The Hairdresser Diaries (37 page)

I wrapped my arms around him lifting him up, tapping his face trying to get him to respond, nothing.

The gas attendant jumped over the counter to try and help me, but I pushed him away.

“Cole…Cole, open your eyes…Cole please…for me.” There was so much blood. I tried to stop the bleeding by putting pressure on his wound, but it was no use.

An ambulance arrived and I was pushed aside in a blur of bodies, shouts, and commotion. They worked on him for five minutes and gave up.

“What are you doing?” I yelled. “You have to help him!”

“Ma’am…ma’am,” One of the EMTs shook me. “I’m sorry, but it’s too late, he was gone before we got here.”

I didn’t believe him, I pushed him aside and lay my head on Cole’s chest, sobbing.

“He’s not dead…Cole…”

“Ma’am,” one of the EMT’s said gently.

I refused to accept anything they told me and I would not leave Cole. His body felt cold and his skin was so pale. I held his hand while I lay there staring at his beautiful face. His beautiful eyes were closed.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I freaked. I turned around and swung defensively, but Landon stopped me. “Tay, it’s just me.”

“Oh Landon, you have to help, you have to help me get Cole to the hospital…” I tried to stand up edging Landon towards Cole.

“Come on, we need to get him there now, before it’s too late.”

“Tatum…”

“Don’t stand there! Help me…we’re running out of time.” I picked up Cole’s head and put it in my lap waiting for Landon to pick him up.

Landon stared at me with great pity and sorrow. “Tatum, you need to come with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere, not without Cole.”

Landon bent down beside me, tears filling up his eyes; he placed his hands on my shoulders. “Tatum…Cole is gone…you have to let go now.”

“No he’s not, stop it…stop it!” I shook my head and pushed Landon away.

The rest of the gang had walked in, each and every one trying to convince me to leave Cole, but I wouldn’t.

“Tatum…it’s over…you can let go now,” Tyler said looking me in the eye.

Then I lost it, coming to the conclusion, he was right. I covered my face and cried into my hands. “Come on Tatum, we’ll take you home.”

“Wait…just give me one minute,” I pleaded. Tyler nodded his head and everyone stepped outside.

I looked at Cole’s lifeless body lying on the floor, wishing it was me instead of him. I knelt down and held him against me. No words could ever describe how I felt about him and I didn’t believe in good-byes.

I kissed his lips gently one last time then slowly lifted him off my lap and placed him softly back on the floor. I kissed his forehead, closed my eyes, and that was the last thing I remembered.

When I opened my eyes I was in a hospital, in a bed, connected to all kinds of machines. I blinked a few times trying to adjust my eyes to the bright lights.

“Dad, she’s awake!” Trina yelled and my dad came rushing into the room.

“Tatum…Tatum, can you hear me?” my dad said. I tried to speak, but my throat was all sore. “Tyler, go get one of the doctors.”

My dad handed me a cup of water and I fumbled with it before sipping slowly.

“What’s going on?” I said groggily.

One of the doctors came in. “Tatum, do you know where you are?” The doctor asked. What a dumb question I thought. I nodded my head. “Do you know your name?” Another dumb question. I nodded again. “Do you know what happened?” Now that, I didn’t know. I looked at him confused. “You were in a car accident and you’ve been in a coma for over a month.” I looked at him and then my dad who was now crying.

Car accident? I thought trying to remember.

“You were on your way to my house,” Tyler said.

Everything came rushing back. I remember hitting the tree and going in the ambulance with Tyler, but nothing else after that.

“When can I go home?” I asked.

Tyler laughed. “I think she’s fine.”

“I just want to run a few tests and make sure everything’s okay before I release you,” the doctor said. I looked down and my arm was in a sling and my leg was wrapped up in bandages.

“I’m so glad you’re alright honey,” my dad said kissing me on my forehead.

“No offense dad, but you look like shit,” I said. He cracked a smile and sat back down on the chair. “Why don’t you go home and get some rest. I’m fine now, I’m not going anywhere.” I smiled at him trying to reassure him.

It took some convincing, but he finally agreed to go home.

The next day everyone came to visit.

“It’s about time you woke up,” Peyton joked.

“How’s everything at the salon?”

“Just fine…anything I can get ya?”

“Yeah, some air…go swipe a wheelchair and take me outside.” And that’s what she did. She wheeled me outside to the nearby garden. I squinted at the bright sun. The feel of the air on my skin felt refreshing.

