Groggily, she looked over at me and said nothing. Did she know what happened…why she was here?
I ran out of the room and called a nurse. The nurse came in and verified that what was happening was normal, that Amanda would wake up from time to time, but may not be aware of her surroundings. By the time the nurse and I made it back to the room though, Amanda looked fast asleep again.
I let her mother go in again and waited anxiously in the hallway.
After about an hour, I was able to go back in her room. Amanda had not opened her eyes since the last time and I hoped and prayed she would wake up again.
***
The next day, something amazing happened. Amanda opened her eyes and said ‘Mom.’
A couple of more days passed and Amanda was slowly regaining the ability to talk. Her physical condition, though, according to the doctors was still serious. Amanda had a lot of internal bleeding at the time of the accident and may have suffered some irreversible organ damage.
She acknowledged me only one time and it was the most precious couple of minutes of my life.
“Ce—dric.”
“Oh my God…Hi, baby…I am here. I am here!” I said.
“Love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too, baby,” I cried through tears.
“Cedric—help me.”
“Help you, baby? Help you get better?” I asked, sobbing now.
“Ye—yes. Help me…fi—
“It’s ok, baby. Don’t force yourself to talk.”
Amanda struggled to get the words out, then said, “Fi…Fi…Find…my sister.”
“Your sister? Baby…your sister…is that what you said?”
Amanda looked like she was going to cry, nodded and then closed her eyes, dozing off.
Help her find her sister? That made no sense. I wonder if she was delusional from all the meds. My poor Amanda.
When I left her to sleep and joined Ed and Elaine in the cafeteria, I relayed what I thought she said to Ed and Elaine.
The way that Amanda’s parents looked at each other showed me there was something to what she said.
Ed coughed nervously and asked, “Cedric…did Amanda say anything to you about her some news she received back in December?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Did she tell you what we told her one night?”
I looked down and strained my eyes trying to remember what she told me.
“She said there was something you told her, that she was angry with you, but that she wasn’t ready to think about it and talk about it and I was cool with that. I knew it had something to do with her adoption, but she never said anything again after the first time she mentioned it to me and I didn’t push it.”
Elaine closed her eyes and nodded. “Yes, yes, it did have something to do with her adoption.”
“Why was she asking for her sister in there? She has a sister?”
Ed put his hand on Elaine’s shoulder, looked at me and said, “Because, Cedric. Amanda was an identical twin. She had a sister born five minutes after she was.”