Tear (Seaside 1)

The media had a field day with the accident. Some stations reported some really awful things, saying that Demetri had a drug problem, that he was high when he got into the accident. I was so angry most the time that when I walked out of the hospital and got a camera shoved in my face all I wanted to do was cry and lash out. Thankfully, Bob and Lloyd were lifesavers when it came to our security at the hospital. On several occasions I told them I wouldn’t be upset at all if they suddenly lost control of their firearms.

They laughed.

Alec was talking quietly in the hall. I reached out and caressed Demetri’s hand. His doctors had been slowly lessening the chemicals in his body. They figured he would be completely out his induced state over the next twenty-four hours. The bruises still looked dark and swollen across his face, but at least his lips had lost some of the swelling.

“Your brother told everyone I was his fiancée.” I caressed his hand. “It was the only way they would let me see you.” My chest clenched, I was too sad to laugh but I wanted to. “Trust me, I could have taken that tiny nurse. We all know how strong I am.” I bit my lip and watched Demetri lay completely still, making no movement. “Alec also told me that you used to pee the bed when you were little and that you were scared of birds until you reached the age of twelve.”

I laughed again and squeezed his hand. “Naturally, I thought the best way to get you out of your drug-induced state was to threaten you. So, I rented the movie The Birds, and if you don’t come out of your coma I’m just going to keep playing it over and over again until you wake up.”

“Cruel,” Alec said behind me.

“And in order to prove my theory, I also recorded a few bird calls on my iPhone. Did you know there was an app for that?”

I could feel Alec’s chuckle behind me as I pressed play. We both laughed, and then Demetri’s hand moved.

I thought I imagined it, but Alec’s hand froze on my shoulder. “Play it again.”

I pressed play again, this time it was a crow, and yes, it was beyond creepy. My eyes trained on Demetri’s hand. Nothing.

Frustrated, I pushed the play button again. His hand moved, just slightly. I raised my gaze to his face.

“His eyes are open! Get the nurse!” I yelled. Alec was already out the door yelling down the halls.

Demetri’s eyes widened as he looked around the room, his eyes filled with tears. “No, no, it’s okay.” I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “You’re fine, okay? Don’t panic. I need you to not panic right now, okay?” I felt warm tears slide down my cheeks.

Demetri didn’t nod, but his heart-rate went back to normal. I couldn’t blame him. If I was strapped to equipment I would be freaking out too. They had removed his breathing tube earlier that morning, but I knew from my dad’s stories that Demetri would have a severely sore throat for at least a week.

“Ice?” I reached for a cup of ice that I had set there in hopes that he would wake up soon. He nodded his head just slightly. I scooted closer and lifted the spoon to his chapped lips with trembling hands.

He opened his mouth just slightly, that same mouth I had spent endless days and hours kissing. I choked back another sob as he tried to smile and nod again. He liked it. He wanted more.

I giggled, and lifted more to his mouth.

“Well, well, well, it seems my daughter’s treating our patient well.” My dad had been my lifesaver these past few days, always answering questions and telling me that everything would be fine. I got choked up just thinking about it.

He walked to the monitors and wrote some stuff down on his clipboard, then began a slow examination of Demetri. “How are you feeling? Blink once if you are in pain, twice if you are okay for now.”

Demetri blinked twice. I squeezed his hand in encouragement.

“You’ve been in an accident,” my dad stated. Demetri rolled his eyes as if to say no crap.

We all laughed nervously. Alec put his hand on my shoulder. I had one hand holding Demetri’s and the other holding Alec’s. I was the link between them, and it felt oddly right to be in the position I was in.

“You should have died,” my dad said. Sheesh. Talk about no bedside manner. “I going to be honest with you, and I’m not going to sugar coat anything, son.”

I saw a tear pool at the corner of Demetri’s eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was fear getting to him or the fact that my dad just called him “son”, a term he hadn’t heard for over ten years. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

“You have a long road ahead of you,” my dad said. “I’ve made a few calls to enroll you in a local rehab program. The missus thinks it will be a good idea.”

Demetri’s eyes continued to pool with tears but in that moment he seemed strong, not weak. He stared at my dad as if he was some sort of god. “You’re better than this, Son.”

Okay, now I was getting choked up.

My dad sat on the bed and sighed. “You were made for more than music, more than just living on the edge, Son. I need you to believe that. I need you to work with me so we can get past this. Together. Can you do that?”

Tears streamed down my face as I watched Demetri slowly reach for my dad’s hand and grasp it between his.

I wiped the tears away before my dad turned around, but his sixth sense picked it up anyway. He pulled me into a tight bear hug. “He’s going to be fine, Baby. I’m going to leave you guys for a minute. I’ll send the nurses in to start taking away some of that equipment hooked up to him.”