MAROONED

Chapter 19- The bereavement

    This is the fifth day Justin has been lying unconscious,ever since the day he had an accident,his bouyant eyes has been tightly shut with no one to look at my eyes, Although his fingers moved two days ago and the doctor told us he was becoming stable,that made me relieved and somewhat happy. Since the day he had been admitted,I have not gone home,my mom was the one bringing my foods and clothes.

    I only sleep two hours a day while I'll use the remaining hours to take care of him, I'll clean his unconscious body and talk to him encouraging him not to give up,the doctors also told me that it'll aid his waking up since his brain was not completely dead.

    Mrs Herrick and Kylie will always come to the hospital and go home for an hour,Mrs Herrick always wanted me to go home but I won't listen,I could hardly eat ever since his accident, I'll just stare at him and the sight of Justin always made my eyes brim with tears, he's no longer the tall,cute, sharp-eyed guy whose eyes are always blinking whenever he smiles,he has become a patient with life support system, breathing with the help of a ventilator and with a lot of tubes connected from the ventilator to his nostril,injected IV and his bandaged head ever since the medical operation.

   I was busy cleaning his body when Mrs Herrick opened the door,I didn't notice as I was busy wiping the dirt on Justin's head with a wet towel when Mrs Herrick tapped me 'Mandy!' she said in a low manner 'Good morning Mrs Herrick' I said trying to force a smile on my bleary eyes 'Morning Mandy, hope you had a nice night?' she asked knowing fully well that I have not been able to sleep well ever since Justin had been admitted 'It was fine' I lied as I quickly looked away 'I know you didn't sleep a wink so there's no point in lying,your eyes has already betrayed you, your acne is so terrible, Kylie also told me the nights she slept here, you didn't sleep at all, you were busy talking care of Justin throughout the night, please go home and rest' Mrs Herrick pleaded 'No!' I retorted ' I'm not going home,I'm going to stay here with Justin until he wakes up,I don't care how long' 'Please, listen to me' Mrs Herrick pleaded again 'Your parents might not be happy about it, they'll be- - -' 'My Mom knows that I won't come home until he wakes up,my Dad is a busy man, he'll soon be rounding up his medical research so he hasn't come home in two weeks' I said as I defended the fact that I'm not leaving and I shan't 'I never knew your love for him was this strong but you need to rest,you are not even the one that ran him over so why would you suffer this much and besides if you continue like this,you might collapse,what good will it be if Justin woke up and found you lying down unconscious too?' Mrs Herrick said with her eyeballs looking directly at me,I paused and stared at her back unable to talk 'Please,go home and rest,you can look after a patient if you're sick' Mrs Herrick said 'Okay Mrs Herrick,I'll go home for now,I'll come back in the evening' I said blithely ' I'll suggest you come back tomorrow,you must have rested by then' Mrs Herrick suggested 'No Mrs Herrick,I'll come back this evening,I want to take care of him tonight because I won't be able to sleep' I said with my determined mind 'Please,try and sleep,come back tomorrow' Mrs Herrick pleaded 'No!,how can I sleep comfortably when Justin is lying in this state,I'll come back this evening' I said with determination 'Seems you are bigoted and won't listen to me,do whatever you want then' Mrs Herrick said with her chin standing stiffly 'Okay Mrs Herrick,I'll come back in the evening' I said as I took my furcoat, bowed to her and left.

    When I got home,I met my Mom, Merissa and Lenny at home,my Mom hugged me as I cried in her arms, Merissa and Lenny held me too. My Mom forced me to eat and after eating,I went to my room, showered and went to my closet and as I was about to pick a cloth,I saw the clothes I wore the day Justin had an accident,I remembered how he was ran over in the video footage Jason showed me,I cried out when I remembered this,it was an indelible memory. My mom heard my tears and consoled me,she picked a clothes for me which I wore,she led me to my bed and patted me till I slept off on her thighs.