Chapter
8
"Brian?"
Mariah called again. She sat there confused as to why Brian wasn't there with
her. He had told her that he was going to leave the next day, so why isn't he
there with her as usual?
Mrs.
Henson opened her eyes at the sound of her daughter's voice.
"Mariah?
Sweetheart, I'm so glad you're awake! I was so worried!"
"Mom?
What are you doing here? What's going on? Where's Brian?" Mariah had a million
questions in her head.
"I
came to see you, honey. You were in a small coma, but you're alright now."
replied Mariah's mother.
Mariah
didn't know what to say. Coma? How could that be? She was only asleep for an
hour, or what felt like an hour. She couldn't think and didn't know what to
think.
"Mariah,"
said Mrs. Henson, interrupting Mariah's thoughts. "Who's Brian?"
"Um...no
one mother, I think it was just some guy from my dreams that's all."
replied Mariah. "So tell me what's going on. Why are you here?"
Mariah changed the subject. She didn't want to tell her mother about Brian, she
knew that her mother will just jump to conclusions. Besides, Mrs. Henson was so
set on Jake.
Mrs.
Henson went and called the doctor and then sat down next to her daughter's bed
and explain all that had been going on. A week and a half had gone by since
Mariah went under a coma. Mariah's head swirled with thoughts and questions,
but didn't bother to ask them. The most important thought was that Brian had
left and she didn't get a chance to say good bye. Mariah was saddened by this.
"Mariah?
Are you listening?"
"Oh
yeah, mom, I am. I'm just trying to take it all in that's all."
"I
know there's a lot to absorb. Everything's going to just fine now. I've got my
baby back."
Mariah
smiled at her mother. It was so nice to see her mother again, but she still
couldn't shake that feeling inside her that Brian was gone and he was probably
gone for good.
* * *
It
was a week later, her mother had gone back to her job, but promised that she'd
be back in two weeks. She couldn't leave her job for very long or she'd be
fired. During that week, however, Jake came back to visit Mariah. Mariah was so
surprised to see him and how he handled the fact that she had cancer. She
admired him all the more. He brought flowers, and every other day for that week
he would come and eat lunch with her. They talked and chatted about many
things. Jake filled Mariah in on how much she was missing, but he would make it
up to her when she got out of the hospital. Mariah was beginning to think if
she was ever going to get out.
Jake
came by very often for the next couple of weeks. Mariah was so surprised, that
all the doubts that she had about Jake slowly faded away. They had great times
even though she was in the hospital. He would come by during some afternoons
and take her out for a walk in her wheelchair for a while. Things went well for
a while until suddenly Jake stopped showing up. There were no phone calls, no
visits, no flowers. Nothing. Until one day...
"Hello?"
asked Mariah.
There
was no answer.
"Hello?"
asked Mariah again, getting a little impatient. "Look, whoever this is,
I'm going to hang up if you don't say anything."
"Mariah?"
said a voice.
"Brian?
Is that you?" asked Mariah in astonishment.
"No,
it's Jake. Who's Brian?"
"Oh
Jake! B--Brian's just one of my mom's friends, that's all. He calls once in a
while to check up on me for my mom."
"Oh,
okay. So, um...how are you? I'm sorry, I haven't been around. I've
been...uh...busy. You know, university and stuff."
"Oh
yeah, it's okay. Are you okay? You sound a little...nervous or something. Is
there something wrong?"
"No,
well...listen Mariah, I've been thinking and I think we should stop seeing each
other. I don't want to rush anything, you know. It's going to fast for me and I
just want to be single for a while. By myself."
Mariah
sat there speechless for a moment. She always thought that the conversation
would be started by her and not Jake. Tears began to well up in her eyes.
"But
why?" she asked. "I thought that things were going well. What
happened?"
"Well,"
said Jake, "I just need time alone." He felt so bad lying to her.
"Oh,"
said Mariah in a quiet voice. "I see. Well, I hope you have a nice life
alone, Jake."
She
could tell that he was lying. He probably met someone prettier, someone who
would follow him anywhere and also someone who he didn't have to take care of
in the hospital.
"Good
bye, Jake."
"Mariah,
wait! Let--"
Mariah
put down the phone and sat there motionless. She didn't know whether to cry or
just forget about it.
'It
was bound to happen sooner or later,' thought Mariah. 'Stupid me actually
thought for a while that it would work. I'm such an idiot.'
She
went over to the window and looked out at the moon. For the first time in
weeks, she thought about Brian and all the things that he did to cheer her up,
to make her laugh. He actually cared. Tears slowly slipped down her face, but
not because of Jake, but because she missed her friendship with Brian.
Mariah just stared up in the sky and looked
at all the stars and the moon. Little did she know that somewhere under the
sky, someone else was doing the same thing and thinking about her.
***
