An Incest Birthday Ch. 25

"Come on, fight your way out of this, come back to me," I pleaded, grasping his hand.

I stayed in that chair the rest of the night, and planned on making it my new bed until Randy woke up. I didn't remember falling asleep, but I woke up with my head on the bed next to him. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and sat up, looking back at him still resting in his peaceful like state. His skin looked a little lighter than before, I didn't know if that was normal, or if it was the way the room was lit or what, but it was definitely noticeable. This was gonna be tough, watching him like this hoping each day would be the day he wakes up, only to be disappointed it's not that day, but that wouldn't stop me from doing it, I made a promise to be here when he woke up, and I was gonna keep it. I checked my phone, 11:37, it was almost time for visiting hours. I got up and washed my face clean but with no toothbrush or toothpaste I had to keep my morning breath. Someone had come in and checked on Randy while I was sleep and managed not to make any noise in the process, which was nice but also made me a little uneasy that I slept through that, but I just chalked it up to a hectic night. I had no missed calls or anything so I sat back down in the chair and grabbed his hand again, rubbing it between my fingers as he lay still in the bed. I was sitting there when I heard a knock on the door and looked over to see one of the police officers who had arrested the guy who shot Randy, he waited until I gave him permission and then he came into the room.

"Hi miss, I'm Officer Jenkins, I was on the scene last night."

"Yeah I remember you, did you need to ask some questions or something?"

"Just a few, first can I get your name?"

"Rita Renee Stevens, its Renee with two e's."

"Ok, and can I get his name?"

"Randy Roderick Stevens, he's my brother." I really didn't wanna tell him that, but I knew he'd find out anyway, so there was no point in delaying it.

"Ok, and you were at the shop around what time the incident occurred?"

"It was almost ten when I first got there, everything happened over the next half hour."

"Ok, one more question. Did any of you touch the knife or the gun at any point during the night? Even if it was just to pick it up and throw it away or for self defense?"

"Randy got the knife from him, but he didn't use it or anything, and noone but the guy touched he gun, unless one of the people who held him down grabbed it."

Got it. Ok that's enough questions. About the guy who shot your brother, his name is Johnny Adams, he's 25 years old with a criminal past; robbery, assault, and now attempted murder."

"So he's not gonna get away with this right?"

"Not a chance. We have the gun and the knife. Once we test the gun for fingerprints and his hands for residue of a fired weapon it's an open and shut case."

A huge sigh of relief. "Thank god, I was scared he would get off on a technicality."

"Not in this case, and we're checking the area for cameras, the ice cream shop didn't have one but we're checking other stores and traffic lights for anything we can get. We basically got him without it, but video evidence won't hurt."

"Thank you, I'm sure that'll be some comfort to my family that he won't get away."

He went into his wallet and pulled out a card. "Here's my desk number, if you or your family need anything or want to know about the case, give me a call."

"Thank you Officer Jenkins, we'll be sure to."

He left the room and I put his card on the table, glad at least that the bastard wasn't gonna get away with this. Johnny Adams. That name would stick in my head for a while. If it had to go to trial I would be there bright and early every day to make sure he got put away. It passed noon, which was now visiting hours in the hospital and I sat there looking in on Randy until everyone (meaning mom dad and Aunt Lisa) came into the room.

"How's he doing?" mom asked as she came over to the side of the bed.

"Still the same, nothing much really changed," I replied.

"Well I can't expect too much to change after just one day I guess. I brought you a bag with your toothbrush, soap, all of your feminine hygiene things, your pills, your phone charger, and a few changes of clothes, I'll take the dirty one's home and wash them when they build up. We brought you some food too in case you don't wanna eat the hospital food."

"Thanks mom. One of the cops came in and said the guys name was Johnny Adams and that they pretty much got him for this."

"Yeah we know, one of the cops came to the house earlier and told us, they said for this and his past crimes he's getting at least ten years without the need of a trial."

"He better get more than that if they're counting his past crimes," dad said.

"They'll handle it Mike, they have everything pretty much laid out for them, if they screw this up, they'll never hear the end of it," Aunt Lisa jumped in.

"I still wouldn't rule it out, you know how these things work sometimes."

"Ok enough about that guy, we're here for Randy remember?" I interrupted.

