Page 161 of Silent Damage

His head falls in shame. “I’ll do better.”

I grab a second chair, place it on the other side, and describe what I’m drawing to Jason.

Chapter 39

Gabe

(5 Days Later)

Smudge lies next to Jason, tucked beneath his good arm, while I hold his hand and blabber on and on about the fun times we had together as kids.

Constance walks in and says, “Time for an exam.”

I step aside and let her do her work.

Jason’s swelling is stabilized, and they’re gradually reducing his sedation to assess his neurologic function.

She carefully opens Jason’s eye and shines a light. She checks the other eye next, and then stares at Jason’s face with an unreadable expression.

“How is it?” I ask.

Constance finishes putting away her light. “His neurological exam hasn’t changed much, but we’ve only recently started reducing his sedation. It’s hard to say if the unresponsiveness is due to that or—”

She doesn’t have to finish what she was going to say.

“When will you check again?” I ask.

“I’m going to come back with the doctor in another two hours.” She starts to leave, but stops. “Keep doing what you’re doing, baby.”

So, I do. I sit down and tell Jason about the time we went bike riding together.

“Remember when we rode our bikes in the woods behind the trailer? We raced to see who could go the fastest.” I shake my head, smiling at the memory. “Such a dumb idea. Those bikes were barely holding together. Half the kids in the Patch had owned them before we ever got our hands on them.”

I curl my fingers around Jason's hand.

“You were always more athletic than me. You still are. Of course I hit a rock and flew straight into a giant thorn bush. You laughed your ass off...at first. Then you saw how scratched up I was.”

I take a slow breath and squeeze his hand a little tighter.

“You climbed right in and pulled me out. Remember? Then you sat there picking thorns out of my arms and legs. Hell, there were even thorns tangled in my hair.”

The IVs click.

The monitor beeps.

The ventilator hisses another breath into Jason's lungs.

“Please wake, Jason. I promise I’ll lift you out of this. I’ll help you every step of the way. Please wake up.”

***

Constance returns with Doctor Shiffren two hours later, and this time, he conducts the exam, shining the light in Jason’s eyes.

I wait with bated breath, my heart pounding.

The doctor sighs and looks at Constance.

My heart sinks, but I refuse to give up.