"Danielle."
Danielle turned around and gave me a sulky look.
"Charlie, I hope you don't expect me to visit you..." she said impatiently.
"Listen, I know I'm not your favorite person right now, but I noticed you just came from Michael's room. Danielle, if you know anything about Michael's condition, please tell me."
Danielle looked at me and her eyes started to well up with tears.
"What's wrong with Michael? Please Danielle, talk to me."
"Charlie, it's really bad. He's still unconscious and it's possible that Michael might not even wake up."
"Oh God," I said softly. I quickly went to a chair nearby and sat down. Danielle walked into my room and sat down in the chair next to mine.
"There's a slight possibility that he might not recover, but if he does, he could have permanent brain damage," Danielle said in a slow and dull tone.
"I can't believe this is happening. Just a few hours ago he was well, and now no one knows if he will ever wake up," I said.
"That's not all. Dr. Carter told me that the bones in Michael's legs were crushed due to the debris in the limo after the impact. If Michael ever wakes up, he might not be able to walk again."
When Danielle said that Michael could not walk again, all the feelings in my body became numb. Just the thought of him not able to play sports again was painful enough, but not able to stand on his own two feet and walk again was overwhelming to hear.
"I feel like this is my fault. If I didn't get myself kicked out of Parker, then I would have never come to Belmont and met Michael. Michael would have been safe from me and maybe you two would have been together."
"This is not your fault Charlie. Michael had problems way before you ever came into the picture. It was mainly due to his parents. His parents were never around or when they were, they always found something to make him feel less than a person. Instead of him confronting the problem head-on, he decided to drink away his problems. Now he's fighting for his life because of it. We all saw something was wrong, but didn't find a way to help him. Now all we can do is pray that he makes it through this."
I nodded my head in agreement. "You're right. Thanks for telling me about Michael."
Danielle gave a small smile. "No problem."
She paused for a second before speaking again.
"Charlie, I'm sorry."
I looked at her with a taken back expression.
"Huh?"
Danielle laughed. "I expected that. But seriously Charlie, when I saw Michael tonight lying in that hospital bed, not able to speak or hear, I realized that life was too short for any kind of pettiness. Ever since you came to Belmont, I've been making your life a living hell and I just want to apologize for it. To be honest, it was never about you; it was about Michael and the feelings he had for you. When Michael and I were dating, we had our share of fun, but he never looked at me the way he looked at you. We always tried to put on a show in front of people to make ourselves happy, but really, we were just hurting each other. You don't know the impact you made in Michael's life in the short time you had known him. He has really become a different person. So don't beat yourself up for something that you had no control over."
I was completely speechless after what Danielle just professed. I never thought that she would apologize, let alone tell me that I was the best thing that ever happened in Michael's life.
"Please say something, because that took a lot out of me to say," Danielle said.
I took a long breath before speaking.
"Wow. I don't know what to say. You made my life miserable when I came to Belmont. All I wanted to do was start over at a new school, but instead I felt like I was back at Parker; but I understand why you did it because you felt threatened. So really I guess I should apologize too."
"For what?"
"For not being the bigger person with everything. I have done my share of dirt too. I know we will never be friends, but I do want us to be civil with each other."
Danielle smiled. She took out her hand and extended it to me.
"Apology accepted."
I took my hand and put it into Danielle's for a firm handshake.
"Apology accepted."
As we were shaking hands, I realized then that this was a new beginning for everyone in Michael's life. I just hoped he knew that people were rooting for him to come back.
"Now that's done, we need to focus on Michael and his recovery," Danielle said.
"I agree. We have to bring him home."
The next day I was released from the hospital. As I was putting some things into an overnight bag my parents brought for me, my parents were sitting in the seats by my bed watching television. A knock on the door caused everyone to jump as Chris stuck his head in.
"Hey," I said to him as I went over to give him a hug.
"Hey. I heard about Michael from Danielle."
"Do you know if there is any change?"
Chris shook his head as Ashley and Eva walked into the room.
"Hey. We just wanted to see you before we left," Ashley said.
"You were going to see me later on."
"We know but we just wanted to see if you were up and about," Eva said.
"We ran into Danielle a little earlier and she actually said hi to us. At first I thought hell had frozen over," Ashley said.
I laughed. "Actually Ash, I thought that too last night when I saw her; but I think after what happened to Michael, it changed everyone's perspective about life."
"How did Danielle find out anything about Michael? We tried everything last night to get the doctor to talk, but he wouldn't release any information," said Eva.
"I don't know, but I'm glad he told her."
"It's amazing that his parents haven't even shown up to see how their son is doing," my mom said.
"Well that's Michael's parents for you. They only care about themselves," I said as I handed my bag over to my dad.
As we were headed out the door, we stopped by the nurses' station to sign the hospital release form. While we were waiting, Danielle walked over to us with a smile on her face.
"Good morning."
"Hey," everyone said in unison.
"It's good that you two are released today," she said to Chris and me.
"Thanks."
Just as soon as Danielle started to talk again, I noticed Michael's parents coming down the corridor as if they were the concerned parents. Everyone noticed the two people and looked at them with an expression that said, "It's a little too late."
They walked to the other side of the nurses' station, but when Mrs. Collier looked over at me, she changed course and headed straight over. She pushed several people to the side as she strutted over to me.
"You did this to my son!" she yelled out to me.
I looked at Mrs. Collier with a bewildered look on my face. How could she blame me for Michael's accident? If anyone was to blame, it was her and her dictating ways.
"Ma'am, could you please stop yelling," one of the nurses said behind the counter.
Mrs. Collier ignored the woman as she looked at me with flared eyes.
"Excuse me," I managed to blurt out.
