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CHAPTERTHIRTY
Audrey
Igroan, trying to open my eyes, but it’s like they’re sealed shut. I ache all over, but it’s my throat that’s the worst. I attempt a swallow, but my mouth is dry and my throat sears with pain.
“Audrey?” a voice sounds, like it’s a distant whisper. “Audrey, please wake up,” that voice urges again, but this time it’s louder.
Where am I?
I fight the urge to sleep, the force pulling me under like a giant wave. I refuse to let it take me; the need to know what’s happening is all too consuming.
“Audrey, please. I can’t lose you too.”
Mom. It’s my mom. Oh, God, the distress in her voice has me fighting harder. Wake up, Audrey. Wake. Up!
I move my head, my mind waging war on my eyelids. One pops open for a moment, but the light is momentarily blinding.
“That’s it, Audrey. Wake up for me.”
On her plea, I finally manage to open my eyes, my mom’s bright smile greeting me. I try to get out the word “Mom,” but my throat is screaming in agony.
“Don’t try to talk. The doctor took out your tube today and said you would be sore for a while.” Tears spring in her eyes. “I thought I had lost you.”
Wait… what?
It’s then it all comes crashing down on me. My birthday, the dinner party, walking to get a taxi, and then… what happened?
“You were hit by a car. The drunk driver lost control and went up onto the sidewalk. He hit you before eventually crashing into one of the shops. He didn’t hurt anyone else but himself. The driver… he didn’t make it.”
Everything is still a blur, but I’m starting to remember bits now. The great night, my birthday, the present I received from Mom, gifting me her shares of the café. My eyes widen. The café!
I open my mouth to speak, the words frantically trying to escape my mouth.
“Audrey, please. Stay still. You’re recovering from a month-long coma.”
A month?! I’ve been in a coma for a month?!
“Full of Beans is fine. Everyone has been taking turns to keep the place open and in ship-shape. Please, don’t you worry about that for now. You need to get your strength back. The doctor says you’ll need physiotherapy for a while to get you walking again. You…” She takes in a deep breath, her emotions getting the best of her. I want to reach out and touch her, let her know everything is going to be okay, but for a moment I’m stuck, unable to move. “You had a compound fracture in your right leg, three cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and swelling on the brain. It was the swelling they were worried about at first. It was what took the brunt from the crash.”
Wow. So much to take in all at once that I can’t seem to process everything. I attempt to maneuver from my lying position into a sitting one, but pain shoots down my back.
“Don’t try to move. I will need to get a doctor in to see you. They have been waiting a long time to say hello.” My mother is all chirpy as she rises from her seat. As she’s about to leave to get the doctor, Trent walks in the door, coffee in hand.
“Ms. Stone, are you sure you don’t want a… Oh my God!” he shouts once he spots me. “You’re awake!” As he approaches the bed with his coffee, he screeches, “Damn, girl, you had us all wondering when in the hell you would wake up.”
Sheepishly, I answer, “Sorry,” noting that my voice is coming back, but still a little hoarse.
He walks up to me, patting my hand. “Don’t you be sorry. You never knew you wouldn’t be safe on the sidewalk from a car. No one would. Having said that, you need to get yourself healing and out of here quick sharp. The coffee in here sucks.”
Laughter bubbles in my chest, but it makes my throat hurt.
“I will try and find the doctor,” my mom says again, leaving me and Trent alone.
For a moment, he’s silent, simply takes in a deep breath. “My, my, you’ve had quite the adventure, haven’t you? How does it feel to be in your own body again?”
I frown at the choice of words in his question. “Have you been on the ju-ju again?” Trent has always been a little eccentric like that. “To be honest, I feel sore all over, but I’m so glad to be awake… to be alive.” My voice strains, barely a whisper. “Is everyone okay? Victoria? James? Is the café okay?”
Trent takes a sip of his coffee, makes a disgusted face, and then grabs my shoulder. “Listen, enough with all the questions. Everyone is doing great, Full of Beansis doing great, so stop with the worrying. Maybe this accident—as bad as it was—is a wakeup call for you. You’ve just turned twenty-one and you’re already running yourself to the ground. Yes, the café needs you. It has always needed you. But not to the extent that it’ll ruin your health. And baby doll, it will ruin your health if you carry on the way you have.”
