Chapter 22 – I Thought Someone Was Staring At Me I woke up early one morning to the ringing of the phone. I got up quietly and went out into the living room and answered it. After a minute, Nathan wandered out of the room and came over to me. Even though it’s been a few months since I disappeared, he still gets scared when he wakes up and I’m not there. Luckily, there hadn’t been any sign of Steve since that night. I hung up the phone and looked at Nathan, grinning broadly. “What?” He asked. “That was the hospital. They think Haley’s gonna wake up soon.” He smiled happily and hugged me. Then he stopped, frowning slightly. “You know, she’s probably still gonna hate us.” “Yeah… I know. But once we let her get used to things, she should be ok.” “But this is a pretty big thing to forgive.” “Trust me, I know Haley. Besides, if she’s gonna hate anyone, it’ll be me.” “Why you?” “Because it’s not my kid that she’s been carrying around for the past six months.” “Well, technically, she hasn’t been carrying around anyone’s kid. Or anything, for that matter.” “You know what I meant, Nath.” “I know.” He smiled again. “So how soon is soon?” “I don’t know, hopefully sometime within the next few days.” “So do you want to just take a few days off then?” “Nathan, it’s thanksgiving vacation, remember?” “Oh yeah. Damnit. Only Haley would decide to wake up when we’re on vacation and wouldn’t miss school.” “Hey, I’m just glad she’s waking up.” “Yeah, me too.” He said. I hugged him again. We went to the hospital and stayed there all day. Then, we went the next day and did the same thing. After about a week, we started going in shifts. Nathan would go for a few hours, then I would go, then Jake. The next Tuesday, I went after school to relieve Nathan, who had been there since 6 that morning. “Hey.” I called to him softly as I walked into the room. “Hey.” He answered, climbing out of the chair and coming over to me. He went to kiss me, but I stopped him, looking at Haley. “Don’t worry, I’ve been with her all day, she’s not awake yet. She won’t see us.” I started kissing him, then pulled away again. “She’s moving!” I whispered, almost afraid to believe it. We stood on either side of her bed, watching her intently. She stirred slightly. Then, she opened her bright blue eyes and looked up at us. “I thought someone was staring at me.” She said, smiling slightly. We were silent for a minute, just watching her. “Umm… Can you guys stop staring at me now?” “Right… Sorry.” I said, sitting down. “So… how you feelin?” She rubbed her head. “I feel like I got hit by a truck.” “Well, umm… You kinda did.” “What?” She looked around the room for the first time. “This… This is a hospital room. What am I doing here?” I looked at her. “Tell me what you remember.” “I-I remember… Talking to you on the phone… And then, Nathan came over, and… That’s it.” “Do you know what the date is? Anything like that?” “It’s August… August 7th. Why? What’s going on?” Nathan spoke up for the first time. “Haley… It’s December 2nd.” What? that can’t be right…” She said in a confused voice. I went over to the window and opened the curtains. It was snowing lightly outside. “You’ve uh… You’ve been in a coma for almost four months.” She sat back, with a surprised look on her face. “Four months? ...What the hell happened to me?” “You uh… Well… Um…” I wasn’t sure how to begin. “Haley… Lily and I… We’re uh… We’re together.” “What?” She asked disbelievingly. “Yeah… We have been for a while. We just didn’t want to tell you because we didn’t want to hurt you.” I said quietly. She sank back onto her pillow, looking hurt and confused. “So… How did I end up here?” “Well… After you told Nathan about the baby, he was pretty freaked out. So he came running to me, and… You followed him.” “I’m guessing it didn’t go over too well when I saw you together?” “No… You left my house in a pretty big hurry, and… There was a truck that was coming down the road when you backed out of the driveway.” I sighed. “He ran right into you.” “You broke a few bones, which are all healed by now, but you also had a severe concussion, which is why you’ve been in a coma for the past four months.” Nathan concluded. “Broken bones?” She asked, sounding amazed. “Yeah, I’m sure your doctor will explain all that… But you know, me, Nathan, and Jake have been here almost every day for these past few months, waiting for you to wake up.” I told her. “But I’m sure this is a lot for you to take in, so if you want us to leave…” “No, please stay, I want to know more about what’s going on. Like, what happened to…” She looked down at her stomach, which had gotten considerably larger since the last time she had seen it. Nathan understood what she was asking. “Don’t worry, the baby survived the accident. He’s doing well.” “He?” “Yeah, it’s a boy.” He smiled slightly at her. I cleared my throat. “Well umm… I can see you guys have some things to discuss, so I guess I’ll leave then.” I hurried out of the room. Nathan didn't even look away from Haley as I left. I climbed into my car, furiously wiping away my tears.