Coma (Paranormal Romance) (15 page)

“I knew I'd find you here,” Zack said,
temporarily bringing my sobs to a halt. He sat down, and scooped me
up into his lap. Curled up, I placed my head on his shoulder,
quietly sobbing. Tenderly, he wiped the tears from my face with his
thumb, and removed strands of hair dampened by tears from my
eyes.

“I wish I'd known you felt the same,” he
said, gazing absently toward the trees, and gently stroking my
hair. I jumped up in his lap, and stared into his eyes,
confused.

“The same?” I breathed.

His eyes left the trees, and latched onto
mine. He nodded, then placed his hand on the nape of my neck, and
pulled my head closer to his, stopping an inch away from his lips.
Looking deep into my eyes, his pupils widened, and he drew in a
deep breath. I felt something inside me jolt. Slowly, he closed the
gap between us, and connected his lips with mine, igniting every
cell in my body. The softness of his lips against mine stirred
feelings I didn’t know existed. He parted his lips slightly,
allowing mine to slip between his. He groaned, and pressed harder
on my lips, while placing both palms on my cheeks. A moment later,
he broke off to glance at me, panting like mad, my breathing
matching his.

The need took over, and he dived into my
mouth again, entwining his soft tongue with mine. The hunger in me
became insatiable. I wanted this fire in him to consume the whole
of me. As he explored every bit of my mouth, his hands and body
revealed wanting, desire, lust, and pain—all of which were present
in me. I wished we were back in my room, and not in the park,
because I didn't want him to ever stop. I wanted to crawl into him
and become one.

We kissed until our faces hurt, and couldn't
keep up with our desire, and then I curled up around him, afraid of
losing him if I let go. Resting my head on his shoulder, I
remembered how much I wanted to kiss his neck the first time we
were in the park. I moved in closer to indulge that desire, and
placed a soft kiss just under his ear, then another one closer to
his jaw. He let out a moan that propelled me back into sweet
oblivion.

“Uhh, I wanted this so bad,” he said
hoarsely, and dived back into my mouth with the same hunger as
before, turning my insides into feverish frenzy, yearning for
more.

The sun set behind the trees, allowing
darkness to descend upon us. His eyes glittered in the darkness,
and I wondered if it was the tears or streetlight. I became
painfully aware that eventually we had to break our hug, and face
the reality. Pain gripped my gut again, and I snuggled closer,
hoping that if I held on, he would stay forever.

“This is plain cruel,” he hissed after a
while.

“What is?” I cocked my head in confusion.

“This! You and me,” seeing confusion
lingering on my face, he continued. “Why would someone make this
possible, and then take it away?”

“I don't know,” I cringed, and suppressed an
urge to cry again. “Life usually isn't very fair.”

“There must be a way!” Determination flashed
in his eyes.

“I doubt it. We don't get our happy ever
after,” I caressed his cheek.

“Don't say that!” He caught my hand on his
face, desperation coloring his voice. He pressed my head against
his chest, then squeezed the rest of me so tight. “How can I live
somewhere else after feeling this way?”

Looking up, I said, “Maybe you won't
remember,” my throat clenched at that thought. He looked at me
shocked, and hurt.

“There's no way I could ever forget you,”
gently, he traced my cheekbone with his fingers. “You mean too much
to me.”

“I certainly won't forget you,” my eyes
watered. Defiantly, I wiped off a tear. He was right, this was
cruel torture. “Zack?”

“Mhm.”

“How did we get here?” I asked.

“You ran away, and I knew where to find you,”
he chuckled.

“No. I mean to caring so much in such a short
time?”

“Don't know. But believe me, I’m there,” he
chuckled again.

I raised my head and kissed him. There were
no words I could say that would convey what I felt. I hoped my kiss
would show him all I wanted. Desperation that colored his voice
earlier now was reflected in his kiss, savoring every bit of me.
After we parted lips, he stared into my eyes, and kissed my
forehead. It was time to go home.

Leaving him on the bus was the hardest thing
I had to do. My heart sank more with every step I took toward my
house. There had to be a solution, or I would die. There was no way
my heart could handle losing him, and not shatter into pieces.

