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Elena
Alec and I wake up to incessant knocking, and before we realize someone’s at the door, Lucian and Sofia walk in. Alec sits up, startled, the sheets falling to his waist. He nudges me gently and wraps me in the blankets as I sit up, covering as much of myself as I can.
“I’m sorry, my darlings,” Sofia says. “We wouldn’t have walked in, but we had no other choice. Neither one of you picked up the phone, and you were so fast asleep the knocking didn’t wake you either.”
“What is it, Mother?” Alec asks, his arm wrapped around me.
“Elena… it’s your mother,” she says carefully. My heart drops and Alec tightens his grip on me, both of us bracing for the worst.
“I—the doctor asked us to come to the hospital. He was unclear about what’s wrong. He didn’t say. We need to go.”
I nod and move to get out of bed mindlessly, but Alec grabs me and wraps me in his arms, sheets and all.
“Clothes, Buttercup?”
I nod and glance at Lucian, panic rendering me useless. He walks into our wardrobe and returns a minute later with outfits for both Alec and me. Then he presses a kiss on top of my head and turns to leave. “I’ll wait for you downstairs,” he says, and I nod.
Alec and I get ready in record time and by the time we’re down, everyone is ready to go.
We’re all tense as we make our way to the facility my mother is in.
I walk toward her room with dread, my heart beating out of my chest. Alec holds my hand and Lucian is right behind me, but not even their presence sets me at ease. I’m scared of what I’ll find when I walk through my mother’s door.
Dr. Taylor jumps up anxiously when I enter. “Elena,” he says, sounding breathless.
He points to my mother’s bed, and to my surprise, my mother is staring back at me, her lips turned up at the corners in a small smile. I rush up to her and grab her hand, surprised to find her finger moving slightly against mine. I stare at her in disbelief, feeling lightheaded from the shock.
“E... E...”
“She’s been saying that since she woke up. I didn’t want to give you false hope in case she fell back into a coma by the time you got here, but she’s been awake for about forty-five minutes now.”
He inhales deeply and looks at me with a grave expression. “I put her through weeks’ worth of tests, but it was worth it. There were trace amounts of propofol in her blood. We’d been keeping her on the medication her last hospital provided—and they mislabeled the propofol they sent us. I’ve had all drugs tested. There’s no doubt… there was foul play here.”
“What is propofol?” I ask, my hand around my mother’s.
“It’s a drug used to keep someone in an artificial coma. I can’t imagine why that would be in her blood. I ran all tests three times, thinking it must be a mistake somehow, but it wasn’t. I slowly phased it out of her system until she eventually woke up naturally.”
I feel sick at the mere thought of someone doing this to my mother. Alec throws his arms around me while Lucian wipes away the tears I didn’t realize had fallen.
“Hi, Sarah,” Lucian says, sounding as emotional as I feel.
My mother’s eyes move to Lucian’s and I could swear I saw a twinkle in them.
“L...” she murmurs, and Alec frowns.
“I think she’s trying to say your names,” he says, shocked. “She’s not just awake, she’s aware of her surroundings too.”
I start crying in earnest and place my head against my mother’s shoulder. “Oh God, Mom. I can’t believe it. I knew it. I knew you’d wake up one day.”
I sob my heart out, and before long my mother’s eyes are filled with tears too, her cheeks wet. Lucian grabs a tissue and carefully wipes her face while Alec wipes mine.
“Your mother doesn’t seem to have any muscle contraction. She must have been given regular Botox injections to prevent it, and I suspect she received regular physical therapy to stretch her body too. It doesn’t quite add up. You wouldn’t do that for a person you’re knowingly keeping in a coma.”
I nod. “The Botox injections and stretching are two things I insisted on and paid through the roof for,” I tell him. I knew she’d need that if she were to walk after her coma. “They did it, because I was paying for it.”
Alec gently grabs her hand like I’ve seen him do before, and presses a kiss to the back of her hand. “I don’t think you remember me, but I’m so glad you woke up,” he whispers softly.
Her eyes move to his, and another tear rolls down her face. “A…” she croaks, her respirator inhabiting her speech.
