Chapter Twenty
Dr Walker raced into Ruby's room immediately after he heard an alarmed Charlie calling him. Just as he walked in, he was about to ask what was the emergency until he saw for himself. Ruby's eyes kept flickering. Her fingers wriggled slowly. Dr Walker rushed to her side. He felt Ruby's pulse and heartbeat clearly.
"Ruby. Ruby," he called. "Ruby, are you with me?" he asked.
She didn't respond. Obviously, Dr Walker didn't expect a spoken reply.
"Squeeze my hand tightly if you can hear me," the doctor said.
Unfortunately, Ruby made no movement. She remained completely still on the bed.
"What happened?" asked a panicked Charlie. "I swear to god she moved. You saw her too, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did, but this happens all the time. It's common with most of the patients we get in here. This means she's making progress. It's a good thing Charlie," Sid explained.
"Does this mean she'll wake up soon?"
"Hopefully. Let me know if this happens again."
"Yup, of course. Thanks Sid."
"Just keep doing what you were doing."
Ruby's P.O.V.
I could hear voices in my head, or was that just my imagination? I didn't know where I was. All I could see was black. I was surrounded by darkness. I tried to move around, but I couldn't. I stayed still; as if someone was suppose to control me rather than me being able to move by myself. I was in a rather uncomfortable place. I assumed I was lying on a bed, but it wasn't a very soft mattress. I could hear beeping noises around me after the talking had stopped. I tried my best to listen in on the conversation, but I could only pick up a few words here and there. The darkness in my head immediately disappeared. Flashes of sand and waves appeared. I felt myself inside a car with someone next to me. I turned my head and saw a tall and cute teenage boy sitting next to me. He seemed awfully familiar, but I couldn't match a name to his face. Everything went dark again when I heard a loud bang. I knew something had crashed against us, but I couldn't see what it was. I heard the boy calling my name. As hard as I tried to respond, nothing came out of my mouth.
I could hear someone talking in the room outside my thoughts. It sounded like a woman's voice, but I couldn't identify it. I heard the words she said, "Please wake up Rubes? Everyone you love wants to see you active again. Me, Casey-" Casey. That was the boy's name. He was the one in the car travelling with me. I wonder where he's gone to? I wanted to wake up so badly to let my sister and Casey know. "Ruby? Are you with me Rubes? I'm sorry if I've ever hurt you, especially for not being straight with you; for giving you the biggest shock a few years ago, telling you that I'm your mum." I heard the voice again. So she wasn't my sister. She was my mum. She kept speaking. She told stories about me, which sounded quite recent. I tried to piece what she was telling me with what I could remember; which wasn't much at all.
A door slam woke me up inside. I still couldn't see anything in the real world, but flashes of an accident appeared into my head again. The door slam I heard reminded me of the sound when a car smashed against the one Casey and I were in. I couldn't remember anything after that, but everything that happened before started flowing back into my head. The woman speaking to me outside was Charlie; my mum. I tried to say "mummy" out loud. I heard myself saying that, but what if it was only in my head?
Charlie's P.O.V.
I swear I just saw Ruby's lips moving. Nothing came out, but I know I saw it move. I called for Dr Walker again. "Her lips. They moved. I think she was trying to say something," I told him frantically.
Dr Walker tried to do what he did before. "Squeeze my hand if you can hear me?"
Ruby's P.O.V.
I heard the doctor coming into the room. I heard the doctor telling me to squeeze his hand if I could hear him. I tried to. I really did, but I didn't have enough strength to do it. Now it seemed like I couldn't hear him. Way to get Charlie worked up again...
"She's not squeezing my hand," I heard the doctor say.
"Does that mean she can't hear us?" Charlie asked.
"Not necessarily," he answered.
"Is there a way you could possibly check?" I could feel Charlie's hand reaching for mine. They were shaking due to how worried she was getting.
The doctor didn't reply to Charlie. Instead, he talked to me again.
"If you can hear me, move anything. Even an eye flicker will do, or a wriggle of your toes and fingers."
My eyes wouldn't move. They were completely shut. I managed to wave my smallest finger about, but I didn't know if it was enough.
"She's not moving is she?" Charlie asked.
"No, I don't think so. I'm sorry Charlie," the doctor said.
And so I thought, it wasn't enough. I was more than awake inside. If only it was the same on the outside... My bones and muscles wouldn't let me move, but I could hear everything loud and clear.
Charlie's P.O.V.
It was like Ruby was going against me. It was like she didn't want to wake up. The very few times she did make movement just had to be when Dr Walker wasn't in the room. I was always in the room on my own when she moved. Sid must be thinking I'm imagining things.
I had put my phone on vibrate on the coma, hoping if it does go, it'll get Ruby to react. It rang, but she remained still. It was Brax calling again. Like before, I didn't want to answer it, so I let voicemail do its job.
"Charlie? Are you avoiding me? Look, I'm really sorry for whatever I did wrong. Casey is too. I hope the reason you're not answering the phone is because you're too occupied with Ruby? I hope she's okay. Please give our love to her, and also, please contact Casey or I when we can see her? We really want to, especially Casey. He won't stop talking about her. I love you."
It was really considerate of him apologising, but I didn't want to hear any of it.
Out of nowhere, I heard a voice. "I'm okay Brax."