I'm Right Here by Rose Haze
Disclaimer- I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Author's Note- This is the chapter that the story was named after (unless you are extremely unobservant, you probably were able to figure that out for yourself, lol). This chapter starts a few minutes before the last chapter left off. It begins just before Zack's headache returned. Soooo...yeah, read the chapter than review, lol. Responses are at the bottom:)
"People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy" –Bob Hope
Chapter Six
I'm Right Here
Carey stared at her son. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. Seeing Cody covered with bruises, and in such a helpless state broke her heart. She watched his chest rise and fall to the beat of the respirator. His bruised, cut up face was very pale. Carey willed herself not to cry, remembering that Dr. Harrison had told them all to stay outwardly positive in Cody's presence.
Zack was standing next to her. She watched him as he stared at his twin brother in disbelief. A grimace crossed his face and he quickly left the room. Carey watched him go and assumed that he just wanted to be alone—that the sight of Cody lying comatose was just too much for him to handle.
Kurt stood on the other side of Cody's bed. He looked vulnerable and scared. He touched Cody's cheek and gently ran his index finger down the thin trail of stitches. He looked up and met Carey's eyes. Neither one of them spoke. After a moment, they both returned their gazes to Cody.
Carey bent forward and kissed Cody's forehead.
"Hi, Cody," she said in a shaky voice, "Mommy's here. So is your father. And Zack will be back soon. We all love you very much, baby. We all want you to wake up."
"That's right," Kurt chimed in, "We all want to see you."
Nothing happened. Cody remained lifeless and still.
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Out in the hall, Zack massaged his forehead. He was leaning back against the bench with his eyes closed. He was trying to think a way to visit Cody without being crippled by that excruciating headache.
"Zack?" asked Carey as she walked out of Cody's room "Is everything okay?"
"When I saw Cody my head started to hurt really bad—like it did before at the hotel," he told her.
Carey nodded in understanding, "seeing Cody like that was difficult for me too, Zack."
"That's not it," Zack said, "I mean, yeah it was hard, but my head really started to hurt. It's just starting to feel normal now. It's weird."
"Oh..."she said, confused, "I guess you probably don't want to go back to see him right now then...right?"
"Wrong," said Zack, feeling frustrated, "I want to see him."
"Zack, it is okay if it makes you feel scared and—"
"Why aren't you listening to what I'm saying?" he snapped.
Than he hurried back into Cody's room without waiting for his mother to reply.
Kurt looked up as Zack came back to Cody's bed side. Zack returned Kurt's gaze, but didn't say anything. He glanced at Cody, and almost immediately, the headache was back.
He squeezed his eyes shut and silently prayed for the headache to go away. The pain was unbearable, and impossible to ignore.
"Are you okay?" asked Kurt.
"Yeah," he lied.
Cody moaned softly. Zack's eyes popped open and he stared at Cody in surprise.
"He's waking up!" he said happily to his father.
Kurt sighed and a look of pity crossed his face, "No he isn't, Zack. Dr. Harrison was just saying that Cody might groan or mumble to himself when he experiences pain. His face twitches and his eyelids flutter, but that doesn't mean that he is waking up."
"Oh," said Zack, hanging his aching head. He did remember Dr. Harrison saying something about that when he and his mom first talked to him. But when he heard Cody make the noise, he hoped for the best.
"But he will wake up,"Kurt said emphatically, "...eventually."
They watched Cody without saying anything. Zack had never seen anyone look so pitiful and helpless before. It scared him to death. What his mom said in the parking lot was really starting to hit home. How on earth could somebody who was hurt so badly ever make a full recovery...how could they even recovered at all?
Zack held his head in his hand. He could not ignore the pain. He closed his eyes. The fluorescent lights were making everything worse.
"It helps if you talk to them," said a voice from behind.
Kurt and Zack turned around and saw a young lady with dark blonde hair in a nurse's uniform standing there.
"I'm Robin," she said in a cheerful voice, "I'll be one of..." she glanced at the clipboard she was carrying, "…Cody's nurses. I was just saying that sometimes when you talk to coma patients it gives them comfort knowing that their loved ones are there with them."
"The doctor told us that," said Kurt, "he said that Cody could hear us."
"There's a good chance that he can," Robin said with a smile, "I'll be back soon to do Cody's exercises."
She left.
Kurt looked at Zack. He looked completely distraught—which was understandable. Kurt regretfully didn't know his sons very well, (a fact that he attributed to his stubborn ex-wife) but one thing that he did know was that they were completely inseparable. This had to be harder on Zack than anyone else.
