Vega* Five Weeks Later

VEGA*

Lyra had been in a coma now for a little over six weeks. The doctors don't understand why she hasn't woken up yet. The swelling in her brain has completely healed. Her injuries, including her arm and leg, have recovered faster than any doctors thought they would. Dr. Wise had gone in and taken out the screws and had put fresh casting on her arm and leg two weeks ago. He felt it would be best to keep them both in a cast a couple more weeks. Dr. Wise would remove the cast from her arm and leg in two days.

Dr. Jared Wise has been coming in twice a day for the last three weeks; to work on Lyra's good arm and leg so they wouldn't get atrophied. Jared would be her physical therapist once Lyra woke up. Boy, does the poor guy have his work cut out for him? Lyra will probably drive the man mad, and he will go on a boxing rampage every night after work. Lyra won't let him help her with anything, so I hope Jared can be stern and not let her go overboard. Lyra, however, is going to go crazy over this man; Jace and I have had the opportunity to speak with Jared on several occasions. He is twenty-eight years old, and he has kind dark brown eyes. Jared's whole face lights up when he smiles; he is about six feet tall and has light chocolate skin. Jared is so handsome and kind.

'Wake up, Lyra,' I think to myself as I watched Jared bend her good leg up as far as it would go. Then he straightened her leg and brought it back down. I have had a chance to see Jared with some of his other patients, and I can tell that Jared is a doctor who genuinely cares about his patients. I feel like he would be perfect for Lyra; I hope she doesn't drive Jared nuts.

Jared repeats these measures several more times before moving onto her good arm. Then he sat down to talk to Lyra for a few minutes before he told us goodbye and left. Jace and I have never listened in on what Jared talked to Lyra about. Lyra happened to be his only patient that was in a coma that I know of. Jace and I are only here an hour or so a day. I'm talking about the weekends when I'm here longer and get a chance to see him interacting with other patients.

Jace and I leave the office every day around five o'clock and come to see Lyra before visiting hours are over. I've been coming to read to her for a couple of hours every Saturday as well. On Sundays, we've been going with Blaze to church, and then we swung by to see Lyra after lunch. We decided to stay at the church we went to that Sunday; we started going to church.

Work that first week was hectic. We all made it through, though, and things had been running smoothly ever since. In the third week, Blaze gave Jace the go-ahead to take on more builds. I have had so much fun. I've also learned that Lyra and I have needed this break from school for a long time. I knew we were both just trying to get college over with. I didn't realize how exhausted mentally I was until I had this time away from school.

"Lyra, Dr.Wise likes you; you need to wake up so you can give him some love," I said. I was hoping she would wake up and slap me.

Nothing happened, not a change in her heart rate or even a little squeeze to my hand. Jace came over and put his hands through my hair. He knows that's something that helps me calm down when I am sad or stressed.

"Give it time. Lyra will wake up when the time is right. She was in a horrific accident and had some serious injuries. We all need to keep praying for her," Jace said.

"I know; I miss her so much, Jace. It was ok, and I got through the first three weeks. Now it's just too much. I know Lyra is in God's hands. I'm trying hard to have faith, but it has been six weeks. Lyra is supposedly all healed for the most part, but she still isn't waking up. Why Jace, why won't she wake up?" I rambled off sadly.

"I'm sorry that I can't give you any answers. I wish I could. I wish I could take this pain from you," Jace said.

A nurse walked in to let us know that she was sorry, but visiting hours were over. An hour is never enough. I won't be able to come by to see her tomorrow. I'm going to be working late, with Jace. We have a shipment coming tomorrow afternoon. We have to be at the warehouse to make sure everything shows up in one piece and gets put in the right area of the warehouse. It takes forever, and they said they couldn't make it any sooner.

"Lyra, I won't be able to see you tomorrow, but I'll be here Wednesday evening. You're going to get your casts off; I can't wait. I love you, I miss you," I said as I bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

"We miss you Lyra, come back to us soon," Jace said as we turned to leave.

***

Jace and I picked up some hamburgers on the way home. We were chilling out on the couch, eating our hamburgers, and watching The Walking Dead. Jace got up to put our trash in the garbage as I went over to the half bath. I have needed to pee for a bit now. I didn't want to miss the episode we were watching. When I came out of the bathroom, Jace was waiting for me in the kitchen. He gave me a quick kiss, and then we headed back to the Living Room. We finished the episode that we had paused so that I could go to the bathroom. Then we went upstairs to my room to get ready for bed.

Once in bed, Jace ran his fingers through my hair. "Go to sleep, my love. Tomorrow is going to be a long day," Jace said while continuing to run his fingers through my hair.

"You keep doing that, and it won't take me long at all to pass out," I whispered.

"I know that's why I'm doing it; I love you, Vega," Jace said.

"I love you too, Jace," I said quietly. It only took me a few more minutes to fall asleep in Jace's arms.

WEDNESDAY*

Things were pretty slow and quiet in the office today. So Jace and I got permission from Blaze to leave at Two; instead of sitting around the office until Five. He and I both get paid at an hourly rate. No point in us sitting around trying to make ourselves busy. Blaze knew that Lyra was getting her casts off today, so I'm sure he would have let us off early anyway. Blaze has done what he said he was going to do. He works, and works, and then works some more. Blaze will often stay and work even after the other guys have left. Jace has called him around eight at night, and he's still working; it takes him an hour to get home.

Jace and I have been here with Lyra since three o'clock. She looked so good now that she had gotten the casts off. Her face has healed up, and her hair has started to grow back, in the spot where the doctors had to shave it. Now all she needed to do was wake up.

It was now almost five o'clock, and Jared would be coming in soon. We were told he worked on her bad leg and arm this morning after taking off the casts. The nurse said that everything looked good. Now, if Lyra could get rid of the feeding tube and all the other gadgets surrounding her, she would be the old Lyra again.

Jared showed up, and we had been here quite a while. So we decided to leave and let him do his work.

***

Jace and I decided to eat out at an excellent Mexican food restaurant here in the city. We hadn't eaten here in three months; the last time we were here, Lyra and Steven were with us, things have changed so much. Steven has called and asked about Lyra; he had seen the accident on the news. After a couple of calls, no more came, and Steven and Jace grew apart as friends. This was sad because they were the best of friends before all of this stuff with Steven and Lyra came about. Men can be such dip shits. I'm so glad I have Jace; I would be lost without him.

We hadn't been home, maybe thirty minutes when my phone rang. I saw that it was the hospital, and I stared at my phone. Did Lyra die, and I wasn't there for her? Jace grabbed the phone from me.

"Hello," Jace said. "Vega is away for the moment; can I take a message?" He asked and paused. "We'll be right there," Jace said excitedly.

He hung up the phone and looked at me with a massive grin on his face. "That was Dr. Wise, Lyra is awake, and she's asking for you," Jace said.