Page 73 of Forbidden Love

“Cole. What are you doing here?”

“The same as you, but you don’t need to be here.”

“What are you talking about? Are you drunk?”

Colton shakes his head and sits forward. “I’m dead, Clark.”

“What? How?” It’s at that moment that I remember. “You shot me.”

Cole looks at the ground and hangs his head. Is that shame I see on my brother’s face?

“I was in a bad place. Being dead has its uses. For the first time in my life, I’m not fighting to fit in. I’m not angry at the world. I’m free.” He stands up, and I look around the room. It’s a hospital room with machines beeping. I look back at myself lying on the bed with tubes everywhere. I lift my hands and try to explore every inch. They look okay. No IVs. Nothing.

“Am I dead?”

Cole shakes his head. “You’re stuck in the middle. You’re not alive, but you’re not dead either. You have a choice to make, Clark. You fight or you give up. You decide.”

“There is no choice. I have to fight for Kally and Nancy. It would kill them if they lost me.”

“Good answer. Just promise me you’ll never regret a single moment in life. Live every moment like it’s your last. You’ve got a second chance, Clark. Live it.”

Cole fades away, and I find myself staring at the ceiling. I blink a few times, but I can’t move. I can’t speak.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” says a nurse as she leans over my bed.

I try to speak, but nothing comes out.

“Don’t try to speak. The doctor will remove your breathing tube soon. You’ve given your family quite the scare. They’ll be kicking themselves because they’ve been by your bedside for two weeks.”

Two weeks. I’ve been in the hospital for two whole weeks. Anything could have happened in that time.

Colton. Is he really dead? Was that just a dream I had? I have so many questions right now, but I don’t even know where to start.

“Hi, Clark. My name is Doctor Ishwar. Can you blink twice if you understand what I’m saying?”

I blink twice, or I think I do, and the doctor smiles at me. “We’re going to remove your breathing tube, okay?”

I blink twice, just because I want to be free from this contraption that’s stuck in my mouth. It’s so uncomfortable.

The doctor and nurse work their magic quietly. “When I count to three, I want you to take a big breath in on three, and I’ll extract the tube. Okay?”

Two blinks.

“One. Two. Three.”

I take in a deep breath, and I gag as the tube is taken out. I feel like I’ve been starved of oxygen, and it takes my body and brain a little while to catch up and be able to breathe easily.

“That’s it. Small breaths, buddy,” says the doctor as he puts an oxygen mask over my face. “How are you feeling?”

I’m not sure how I feel. I don’t feel much, and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

“O-okay,” I croak. I rub at my throat.

“You’ll have a sore throat for a while, but all things considered, I think we can deal with a sore throat easily. I’m going to ask you a couple of questions. Do you think you can answer them for me?”

I nod weakly. I already feel tired, and I’ve just woken up after two weeks.

“What year are we in?”