Chapter Nineteen
When Jackson first opened his eyes, all he could make out were blurry shapes and patches of light and dark. The shapes slowly turned into blurry images and he could distinguish the faces of his parents…then Sally, Tommy, and Alex. He tried to smile, but his mouth felt like he had just left the dentist’s office.
****
Alex and Tommy stood in the back of the room as Jackson’s parents were briefed; Sally hovered nearby. The doctor was encouraging as she spoke to his parents. “Jackson is responding more quickly than we expected after reducing his medication. It will be a few days before we can determine the extent of the damage, though.” She went on, “Jackson will need extensive physical therapy to regain basic motor functions. There is the possibility of speech therapy, as well.”
Alex high-fived Sally and Tommy at the news and congratulations were exchanged all around. Jackson’s friends didn’t know what the future held for him, but one thing was certain—he would get to have one.
****
Caroline received a call at work with the good news. “Hey, Caroline, it’s Alex!”
At first, her heart stopped when she saw Alex’s name on her caller ID, but the tone of his voice immediately erased any concerns she had about the call bearing bad news. “Hi! What’s up? How are you?”
“I’m great! I just wanted you to know that he opened his eyes.”
Caroline’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “Really? When?”
“About ten minutes ago.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s awesome!” she exclaimed. “That is awesome…right?” she asked.
Alex laughed and then explained. “It’s definitely awesome. But, he can’t talk yet and the doctors aren’t sure when his speech will come back, or to what extent. I just wanted you to know that he’s awake.”
“Thank you so much, Alex. I really appreciate the updates.”
“Of course. I’ll call you if anything else happens, okay?” he said.
“Okay,” Caroline said one last time before she hung up. Her hopes high, she figured it was only a matter of time before her phone would ring with Jackson’s voice on the other end.
She turned towards Bailey’s cubicle and beamed in her direction. “He’s awake!” she shouted in a loud whisper.
Bailey looked up from her work and squealed. “Really? How do you know? Did he call?”
“One sec.” Caroline held up a finger, then she thumbed Tracey a text message with the news. Tracey responded right back telling her “Great news!” and asked when she was “Coming back out?”
Caroline turned back to Bailey. “Alex called. He said that Jackson couldn’t talk yet, but his eyes were open.”
“That’s great news, Care. Let’s go out and celebrate tonight!”
“Sounds great.” Caroline could use some fun in her life. She had been all but consumed in thoughts of Jackson for what felt like forever. And she’d been doing a lot of waiting—waiting for Jackson to wake up, waiting for him to call, and waiting for her life to begin again.
The girls headed straight to a restaurant and bar after work. Caroline was still on cloud nine from Alex’s call that afternoon. They sat in a small booth and Caroline ordered appetizers and a light beer.
“So, how long until Jackson calls, you think?” Bailey asked.
“I don’t know. I mean, Alex said he couldn’t talk yet. But…” Caroline’s voice trailed off.
“But what?” Bailey rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t even, Caroline.”
“Don’t even what?”
“You think he’s not gonna call. I can’t believe I’m best friends with an idiot.”
Caroline shook her head with a laugh. “No. I think it’s idiotic to assume he will.”
Bailey slapped the table and Caroline grabbed her drink before it toppled over. “Ugh. Really? Of course he’s going to call. He loves you. Even Alex said so!”
“Alex also thought Jackson’s parents knew who I was. So, he could be wrong.”
Bailey shrugged; Caroline was right about that. Alex had been just as surprised as Caroline when they realized that Jackson’s parents didn’t know who she was. “I still think he’ll call,” Bailey said with optimism.
Caroline smiled. “I hope so.”
“There’s no way this all happened for nothing. All the drama, the heartache, leaving Clay…”
“You better be right,” Caroline said.
“Dur. Of course I’m right. I’m smart, remember?” Bailey laughed, and held up her glass.
Chapter Twenty
The days seemed to pass in slow motion as Caroline waited for the call that never came. She attempted to fill the agony of waiting during the day with work and let Bailey drag her out at night.
She sat at her desk trying to concentrate on the ad mock-up that was due before the end of the day, but Jackson consumed her every thought. Caroline wanted to believe that he would call soon, but worried his silence meant what she had feared the most…that Jackson had really moved on and was no longer in love with her.
Caroline silently berated herself for the hundredth time for waiting so long to walk away from Clay. She had finally admitted what she had felt since that first day, but it was apparently too late and she had no one to blame but herself. She had waited too long…treated him badly…abused his heart. She snapped her laptop shut in frustration, picked up her cell phone and checked to make sure she still had a signal. She did.