See You Again

19. EVERYTHING CHANGES

Time flies by when things are good, Mark thought as he sat watching the lake from the veranda of what should have been the Boathouse Restaurant in the real Central Park. They had no use for a restaurant and Sandra suggested turning it into their home instead of the hospital corridors.

Sandra. Another month had passed and he was still completely in love with her. After their first kiss, they had lost themselves into each other. When they finally returned to their hospital visits, they discovered they had skipped over a week.

What they shared was not physical. Every time they started something, their energy build up dissolved the make believe world and they became a spiral of electricity full of sensorial blasts. Mark was convinced Sandra had left her imprint on his soul. She laughed when he mentioned the word 'soul' but admitted she felt the change.

His first trip back brought him a nasty surprise: his body was ready for him but he decided against returning. He would only do it if Sandra made it too, otherwise, he'd rather die. And dying had become a strong possibility.

He understood what happened to Nicky when Annie held him: his body attempted to reactivate its functions but it couldn't provide enough energy for two entities – physical and spiritual – separately and slowly disconnected from the soul when it didn't return. That's why he had been misdiagnosed as brain dead and his parents made the decision to let him go.

Mark knew that would happen to him soon. He was feeling the effects. To make matters worse, his father had started another motion, this time to switch his life support off. The doctors were still conflicted and Michael was fighting with all his might to keep him alive, at least until the doctors agreed there was no saving for his brother.

Mark didn't want to live to find out Sandra hadn't made it and he couldn't let his body die or he would move on and leave her alone. He would postpone the decision making as far as he could.

He felt a jolt on his chest and he knew she was back. He turned to see her running to him with a wide smile. He opened his arms and she jumped on him, wrapping her legs around him and kissing him deeply. She repeated that action every time they met again. Sandra told Mark she wanted to overdo it, hoping to get tired of it because she wouldn't be able to do it in real life.

She had become more positive about her prospects of living with a disability. The external pins had been removed from her hip and leg and the scars were there, but didn't look as scary as before. Her body was showing signs of recovering and she was eager to start physiotherapy as soon as possible. She was a fighter and would never give up. Her will made Mark want to fight for his life too.

Sandra let go and let her feet back on the floor. Mark held her face in his hands and his legs trembled. He was weaker and hit by occasional pain, making it harder to hide his secret. She noticed.

"Mark," she whispered and he closed his eyes. "Look at me, please."

He took a deep breath and did as she asked. He knew that would be his undoing. He wouldn't be able to lie. Not mentioning it had been hard enough.

"You're hiding something," she said.

Mark detected no accusation in her tone, only concern. "I'm sorry. I don't want to leave you."

"Mark, what's going on?"

Sandra's voice was soothing and caring. Mark felt the tears building.

"I should have gone back three weeks ago," he finally revealed. "But I can't bear to leave you. If you don't go back..." he couldn't finish.

"I will go back, Mark," she said with excitement. "I felt my body pull me today."

He knew what she meant. The pull grew stronger. That's why he had stopped going back to the hospital to visit his body. He went to New York and followed his friends to get updates on the legal fight between Michael and his father, but he wouldn't get close to his hospital room because he didn't want to lose control.