Chapter
22: At Last.
The tour neared and Libby still
showed no improvement. She'd been in her coma for 8 weeks now and her mother
had been there with her all the time, day and night. Christine hadn't had
a full night's sleep yet despite Justin's attempt's of getting her to take
a break.
Clare and Justin were sat
in the hospital room, she was trying to convince him to continue with the
tour, he wanted to push it back or just not go.
"It's too late to push it
back any further, Jamie has only just finished re-scheduling it," Clare
argued with him, "What's Libby gonna think when she finds out you didn't
go because of her? I'm here and I'll call you everyday with a progress
report."
"It wouldn't be the same and
what if I'm not here when she wakes up?" Justin argued back.
"She'll understand. She knows
you've got a job to do!"
The tour was a fortnight away
and Justin was showing no signs of giving in on this argument.
"How will the fans feel if
you're not there?" she asked trying the guilt trip, hoping it would work.
"They'll get over it."
As Justin sat holding Libby's
hand like he always did when he visited her, he felt a reaction. "Hey,
she's doing something!" he said shooting to his feet, but still holding
her hand.
"Are you sure?" Clare asked
walking over to the bed.
"Yeah. I was sitting there
and she, she squeezed my hand." He said in haste.
"But I didn't see anything!"
"She squeezed my hand. I felt
it!"
"Lib, can you hear me?"
Justin felt her squeeze his
hand for a second time, "Again! She did it again!"
"Lib." Clare said taking her
other hand, "If you can hear me, squeeze my hand!"
"There. D'ya feel it?"
Clare shook her head; "I didn't
feel a thing!"
"But she squeezed, didn't
you feel it?"
"No Justin," Clare said releasing
Libby's hand, "I didn't feel a thing!"
Clare turned to walk away,
"Clare." She heard Justin say softly.
"What Justin?" she asked as
she turned to look at him. He didn't say anything; he just stared at Libby.
Clare followed his eyes. Libby's eyes were open; she was awake.
"Oh my God, Libby!" Clare
gasped. A lump formed in her throat and tears welled up in her eyes.
"She's awake." Justin said
in a whisper, gripping her hand for dear life, as if letting go would mean
she'd close her eyes again.
Libby coughed, the tube in
her throat was uncomfortable and she reached up to pull at it. Clare stopped
her moving her hand, "Leave it, I'll go and fetch the nurse."
~~~~~ An Hour Later
~~~~~
Clare had gone down to the canteen
to fetch Christine and then rang everyone to let them know about Libby's
improvement. Justin hadn't left her side since she'd woken up, he still
had a tight grasp on her hand and he hadn't stopped smiling. She was awake
and that's all he cared about.
Christine, Justin and Clare
all sat by her bedside and updated her on the things she'd missed.
"Jenny has gone back home
to visit her sick mother," Clare told Libby, "Lisa has been sick but she
seems to be over it now. Her and Joey are more in love than ever. Chris
and Jamie are dating now… oh and so are Lance and Jenny."
"You should see how miserable
he is!" Justin added causing Libby to smile.
Christine smiled at her daughter,
"You know we've missed that smile of yours."
"Aaa…" Libby let out trying
to speak but her throat was dry and hoarse from the tube, the doctor had
told her that she'd have to give her wind pipe time to adjust but it frustrated
her, she wanted to speak. To ask questions and to get back to normal.
"Don't try and say anything."
Christine said as she saw the pain in Libby's face, "I'll go down to the
news stand and get you a notepad to use."
Libby rolled her eyes as her
mother left the room before she signed to Clare. She pointed at her and
then wrote something in the air.
"What?" Clare asked unsure
of what she was trying to say.
Libby huffed in frustration
before again pointing at Clare and writing something in the air. Clare
watched carefully paying close attention to every movement.
"Me and…" Clare said as Libby
signed for the third time.
Libby held up her hand and
used her finger like a pen.
"J… C…" suddenly Clare understood,
"Me and JC?"
Libby nodded in relief.
"You do not want to know!"
Justin commented rolling his eyes.
~~~~~ That Night ~~~~~
As Clare stood waiting in the
doorway, Christine and Libby said their goodbyes.
"I'll come out and visit you
soon and I want you to come visit us too and soon, you hear?" Christine
said firmly to Libby as she hugged and kissed her.
Libby nodded and made a cross
with her fingers next to her heart.
"And you two," her mother
continued looking at Clare and Justin, "make sure you take care of my little
girl!"