"I'm going to go, uh, see how Samantha's doing in the waiting room," said Kurt. He thought that Zack might like to be alone with Cody for a little while.
Zack shook his head as he watched his father go.
'Real nice, Dad,' he thought, 'Don't think about Cody—just worry about your stupid girlfriend.'
After staring at Cody in silence for almost ten minutes, Zack decided to try and talk to him.
"Hey, Cody," he said hoarsely, "It's Zack."
Zack felt really stupid for saying that—surely Cody could recognize his own twin brother's voice.
"You were hit by a car, but everything's going to be okay—..." his voice cracked. He couldn't go on. Warm tears coursed down his cheeks and he swiped them away. 'I'm not going to cry.'
Still trying to ignore the headache, Zack grabbed a chair that was placed next to the door and dragged it over to Cody's bed. He sat down and squeezed Cody's hand.
The second that Zack touched Cody, the headache was gone. It was as if it had never been there.
'So when I touched Cody's hand, the pain went away,' Zack mused. He couldn't figure out what was going on. He did a quick experiment. He pulled his hand away from Cody's to see if the headache would come back when the two of them were not linked together. But it didn't. The pain was gone.
'This is so weird...I'm just glad that it doesn't hurt anymore.'
Zack leaned close to Cody's face.
"I'm right here, buddy," he whispered, trying to keep the tears out of his voice.
He leaned forward and kissed Cody's cheek. Than he rested his head on his pillow and whispered, "I love you."
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Kurt closed the door behind him after exiting Cody's room. He intended to go back to the waiting room to tell Samantha about Cody, but he saw Carey sitting on the bench across the hall, crying.
"Hey," he said gently as he sat down next to her, "Are you okay?"
"No," Carey replied as she wiped her tears away, "I just had an argument with Zack before he went back into Cody's room. Well, it wasn't really an argument, I guess. He told me that his head hurt when he saw Cody, and I told him that it was okay to be scared. Than he yelled at me for supposedly not listening to him and he went back into Cody's room. I know he's stressed out about this—I'm stressed too. I just wish that he would let me be there for him." Her voice was starting to sound higher, like she was about to cry again, "But there's nothing that I can do to make him feel better. There's nothing I can do for Cody either—I don't know how we'll be able to get through this. Especially if...if Cody doesn't make it."
After she choked out those final words, she buried her face in her hands and the floodgates opened.
"God, how can I say that?" she sobbed.
"It's okay," said Kurt. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders, "We'll figure everything out. Zack will come around eventually. He's just isolating himself right now because he's scared and confused. And as for Cody not making it...well, we just can't think like that. We have to think positively. We have to talk to him like Dr. Harrison told us."
"I can't think positively," Carey whispered, "I'm scared that I'll get my hopes up and then..."
She stood up and began to pace back and forth, "I hate myself right now," she said, "I never forget my boys—never. Than the one time I do, look what happens. Kurt, if Cody dies, I'll never forgive myself."
Kurt stood up and took Carey's hands, "this isn't your fault. The only person to blame is the idiot who hit him."
Carey shook her head wistfully, "I don't know how I'll be able to do this. How can I stay strong for Zack and Cody if I can't stay strong for myself?"
Kurt looked into her eyes and said, "You stay strong for them and I'll stay strong for you."
…T.B.C…
Everyone who reviewed: Thank you:)
Ladybug1- Thanks for the e-mail. Your advice and constructive criticism has been very helpful. Thank you so much!
Swimmergirl0001121- Thanks, I'm glad you like it :)
Olivetree1- Thank you! I'm glad you think that they are in character. It's kind of hard to do that because the situation that I put them in is so far removed from anything that would ever happen in the show. I'll try to keep things going slow, thanks for the review!
I-Luv-Ashley-Tisdale- Hehe, you are a genius : ) Thanks so much for the review!
Bluebabydoll- Well, here's the next chapter! I hope you like it.
Kal's Gal- Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked the 'feeling the pain' concept.
Arandomkid- Nice job on your guess :) Thanks for the review.
Mrs. Ginny Weasley-Potter- Thanks for the review. I'm glad you like this.
Snowfrog5152- I like things to be sad. I am very morbid, lol. Thank you so much for the review.
Optimistic Girl94- I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Thanks for reviewing!
Benlego13- You're getting ahead of the story, lol. That partwill be in the chapter eight, but thank you for suggesting it anyways, and thank you very much for the review!
Pikke Wood- I'm glad you like it!
Marykate- Thanks for reviewing!
Philfan05- Thank you very much!