“Here,” Peyton handed me a cigarette.

I reached for it than changed my mind. “You know what, I think I’m going to quit.” She gave me a funny look and shrugged her shoulders.

“How’s the rest of the gang?” I asked.

“Good, they’ll be here later.”

“What about Alex and Tyler?”

“What do you mean?” Peyton said with a surprised look on her face.

“They’re seeing each other right?” Peyton paused for a moment debating whether or not to tell me.

“Yeah…how do you know?”

“I’m not sure.” And I wasn’t. I didn’t know why I brought it up or even what made me think of it or how I knew, I just did. I started to rub my temples, I was getting a headache.

“You okay?” Peyton asked concerned.

“Just a little headache.”

“You want to go back inside?”

“No, I want to sit here for a bit.”

Peyton and I sat quietly while I enjoyed the fresh air.

“There you are,” someone from behind us said. I turned and looked over my shoulder at the man in scrubs walking toward us.

“Who’s that?” I asked Peyton.

“That’s the hot nurse that has been taking care of you.” She stood up straight brushing the dirt off her pants.

“You know you’re not supposed to leave your room without permission,” he said smiling so bright his blue eyes sparkled in the light. Peyton started to flirt with him, but he just brushed it off. “Come on, let’s get you back inside. You have some people in your room eager to see you.” He rolled me back into the hospital and to my room. Inside were Landon, Jessie, Kelly, Nate and Alex.

“Hey guys.” I said when I saw them.

“I found her trying to escape,” the male nurse teased.

“Wouldn’t of made it very far,” I pointed to my leg and arm.

He helped me back on the bed and left the room while my friends visited for a while.

I started to rub my head again. “What’s wrong?” Landon asked.

“Nothing, just a headache.”

“Still, you want me to get the doctor?” Peyton asked.

“No, I’ll be fine.” I looked around the room at all my friends. “You know I could have sworn I had the weirdest dream.”

“About what?” Kelly asked.

“I don’t remember, but you were there and you and you.” I looked at everyone in turn.

“Okay Dorothy, you’re back home now,” Jessie said.

“Shut up…it’s weird, like I see flashes of it, but don’t know what’s going on and that’s when the headaches start.”

“I think we should get the doctor, she’s losing it,” Landon said.

“I’m not crazy, ass…I just…I don’t,” I shook my head, “it’s not important.”

“Well what is important is your awake and feeling better,” Alex said.

“Alex, I wanted to tell you, you don’t have to hide the fact that you and Tyler are dating.”

“What are you talking about?” she tried denying it.

“It’s okay, I’m happy for you. You guys are perfect for each other.”

“How hard did you hit your head?” Nate asked and everyone laughed.

The cute male nurse walked back in the room. “Alright everyone, I hate to break this up, but she needs her rest.”

“Don’t you think I got enough rest?” I said.

Everyone said goodbye and said they’d stop by later. Once they were gone the male nurse came over and adjusted my pillow for me. I looked into his eyes. He had the most beautiful blue eyes. Something felt strangely familiar about him.

“I’m sorry, have we met somewhere before?” I asked wondering why he seemed so familiar to me.

“Have you ever volunteered at the hospital here?”

I tried to stifle a laugh. “No.”

“I overheard you tell your friends you had a dream while you were out.”

“Were you spying on me?” I teased.

“Not spying, keeping an eye on,” he blushed bashfully as my dad walked in.

“I see you met Cole,” my dad said. “He’s been the one taking care of you since you got here.”

“Oh really, how’d you end up getting stuck with me?”

“I wouldn’t say stuck…and sometimes it’s nice when the patients can’t talk back,” he smiled and walked over to the closet to grab a blanket. “I’ll be back to check on you in a little.”

“Dad, what are you doing here? I told you go home and rest.”

“I did.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Besides it’s you I’m more worried about.”

“I’m fine, really, so you can stop worrying.” He smiled and sat down on the bed next to me. “So, this Cole guy, you said he’s been the one taking care of me?”

“Yep, he’s a volunteer here and asked to be assigned to you.”

“Why?”

“Maybe he saw a pretty girl and wanted to get to know her.”

“Dad…it’s hard to get to know someone in a coma.”

“Well, he’s done a great job. He stays longer than he needs to, he has been helping with your physical therapy, and he also read to you.”