"Michael's life has been unsalvageable ever since you swayed your way into it. So how does it feel to know that if he dies, his blood will be on your hands?"
"Now wait a minute, don't go accusing my daughter for your son's behavior. No one told him to run a limo into a guardrail," my mom said with an attitude.
"Was I talking to you?" Mrs. Collier said angrily.
"If you were a mother to your child, he wouldn't have had to turn to alcohol to solve his problems."
"Oh fine person to talk about parenting skills. Everyone knows about your daughter being kicked out of school. So don't be lowering your nose down at me."
"At least I can talk to my child."
"Stop it!" I yelled out.
My mom and Mrs. Collier stopped arguing and looked over at me. My friends looked over at me with sympathetic looks.
"How can you two stand here and argue when he is in the other room fighting for his life? We all make mistakes in our lives, that's what makes us human. Instead of pointing fingers at each other about why Michael's in the hospital, everyone should just hope for the best so Michael can pull through this. He's going to need all the love and support he can get, if he ever wakes up."
"How sympathetic for you to say when you're the one who put him in there," Mrs. Collier said.
"She's right Mrs. Collier," Danielle said.
"What?" Mrs. Collier said in surprised tone.
"You heard me. She's right. Charlie might not have the guts to say this but I will. Michael has always tried to make you happy but it seemed no matter what he did, it wasn't good enough for you. Instead of you encouraging him to be what he wanted to be, you just brought him down by your negativity and judgment. Even when he tried to tell you about the college he wanted to attend, you just brushed it off and made him apply for a school he didn't even want to go to.
"Parents are supposed to love their children, no matter what they do in their lives, but Michael never experienced that love because you were always berating him to live up to your standards. Just when Michael needed you the most, you're were nowhere to be found. Take last night for example, while your son was in the hospital struggling to wake up, where were you? Michael never cared about being the most popular boy in school or the star athlete; all he wanted was to make his parents proud, but you never noticed. If you want to blame someone for Michael getting drunk, getting behind the wheel of a car and crashing into a guardrail, then you need to take a good and hard look in the mirror because you and your husband are the blame for it."
"Why I never..." Mrs. Collier said.
"Stop it!" Mr. Collier said who was standing behind his wife the whole time.
"Just stop. We both knew that Michael had a drinking problem. We knew that Michael was screaming out for attention, but what we do? Nothing, but party. We never listened to what Michael wanted or needed. We just thought about ourselves."
Mrs. Collier looked at her husband with a snotty look on her face.
"We did the best we could for Michael."
"Evidentially, it wasn't good enough because we have a son in there that might not even wake up. Can you live with yourself if the last thing we said to him was basically have a nice life, because that's pretty much what we did to him. I knew he was drinking and I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen to me. Now I wish I would have been a parent and put my foot down for once."
I looked over at Mr. Collier and sighed.
"It not too late to be a parent, Mr. Collier. You're taking the first step just by being here."
Mrs. Collier's eyes were staring at her Jimmy Choo shoes. She looked up, and without a word, turned toward the opposite direction of the corridor and headed to the exit.
While we watched her leave, without even visiting her comatose son, I finally realized that Mrs. Collier never wanted to be a mother. Today, she chose the high life instead of her son.
Mr. Collier turned toward us and walked into his son's room without even uttering a word.
Michael
As I lay lifeless in my hospital bed, I listened to the argument outside of my room. The way Danielle took up for Charlie was unexpected, but I'm glad someone had the guts to stand up to my mom. I wonder why I cannot wake up from this comatose state. I know I'm not in a coma and I must be alive in some way because I'm able to hear and smell. So why am I still unable to regain consciousness? I heard the door open and heavy footsteps glide across the room. From the way the person was walking, I knew it was my dad. He's the only one who had a heavy foot when walking. I noticed he was the only one in the room. I guess my mom decided not to come in. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. My mom wasn't, and never would be, a parent. Even though I established that fact, it still hurt to know that she didn't want to see her son.
"Hey buddy. I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. I know I should have, but I'm here now. Michael, I knew you were in trouble, but I didn't know you would do this to yourself. I tried to stop you when I saw you drinking, but I guess I wasn't good enough. If I had been, you wouldn't be here right now.
"I know you probably don't believe me because I keep saying this, but I want to be a part of your life. I want you to know that I am here for you no matter what. I know I haven't been the best father, but I promise I will try to do better. Even if it takes me all my life, I will be a better father.
"Please Mike, please wake up. You have so much to live for in this world. You have a promising future, a girl that is crazy about you, and friends that love you. And you have a son who needs his father. Please, if not for anything else, just wake up for your son. He needs someone to guide him in this world. I know I shouldn't give you parenting advice, but I just want you to be the father that I couldn't be for you."
While my father was talking, I heard a voice inside of me telling me that it was time. Was it God telling me it time to go to heaven, or was He telling me to go back to my life on earth? As if on cue, a sensation was starting to form inside of me as if my soul was being reconnected to my body.
"Michael, if you can hear me, just open your eyes, or wiggle a finger. Just do something so I know that you're okay."
When I heard my father words, I felt a bolt of energy go through me. Maybe his words were the inspiration I needed to come back. Suddenly I had the strength to flutter my eyes. My dad looked over at me with tears in his eyes.
"Oh thank you God," my father said.
"Dad," I said softly.
"Save your strength, Mike. I'm going to get the doctor," my dad said as he jumped up from his chair and headed to the door.
I slowly moved my head down to my legs. I knew from the conversation Danielle had with Dr. Carter that I might not be able to walk again. I tried to wiggle my toes, but I couldn't feel anything. What will happen if I can't walk again? Playing sports was not the problem. Just the idea of never being able to use my legs again was my big concern.