Jess's POV (in Coma)
A stirring from next to me awakens me from my sleep.
Sleep? How'd I get to my bed? The last thing I remember is Keith, Andrej, and me in the living room on the island. How'd it end up back stateside? Who's next to me?
I turn over and see a figure lying prostrate next to me with the blankets over their head. I timidly pull back the blankets to see Judith's smiling face next to me.
"Morning, babe." Judith sleepily says. She greets me with a chaste kiss.
"Good morning, love. How'd we get here?" I answer confused.
"What are you talking about? We've always been home." Judith responds.
"Huh? I mean what happened with Keith and Andrej? Where's Dame?"
"You're scaring me, Jess. Keith died years ago, remember? Andrej lives nearby and Dame's probably on his way here. You know he can never sleep past 7 especially since the twins have been born."
"What! I'm thorughly confused. What year is it? Who are the twins? Are you even Judith Mills?" I shout as I jump out of the bed and away from the Judith imposter.
"Calm down! Why are you acting this way?" Judith yells back.
"I feel like Rip Van Winkle." I mutter as I sit wearily back on the bed where I'm quickly tackled by a little body.
"Morning, Mom." I look into the angelic face of a Dame, I think. He'd be Dame if Dame was eight years old.
"Morning, Dame?" I throw out as he gets off me.
"Who else would I be?" Dame teases. He greets Judith just as enthusiastically before flying back out the room.
"Now, I truly feel like I am Rip Van Winkle." I run to the bathroom and look at myself in the vanity. I don't look like I aged much. In fact, I look the same but with wild eyes.
"Jess. Jess, come out the bathroom. If you won't, I'll come in." Judith calls through the door. The door opens a second later.
"Jude, I need you to answer some questions for me. I know the questions might seem strange to you but humor me. Can you do that?"
"Sure."
"Ok. What year is it? What's your name?"
"Today is January 7, 2018. My name is Judith Rikards, your loving and confused wife."
'How in the name of every form of G-d did I lose four years of my life? Wait, did she say Rikards and wife?'
"No no no no no. Who are the twins?"
"Jamie, our son, and Alexis, our daughter, are the twins. They're eight months old. What's gotten into you today?"
"Honestly? I don't know. What I do know is I'm going back to sleep. Hopefully I'll wake up in a world that makes sense." I bypass Judith and dash towards one of the spare bedrooms. I make a mistake and end up in the nursery. There is little duck trim and the walls are painted a muted yellow. There are matching mobiles over matching cribs with a changing table in between cribs. I feel lightheaded when I hear tiny whines emitting from the cribs.
'Oh shit! This is real.' The last thing I see as I faint is a portrait of the babies. They look like clones of Judith. So beautiful.
The next time I wake, I don't know where I am. I know for sure I'm not on a bed unless the bed is made of ice. My limbs feel heavy and won't respond to my commands. Wherever I am, it's dark and freezing. I've never been claustrophobic but there's a first time for everything. My little world is rocked when a bright light blinds me and my ice bed moves. I try to move my head but to no success. Out of the corners of my eyes, I see that I'm on a sliding table of some kind. I also see gloved hands. I smell cleaners and bleach.
'Where the fuck am I this time? Knowing my luck, I'm on an ice shelf in South Pole literally chilling with polar bears or some shit.'
A masked face hovers above me.
'Nope. I'm on a slab in the morgue. Just fucking great.'
The face pulls my body all the way out the freezer. Next, I'm transferred to a metal table and put on display. A trio of medical students surround the table.
"What we have here, ladies and gentleman, is a cadaver. This patient became brain dead after falling into a coma. Erickson, how long can a brain survive without oxygen?" The male doctor asks from my above me.
"That depends. After fifteen minutes, it's a done deal but after the first minute without oxygen brain cells start to die." Erickson, the only male student, answers.
'Doogie Howser.'
After the whole q and a, the med students begin to poke and prod my body much to my chagrin. They weigh my organs and talk shop about other medical problems I could have developed.
"Even in death, you're not satisfied." A disembodied voice says. Next thing I know, I feel a pulling in my belly and I see my soul shoot out of my body. I beam up through the basement morgue, through the hospital and straight into the ether. I wind up in an all white room to rival any Apple Store. In front of me is a roaring fire with two wingback leather chairs facing the fire.
"Come by the fire chld." The voice says again. I sit in one of the chairs. In the other is a man of no determinable age. He has kind wise brown eyes, a trim goatee, and an all white suit on.
"Who are you?"
"Who do you think I am?"
"I dunno. G-d?"
"Ha, I wish. No, I'm just your guardian Angel."
"Do you have a name?"
"Nope."
"Why am I here? What happened? At first, I had a wife and kids. Then, I'm dead on a slab being used as a teaching lesson."
"How frightening. Well, my dear you are in a coma; this place is just a waiting room until you decide where you want to be. You're here because your physical body is incapacitated."
"I guess that makes sense. What's the deal with the two realities thing?"
"You complained when you had everything. So, it all went away."
"Wait a tic! I wasn't complaining; I was confused. I was dropped into a situation without having any information. I would love to be married to Judith and raise a family with her. I want that more than anything."
"You say that now but do you really mean it. You fainted before you even saw your kids."
"Well of course I fainted. I had no knowledge of them; I was shocked. But that doesn't mean you can take away my family."
"I didn't."
"So what about the whole morgue thing?"
"The morgue is your alternative."
"A choice between living or dying? I''ll taking living for 500. Oh look, a daily double."
"Glad to see you're still sarcastic. The morgue represented the guilt you feel about your parents. The night you met Judtih; she wasn't the only one who needed saving."
"What do you mean?"
"You needed saving too, my dear. Your feelings of inadequacy and being unloved due to your parents not understanding your lifestyle made you a victim like Judith. Emotional wounds are as bad as physical wounds but harder to heal."
"I'm not wounded and my parents are great."
"So great that you resent having dinner with them. So great that you weep after leaving their home."
"I see you're sarcastic as well." I frown.
"We're both here so you can put your emotions at rest. So when you wake, your body will be whole and you'll be ready for your family and the rest of your life."
"And how will we 'put my emotions at rest'?"
"Simple. Just forgive your parents. But mean it. It'll bring you peace."
"That simple, huh?"
"Yup. All the negative will leave and free you. I should know; I am your guardian angel." He winks as I 'm transported back to the nursery. This time I'm holding Jamie and Alexis. They look even more beautiful than the portrait. In unison, they open their eyes and look up at me.
'For you guys, Dame, and your Mom I'll forgive my parents. Anything for you.'