“Read to me?”

“Yeah, he said he had a story he was working on and asked if I would mind if he read it to you.” I scratched my head. “What is it honey?”

“Nothing.”

My dad spent about an hour with me then went home for the night.

Cole the nurse came back in to check on me. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

“A little tired.”

“I’ll let you get some rest than.” He turned to walk out.

“No, you can stay.” He smiled and sat down on the chair. “How about you read me that story, now that I’m awake to actually hear it?”

“Oh you know about that?” He looked a little nervous and rubbed the back of his neck.

“My dad told me, after a little encouragement,” I confessed.

“Well, I might be more intimidated to read it to you now.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I know now you’ll actually be listening,” he smiled. He had the most amazing smile. He was also tall, with messy golden-brown hair and those eyes. Those blue eyes were mesmerizing. I could totally see myself dating someone like him.

“What’s the story about?”

“Well, it’s about this girl and guy who meet. The girl has commitment issues and doesn’t want to get involved with the guy even though she feels strongly attracted to him. He does everything to convince her to go on a date with him and she finally accepts.”

“And let me guess, they fall in love and live happily ever after, blah, blah, blah.”

“You’re not one for romance are you?”

“No.”

“Maybe, I can change your mind,” he smiled that sexy smile and picked up his book and started reading. I soon fell asleep to Cole’s soothing voice.

The next day they released me from the hospital. I wanted to thank Cole for all he did for me, but the other nurses said it was his day off. They asked if I wanted to leave him a message, but I said no. I had a strange feeling this wouldn’t be the last time I saw him.

Peyton and the rest had made plans to take me out to celebrate me coming home. My dad was against it, saying I should still take it easy. I promised him I would. I just needed to be with my friends for a while.

Landon picked me up and we headed to our normal spot. It was packed as always and I told them I wanted to sit outside so we did. That’s where I ran into Logan.

“Hey, haven’t seen you in a while where you been?” Logan asked.

I looked at him thinking he was joking, but he wasn’t. “I was in a coma.”

“Yeah right, that’s a good one. Can I come over tonight?”

I stared at him stunned and then I started laughing. He looked at me like I had lost it and maybe I did, but one thing was for sure I was done with him.

“You know what Logan, do me a favor and lose my number,” I said and walked away.

“Wow, I’m impressed. What was that about?” Peyton said.

“Trying something new.”

She put her arm around my waist as we walked to our table. “Hey look, there’s that hot nurse,” Peyton said pointing over to a table at the far corner. “You should ask him to join us.”

I looked over and thought why not. I walked over to his table. “Hi Cole.”

“Tatum,” he stood up. “So very nice to see you…you look great.”

“Yeah hospital gowns weren’t really my style. I came over to see if you’d like to join us.”

“I’d love too,” he smiled and his friend at the table did a fake cough. “Oh sorry, Tatum this is my friend Tommy.”

“Hi Tommy,” I said shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” he winked at me.

Cole and Tommy followed me over to the table and I introduced them to everyone. I noticed Tommy’s eyes linger on Jessie a little bit longer than was probably necessary. Cole and I spent most of the night talking and getting to know each other. He was definitely an interesting character and someone I would like to get to know better. My friends seemed to like him too. At the end of the night we said our goodbyes to everyone.

“It was a pleasure to see you again Tatum,” Cole said. “I hope we can do this again sometime.”

I’m not exactly sure what came over me, but in that moment I knew, I knew Cole was the one I dreamed about. Even if I didn’t remember much of it or what happened, I knew he was the one.

I smiled politely at him, touching his face, and leaned in until our lips met.

Cole a little dazed, stared at me with a goofy smile on his face.

“Sweet dreams,” I said as I walked away pulling the stunned Peyton and Landon with me.

It’s hard to say at which point I changed the way I looked at things. Maybe it was the coma, or what I dreamed about—my subconscious mind telling me the things I needed to know and to work on— or just maybe I realized there’s more to life. Nothing is perfect, but everything in life is given to us for a purpose. We may not understand certain things and may sometimes back down when faced with overwhelming problems. But when you deny yourself something you desire most, that’s when you start to lose who you really are. That’s one thing I learned and something I’m going to take from this experience. I’m not looking to change into a brand new person or completely change my outlook on life. Instead, I’m just going to be me, but with a more open mind and an open heart.