"Eyes Wide Open"
Junior hardly slept that night. All he could think of was Kris and if she would ever return to him. Or if she would wake up when he wasn't there. Or if she was going to remember him and the life they were planning on having. The image of Kris lying in the hospital bed was burned into Junior's memory and nothing could erase it from his mind.
The next day he forced himself to leave her side. Despite every feeling in his body telling him to stay, he tore himself away to attempt to clear his head. He drove around aimlessly for an hour, completely unaware of where the car was taking him or how fast the car was going. When he finally pulled over, his head sunk onto the steering wheel with a crash and he wept. He wasn't sure where the tears were coming from, since he hardly ever cried in his life, but for some reason, they poured out like the Niagara Falls. When his head mindlessly lifted up, his wiped off his tear stained face with the backs of his hands and stared around at where he was.
At first, the site looked completely unfamiliar. A meadow off in the distance, a gas station behind him with a convenient store that was attached to it, a large church that looked like it was decorated for a wedding, and a park across for the church. He had no idea where he was. Until suddenly it hit him! That church was decorated for a wedding. And not any wedding. But a Davis-Furillo wedding. He stared at the beautiful building in front of his eyes. Kris would love this He thought to himself.
He looked down at his clothes and saw a white T-shirt and dirty jeans. Where's my tux? He thought to himself again until he remembered there would be no wedding today. He had no idea when there would be another one. He stared at his hands that were folded in his lap and sighed heavily. He thought he should go inside and tell the church that the wedding was cancelled, but he knew that would only upset him more. Instead he found the car driving back to the hospital, the only place he needed to be.
Nine Weeks Later
It had been nearly nine weeks and slowly everyone began to lose hope. Everyone that is except Junior. He spent practically all of his time in Kris's hospital room, just waiting for her to awake from her long coma.
As Junior flipped the page in the magazine that he was reading, Matt walked in. "How you holdin' together man?" Matt asked while sitting down at the table next to distraught friend.
Junior could only find himself shrugging his shoulders and digging his head farther into the magazine. There were no words that could describe Junior's feelings.
The pair of friends sat in total silence until Junior suddenly asked Matt, "Have you seen Dani lately?"
"Yeah, I saw her earlier. Why?" Matt answered.
"I haven't seen her in a while is all. I was wondering how she's been," Junior explained quietly.
"She's fine. Doing great with the equine center and plenty busy," Matt explained to Junior how his little sister was doing. Matt felt sorry for Junior. As much as Matt loved Kris, Junior loved her so much more.
Again the silence washed over them and consumed them. Matt offered to get coffee for the two of them but Junior insisted on going as well. In the end, both friends left the room to get coffee and something to eat. Lately, the only thing Junior had been eating was hospital food and he desperately was waiting for a home cooked meal with Kris sitting next to him.
When they walked back into the room, laughing over one of Matt's infamous jokes, Junior's face dropped. He took a sip of his coffee and said, "We would have been two months married by now, you know?"
Matt wasn't exactly sure what to say, so he instead placed his hand upon Junior's shoulder comfortingly. Junior would have begun to cry, but he had no more tears left in him.
Just then, a small noise was heard beind them. Thinking it was just his imagination playing tricks on him once again, Junior quickly dismissed it. Matt was curious to what the noise was but he ignored it as well. Then they heard a louder noise and a low groan of pain.
Both Junior and Matt turned their heads hopefully as they heard someone say, "Oww…."
Immediately Junior ran to Kris' bedside and when he finally saw her big brown gorgeous eyes looking at him again, a large grinned passed his face for the first time in a long while.
Matt stood over Junior's shoulder with an equally large smile as he watched Kris examine where she was, looking quite confused. Junior had thought of a thousand different things to say to Kris when she finally woke up, but instead he merely said, "Hey there beautiful."
Kris eyed Junior nervously before recognizing who the brown haired male was that was at eye level with her. "Hi Junior." She paused to look up at Matt and then said, "I think I bumped my head."
Both boys laughed as Junior grasped onto his awake fiancé. "How are you feeling?" Matt asked.
"A little out of it. What am I doing here?" she said groggily as she rubbed the back of her head. Hearing a commotion, a nurse walked in the doorway. When she saw that Kris was finally awake, she ran to get a doctor.