"Yes we are. I brought you some breakfast in case you were hungry," mom said.

"Thanks, I'll eat it over the sink."

I walked the tubberware over to the sink and picked at the food and watched them all talk around Randy. They seemed to be still talking about the Johnny guy, at least dad was, and mom and Aunt Lisa were more concerned with wiping his forehead clean and making sure he was comfortable in bed. When I'd had enough breakfast I went back over to sit with everyone.

"I know noone wants to talk about this, but we have to be ready just in case..." dad started.

"Just in case what?" mom interrupted.

"Just in case he doesn't wake up. You heard what the doctor said, it could be weeks, or even months before he wakes up, he might not even wake up."

"That's a long shot. What happened to he's a fighter? Did you give up on him already?"

"No I didn't, and I won't ever give up on my son, I'm just saying we need to be prepared is all."

"Can we please not talk about this now? I don't wanna hear about Randy not waking up," I said.

"Sure, sorry honey, we didn't mean to upset you," dad apologized and gave me a hug.

We sat in silence for a while around Randy just looking at him, I'm sure all of us wondering what life would be like without him, which I couldn't even begin to think about. An hour or so passed with little talk, and then another with us trying to stay positive by remembering a lot of funny and stupid things we did, and pretty soon visiting hours were over, and everyone had to leave.

"Keep us up to date on how he's doing, and let us know if you need anything," mom said.

"Ok, I'll see you guys tomorrow."

I hugged everyone and they left out of the room and went back home. I called Stephanie and Chris and let them know what was going on with Randy and told them about the Johnny guy, and they were just as happy as I was that he was going away. I sat back in the chair I had made my how bed and turned on the TV, I didn't care about watching it, I just wanted it for the background noise, or maybe it would aggravate Randy and wake him up, who knows, it was worth a shot.

I'd fell asleep in the chair again and started to get into a routine as the days passed with no sign of waking up from Randy. I told the doctors I would make sure he was cleaned and was comfortable in his bed every day and all the nurses had to do was come check his vitals and stuff like that. I made myself somewhat presentable (I really didn't care), ate enough food not to worry anyone, had visitation time with everyone and would call everyone else who didn't come with updates on Randy's condition, then I would sit in the chair and hold his hand until I fell asleep, every day was like this, and each day it would take a little more out of me. I was doing my best to stay strong, but I didn't know how much more I could last.

Days in the hospital turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, three months to be exact, and there was still no movement from Randy, if I hadn't actually seen him breathing I wouldn't know if he was alive or not, but he was, and his condition still hasn't changed. Noone was sure how to react to all the time that passed, but the doctors assured us this was normal for a coma, but that didn't make it any easier on us. Everyone still came in during visiting hours, and whenever the Wilson's couldn't make it I called them and let them know Randy was still fighting strong, and that he should be waking up any day now. Since the first visit, Ashley came in to visit him every week, and each time she came with a with a new video game, ones he always talked about getting when they came out and she called him a nerd for wanting, but she remembered every one he said, and she'd bought all of them. Each time she would try to talk to me, but I wouldn't let her, I was nice enough to let her see him and not start an incident so she had to be happy with that, I wasn't ready to trust her yet.

About two months and twelve days in I had the TV on as usual sitting next to his bed when a show that was on caught my attention, I didn't catch most of it, but the part I did see had a guy save his sister from getting hit by a truck by pushing her outta the way and getting hit himself. He was in the hospital with his sister watching over him just like I was doing, and I got to actually see from another point of view what I was going through. That on the TV was just a show, this was real, my brother actually was fighting for his life, he wasn't gonna wake up completely fine because of TV magic, there was a chance he might not even wake up. I got up and turned off the TV, trying to erase that show from my mind. I washed up in the sink like I'd done a million times since staying in the room and grabbed my bag of clothes and went back to the chair. I rummaged through them and found the clothes from the night Randy was shot, even though they were washed there were still a few blood stains that didn't come out, but I didn't care. I put those clothes on and grabbed his hand, trying not to think about the show, and failing miserably. Up until this point I had controlled my emotions pretty good, holding it together for everyone and myself, but after having reality set in like that again, and not go away messes with your head, it breaks you down, and that's exactly what it did to me. I thought I was all cried out since he was first shot, but I was wrong, the TV show and the thought of him not waking up broke me, and I burst into tears again.