~*~

First thing in the morning, I decided to give
Sophie a ring. I felt bad about running off like that, and hoped
she wasn't mad about being left behind. Good thing that Zack was
always a step ahead, keeping his wits together, so he took her
number. Twirling a piece of pinkish paper with her number on it, I
dialed. The phone rang three times.

“Hello?” Sophie answered.

“Sophie, it's Lyra,” I breathed, expecting
her to hang up or something.

“Lyra!” She said, excitedly. “Are you
okay?”

“Yeah, I suppose. Listen. I'm so sorry for
the way I behaved yesterday.”

Sophie chuckled, “Don't worry about it. I
totally understand.”

“Thank you,” I was relieved. “Will you come
by today? Things are slow around ten and we could talk—”

“Sure. I want to slap you silly, anyway,” she
chuckled again.

I chuckled as well, “You get one slap, and
then we talk.”

~*~

Time flew by and I didn't realize it was ten
already. My mind was consumed by thoughts about Zack, so I didn't
see Sophie come in. She sneaked up behind my back, and slapped my
behind, giggling. I winced, and turned around, then hugged her. She
was the only one that could understand my position, and that
brought up all those feelings of sorrow and despair back to the
surface. I squeezed her tight, and my eyes watered. Maybe too
tight, because she said:

“Girl's gotta breathe.”

I let her go, and sniffled. “Sorry,” I
smiled, apologetically. Sophie giggled, and I saw understanding
behind those round blue eyes. I motioned for her to follow me to a
table.

“You're gonna kill me probably,” Sophie said,
sitting down. My eyes widened. What could she have done that was
worse than my Zack situation?

“Try me,” I said, blandly.

“My shrink got really interested in this
thing,” Sophie said slowly, as if she was testing the ground. I
nodded to keep her going toward the killing part. “We talked a lot
that day you rescued me,” she started fiddling with her curl.
“These past two days, we talked for hours, and I kind of spilled
the beans.” She bit her lip, waiting for my reaction.

“What do you mean by that?” I cocked my head,
waiting for the catch.

“She knows about you,” sheepishly, she
squeezed out.

“Oh, no! No, no, no,” my head was spinning.
“Why did you do that?! I could get locked up,” my voice broke. That
was my nightmare. Nobody knew till Zack showed up, and now I was
exposed against my will.

“It's not a bad thing. She wants to help,”
Sophie placed her palms over mine on the table.

“How isn't it bad? We know nothing about her
agenda. I don't want to be a guinea pig!” I felt rage stream
through my veins.

“You won't be a guinea pig,” Sophie
smiled.

“I grew up surrounded by doctors. I know how
they think. They cannot be trusted,” I dropped my glance, feeling
defeated.

“She has her own baggage, and that makes her
different,” Sophie nudged my hand, and I picked up my glance. She
seemed convinced at what she was saying. “She has a friend. A
theoretical physicist that has been researching coma and nature of
reality that might have some info for us.”

That sprung hope, “How?”

“Well, she said it would help her in her
field, and he could benefit from what we know. In exchange, he
would share his knowledge with us. She said something about their
peers not understanding, and need for secrecy, so nobody would
know. “ She had a hopeful expression.

“Zack will go crazy when he hears that,” I
sputtered.

“Eh, about that... Did you finally
acknowledge the truth?” She grinned. I felt my cheeks warm up.

“Yes,” I bowed my glance, feeling tingling in
my stomach.

“Great! I'm so happy for you,” her face lit
up.

“I would be too, if he wasn't from the
future,” pain gripped my stomach. “We don't stand a chance.”

“Maybe you do. My shrink said her physicist
already knew some stuff that I told her, so he might know something
that would help us keep him.”

“Soph, please, don't raise hope in me. I
won't be able to handle disappointment,” but it was already too
late. My heart fluttered.

“Where is Zack?” Sophie looked around
Mario's.

“I don't know. Not here, anyway,” I smiled,
remembering waking up in his arms the other day.

“I'll have to go soon. You'll get him to
agree?”

“I'll try, but he's a handful,” I
shrugged.

“You've no idea how glad I am to have met
you,” Sophie smiled widely.

“So am I,” I returned the smile. “I've been
so lonely.”

“That's why I felt good with all those wackos
in the hospital. At least in the beginning. Here in normal-land,
nobody understood me, and in there, everyone had their own twisted
world. That kind of connected us for a while,” she splashed a faint
smile, “until I realized they were locked inside their insanity,
and didn't understand shit.” We both chuckled.

