Freeze (The Jewel Project #4)

Memorial

Comas sucked. Sam couldn't even stand even if there was technically nothing wrong with his legs. They still wobbled and refused to obey him as he struggled though his physical therapy. His mind had sobered up fast enough, even if there were some blank spots there, but everything about his ability to move refused to follow suit.

So, even if he was fine, he had to spend another five days in the hospital and undergo weeks of physical training before he could feel normal again. And it hurt, because all he wanted was his old life back. He couldn't even remember what had possessed him to run after Snitch Gravel alone and get his ass handed to him in such a spectacular way.

Christine was by his side as often as her schedule allowed, and there was always someone there, cheering him along, whether it was one of his brothers, one of the girls, Harry or Lisa. And it felt like every second Christine wasn't with him, Lisa was instead.

Sam was beyond grateful for that, even if he had a nagging feeling it wasn't out of pure friendship. Even so, he cared too much about their friendship to call her out on it. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel awkward or to lose her company. She was great, telling him about school and what everyone else was up to.

"Don't worry. You'll be back in hell in no time," she kept assuring him.

He could only smile and hope she was right. And hold on to her tighter to avoid falling over when he wanted to go down the hall and get some water.

As it was, he soon was back in hell, but not in the form of school. Home. Except that house had never felt less like home.

Maxi was hysterical, bursting into random tears over the most irrelevant things. Like Sam losing his balance and hitting his ass on the final step of the staircase. Or Kyle not coming home for one night or two when everyone and their mothers knew where he was and what he was up to. Or Jerry saying he was too tired to cook a meal.

The absence of Freider was also felt inside the house, loud and ominous.

Fortunately, soon enough, Sam was fit enough to return to society and escape the toxic smoke inside what was once his sanctuary. Unfortunately, that meant the memorial was finally to take place.

Sam didn't know how to feel about that. As he watched himself in the mirror, he felt a little queasy. His worries about turning into a flab bucket had been totally unjustified. Losing all his fat while in the coma meant he now had a six pack. Which was so weird. He'd never come even close to anything like that and he was sure the food would cover it up in no time. He was unpleasantly reminded about how thin Tom had been when they'd first met.

Anyway, his new body was hidden behind a black shirt and blazer. The memorial would take place at a local funeral home and it was family only, which meant there shouldn't be many people. Of course, the girls would be coming as well as a few friends from school. Even Herrison expressed his desire to pay his last respects. Sam had only seen him once since he'd been up and about, but couldn't say he missed him.

"Ready to go?" Tom asked.

Sam nodded and turned to his twin. Tom hadn't chosen to dress up for the event. He wore black jeans and a black World of Warcraft t-shirt which was so much more suited for the occasion. He'd also switched up his usual blue-lens sporty glasses with a pair of black Ray-Bans.

"Nice." Sam nodded at the t-shirt.

Tom just shrugged. "Billy was always for the horde."

Fair and true. Not even Jerry commented seeing that he and Sam were the only ones not dressed as if they were going to a rock concert / videogame convention. Kyle and Jimmy had both chosen videogame themed t-shirts, Kyle with a DOTA ensemble while Jimmy had chosen Starcraft as his game of choice.