him the time and space he needed.
But while she was telling herself these things it still didn't ease the painful feeling that he was rejecting her all over again.