“I get that. I told two of my friends, but
they couldn't possibly know what it's like no matter how much I
tried to explain. It was only a brief satisfaction. But one moment
with you, and I didn't need words to explain.”

“Exactly!”

“That's why it's so hard to think about Zack
leaving,” moisture gathered in my eyes.

“Among other things,” Sophie raised her brows
a couple of times, hinting his good looks.

“No, really,” I said. “I could probably find
good looking guys, that are smart and nice, but none of them could
ever understand my world like Zack. Or share it—” I trailed off,
and so did Sophie. Then, after awhile, she said:

“I know, Lyra,” and pursed her lips, “I'm not
the one to say otherwise. I never felt I could make a relationship
work with all my baggage. But now I have hope. Maybe there are
others like us out there.”

“I don't want others!”

“Not at the moment. But you might. I know you
don't want to hear this, but people get over losing their loved
ones, and move on,” she placed her hand over mine in comfort.

“I know that, but do we have to bury him
already?”

“No. I don't want you to end up locked up
like I did, just because you couldn't cope,” her worried expression
urged me to nod although I didn't want to. “Once you end up in
there, it's over.”

New customers started coming in, and I had to
get back to work. Sophie made me promise to call her about seeing
that physicist, and then left. I felt uneasy about telling Zack
what she did, because I knew he made me promise not to tell anyone
about my ability, so I expected him to be pissed big time.

“Kid,” I heard Jake address me. I turned
around to face him. “Snap out of it. You've got tables to clean.”
He scowled, and motioned toward several of them, stained with food
and drinks. “Get to it!”

Embarrassed, I nodded, and hurried to get the
cloth. I sprayed the first table, and glanced out the window. An
embodiment of perfect stillness was looking at me, smiling. Every
inch of my body reacted to him, and I whispered his name
“
Zack
”. He blew a kiss in my direction. I smiled, and
continued cleaning the table.
Others like him? Pfff...there were
none
—I thought. This was going to be a long, long shift.

The entire time I was cleaning tables, Zack
was watching me. I tried to keep my eyes on what I was doing, but
it was hard with his eyes devouring me. When I finished cleaning
tables, to my surprise, Zack moved across the street to the bus
station. Sadness washed over me, and I wanted to leave everything,
and join him. As if he could feel me, he wrote with his finger on
his chest: “
be back soon
”. Relieved, I smiled.

~*~

His
soon
and my
soon
weren't
the same thing, though. My shift was close to its end, and he still
wasn't back. If he weren't in a coma, I wouldn't stress so much,
but now that I knew he could disappear from my life at any given
moment, each second away from him filled me with fear. When it was
time to get out of my apron and head home, panic took over.

I stepped outside Mario's hoping he was
standing in some blind spot I couldn't see from the inside, but he
wasn't. My heart sunk fearing the worst had happened. I repressed
bad feelings by telling myself he got stuck in traffic or
something. I wished he had a phone; I wished I’d asked him which
hotel he was staying in and which room, so I could go look for him.
My bus came, but I couldn't make myself get in. Somehow it seemed
as admitting he was gone. He couldn't have been. The bus drove off,
leaving me in a state of shock. I felt dizzy. My world was
collapsing in on itself. I couldn't breathe.

Another bus came, and some people got out of
it. Numbly, I stared at the dot on the floor, unable to move a
muscle. What I felt was paralyzing. A person knelt down in front of
me, and placed hands on my knees. I wanted to look up at who it
was, but I had no will power left to move my gaze.

“What's wrong?” Zack said, jolting me back to
life. My eyes swung up, and met his worried ones.

“You're here,” I breathed, and pressed my
forehead against his.

“Where else would I be,” he smiled, and
picked up my chin to look at me. I needed to kiss him more than
ever, but someone could see us. Mario's was just across the street.
He cupped my face, and said, “Don't move. Don't respond. Pretend
nothing is going on,” and then placed a soft, long kiss on my lips.
Not returning his kiss used up every ounce of my self-control. He
kissed my cheeks, my eyes, my nose, and just as I was going to send
it all to hell and respond, he said, “Let's go to the park.”