"You fell off the horse, sweetie," Junior began. Before he could explain more to her, the doctor walked in with a professional smile on his face.
"Ms. Furillo, it is wonderful to see that you are finally awake. I'm Dr. Howard. How are you feeling?"
Kris nervously watched the doctor as he checked her pulse. "Finally awake?" he cautiously questioned.
"Yes, dear. You have been in a comas for over two months." Dr. Howard informed Kris. He then turned on Junior and Matt and said to Matt, "Young man. How about you contact some more loved ones to inform them she is awake."
Taking his advice, Matt touched Kris' hand for comfort, mouthed "I'll be back" and left the room to phone his mom.
Dr. Howard turned back to his groggy patient and said, "Can you tell me what you remember from your accident?"
Kris lowered her eyes as she fumbled with her fingers. "I-I was riding Nosering and-I-I don't remember anything else. I'm sorry," she explained, beginning to feel a little scared.
"Don't worry Ms. Furillo. It should all come back to you. Do you remember anything about your personal life?" the doctor asked her.
"Umm…I'm not a jockey anymore, I think…and," she looked at Junior and said, "Did I miss your and Laura's wedding?"
Junior looked up at the doctor was pleading eyes only to find Dr. Howard signaling for him to step outside the room to speak in private.
Once they got out of the room, the two stood face to face as Matt walked over to them and said, "What's up?"
Dr. Howard began, "It appears that Kris doesn't remember much about her life prior to the accident, which is perfectly normal for a patient who has just waken from a coma. I would take it easy with her and try not to overwhelm her. It should come back in time." As he finished his speech his pager beeped and he quickly walked away.
Matt turned to face Junior and said, "How bad is it?"
Junior sighed and said, "She asked if she missed my wedding to Laura."
"So it is bad."
"What do I do?" Junior questioned as his weight fell hard against the wall.
"Exactly what the doc said. Take it slow and she should remember."
Together they walked back into the room to see Kris still looking confused. She weakly pushed herself higher up on the bed and said, "How did I get here? What happened? How did I get in a coma?"
"We were training Nosering and he fell. You flew off and hit your head on the inner fence. We thought we almost lost you there, Kris," Matt explained slowly.
"Oh gosh. Wait, Nosering, I know that name, don't it?"
"Yeah Kris. We saved him an 11 other horses for a-" Junior began before being interrupted by an excited Kris.
"From a burning far and abusive owner!" Kris shrieked, excited she remembered something more recent.
"Yup, that's the one," Matt said with a smile.
"How is Flame? And Wildfire? How is my boys?" Kris asked, pressing for details.
"They're fine. Anxious to see you again, but good. Wildfire hasn't let anyone ride him, he's missed you so much," Matt informed her.
Kris fiercely pushed the blankets off her body and said, "I have to go see them."
"WOW! Don't move missy. You just got up from a very long nap. You're not going anymore," Junior said.
Matt quickly walked around to the other side of the bed and placed the bed sheets back on her. Just then a nurse walked in with a large bad in her hand. "There are yours Ms. Furillo. Everything you were wearing when you were rushed in here two months ago." She handed the bag to Kris and left the room.
Kris eyed the bag nervously. As she was about to reach for the bag and open it to reveal its contents, Jean and Pablo ran into the room.
Jean had tears of joy in her eyes as she gently hugged Kris. When Jean relentlessly pulled away, Pablo leaned forward and hugged her as well. He was so thankful that Kris was back in their lives, he missed her so much. "We're so happy to see you!" Jean exclaimed.
"I thought you guys hated me," Kris said nervously. All Kris wanted to do was remember everything from her life. But what she wanted the most was to go back in time and never have fallen off Nosering in the first place.
Before Jean could utter a word, Matt took Pablo and Jean in the hall and told them Kris didn't remember much. When Jean walked back in, she sat next to Kris and took her hands in her own and said, "I would never want you to be hurt. I love you Kris."
For the first time since her eyes opened, Kris finally smiled. "I love you too, Jean."
A/N: Gah, that was such a long chapter. Longer than I actually thought. Hope you like it anyway and that it was worth the wait. Review please.