"We will." They both chorused.
Libby placed her hand over
her mouth and yawned silently.
"Drugs finally affecting you?"
Clare asked her.
Libby nodded in response.
"Well you get some rest. I'll
call you when I get home." Christine said as she kissed her daughter on
the forehead before turning to leave.
Clare waved silently at Justin
and Libby before walking out of the room after the elder woman.
Christine was exhausted and
knowing her daughter was going to make a complete recovery gave her the
peace of mind she needed to return home to her job in the UK.
~~~~~*~~~~~
As Justin sat watching Orlando
Magic's play in the hospital room he glanced around at Libby. She was asleep,
it had been a long day for her, she'd had quite a few visitors and it wasn't
something she could handle so soon after coming out of her coma. He smiled
and traced her jaw line with his index finger. She looked so calm. She'd
tried to hide the pain she'd been in when she came round, she always did.
But he saw passed it, he wasn't stupid.
"I thought I'd lost you, ya
know?" he said as though talking to her, "It made me realise something,
the friendship we've got, it's great but, I want more. I want to be with
you. I want you to let your guard down and let me in. I know you've been
hurt in the past but just give me a chance…" he trailed of staring into
space.
~~~~~*~~~~~
Libby heard Justin's soft voice
murmuring something, at first she thought it was a dream, then she realised
she was awake she just couldn't open her eyes. She lay listening to him
to try and make sense of his words.
"I know you've been hurt in
the past but just give me a chance."
The sudden shock of what she
heard caused her to open her eyes and look at him.
He looked at her; she smiled
back and nodded contentedly. Justin smiled back before he got up and placed
a kiss on her lips melting her heart and turning her world upside down.
~~~~~ The Next Day
~~~~~
Clare'd had a word with the doctor
and he agreed to let her take Libby down to the hospital gardens for some
fresh air where everyone was waiting for her. Libby had done nothing but
complain about being cooped up inside, she loved to be outside and the
doctor had only agreed to it because she was doing so well. Her recovery
was quicker than he'd expected but they were all pleased it hadn't had
a long-term effect on her.
Clare had got her a wheelchair
but she'd refused to go in one.
"I am not letting you take
me out in that. I gotta check that my legs still work!" she said.
"Libby, you can't expect to
get back to normal straight away! You've been in a coma for two months
or have you forgotten that?" Clare shouted trying to get some sense into
her friend.
"Oh yeah, because that is
something I can forget. I mean it's not like I'm reminded everyday by being
in here!"
~~~~~*~~~~~
It was the first time Libby had
been out of bed so she was weak and having trouble walking. Clare helped
her down to the gardens and when Justin saw the difficulty she was having,
he rushed over to help.
"Why aren't you in a wheelchair?"
he scalded as he scooped Libby up in his arms.
"She wouldn't go in one!"
Clare retorted, "I told her she wouldn't be strong enough but she wouldn't
have it!"
"I haven't been out of bed
in 8 weeks, give me a break!" Libby spat back trying to raise her voice.
"She's back!" Chris said with
a smile.
"Where you wanna sit?" Justin
asked Libby as he carried her over to the wooden bench where Sara, Chris
and Jamie sat.
"The grass." She replied hoarsely.
Once sat down Libby removed
the sweat coat she'd put on over her shorts and top, which Clare had helped
her dress into. "Fresh air. At last. I'm sick of being cooped up in that
room while the sun shines out here!" she said closed her eyes and facing
up to the sky.
Clare let out a short laugh
as she remembered her and Lyn's conversation when they'd sat in the same
spot when she first went into hospital.
~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~
Clare sat on the grass with
a coffee in her hand and looked up at the sky.
"It's beautiful!" she said
to Lyn as she sat down beside her, "You know if Lib were awake right now
she'd be complaining about being cooped up inside on a day like this."
"She loves to be outside."
Lyn said with a fond smile.
Clare looked down at the
grass and pulled a few blades from the soil, "She's gonna get through this,
she's got to."
~~~~~~END OF FLASHBACK~~~~~~
They sat in the sun and talked
for hours, Libby was laughing, joking and laying into the members of 'N
Sync as though the past two months hadn't even happened and although she
was still in the hospital everything was more or less back to normal.
Libby didn't mention the accident
and neither did the others, they didn't want to think about it. It was
something that didn't matter any more, she had recovered so what would
be the point of dragging it all up when it wasn't really important.
Chapter
23:Time For Change.
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