"Randy please wake up! I love you so much, I need you here with me! I can't do this by myself!"

I laid my head on his chest and cried, we'd been through so much, but yet not enough. I wasn't ready to give him up, but there was nothing I could do except plead with him to fight, to come back to the world, and hope he could hear me.

"Please Randy, come back to me please."

I stayed like that the rest of the night, my head never leaving his chest. I let my head rise and fall with his breathing, adding some bit of comfort in a much needed situation. I didn't even get up to turn the lamp off, I stayed right there, right on his chest, through the remainder of the night until I eventually fell asleep.

I woke up the next day in the exact position I went to sleep in, right on Randy's chest. I sat up and yawned, but before I could do anything else I was drawn to Randy. Something was different, I could feel it. he was more vibrant, he looked like he'd gotten a small tan, and his arm had definitely moved, that last one could've been me but there was still no doubt that something was definitely different about him. I watched him intently, looking for the smallest sign of movement from him, anything. My phone must've rang about ten times but each time I let it go to voicemail, not wanting to take a chance and look away and then that be the same moment something decides to happen. About an hour passed and nothing happened. I had been sitting still for an hour watching him and neither of us moved. If there was a motion detector in the room it never would've gone off. I finally decided to look away, hurt that I'd gotten my hopes up only to have them shattered. I squeezed his hand between both of mine and looked down, trying to again fight crying. I squeezed his hand over and over simulating a heartbeat, wondering when would actually be the day he did wake up, and then it happened.

He squeezed my hand back.

I felt it. I know I did. He definitely squeezed my hand back, I know for a fact he did. My eyes darted to his face just as he woke up, turning to me with a smile on his face.

"Hi."

I broke into tears as I threw my arms around and hugged him as hard as I could. He came back. He was alive and back in my arms again. It was the happiest day of my life.

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I woke up, peeling a slight pain as air rushed through my lungs again, but it was a pain I was more than happy to feel, I was back in the real world again, I was alive. I turned over in the bed and saw the most beautiful person in the world looking back at me, Rita. She was holding my hand, looking like she was holding her breath with her eyes locked onto me and looked as if she was holding back crying. I didn't know how long I was sleep for, and I didn't know exactly what to say or how to say it to her, so I said the first thing that came to mind at the moment.

"Hi." Yeah that felt right.

Immediately upon saying that she started crying and threw her arms around me in a hug, almost choking me, but I wouldn't break her hug for anything, I missed her so much, and I was happy to have her back in my arms. We hugged for what felt like hours, and I was the one who decided to break the hug, but only because I wanted to see her face. I pulled her back and looked her in the eyes, those beautiful blue eyes I thought I'd never see again that looked adoringly back at me. I went to say something, but was cut off by a nurse entering the room.

"Oh my god doctor, he's awake! The patient in room 1134 is awake!"

She took off out of the room and before we could blink a whole team of doctors and nurses came back in. They surrounded my bed with a bunch of equipment I had no idea what it was and pulled a bunch of small machines and needles out of a cabinet in the room.

"We're gonna need you to step outside for a minute miss," one of the nurses said to Rita.

She definitely didn't wanna go, and I didn't want her to go. I had just woken up and got to see her for barely a minute before they made her leave. She got up slowly and walked out while looking at me the whole time, I felt bad, but the sooner they did whatever they had to do, the sooner she could come back in and they could get out. They hooked me up to all kinds of machines, on my chest, arms, head, everything. They checked my blood pressure, heart rate, brain activity, I even think they checked my cholesterol. It took them about fifteen minutes before they finally finished with everything, then they huddled around each other and discussed the results, then everyone but one doctor left the room. Rita tried to come back in, but he gave her a kind of "hold on just a second longer" sign and turned back to me.

"I think that's the first time she actually left the room since you came in," the doctor said.

"We're very close," I said.

"I can tell. Everything looks normal, which is strange considering the condition you were in."

"What do you mean strange?"

"I mean you were badly beat up, lost a lot of blood, and had all sorts of problems stemming from getting shot, and now it appears as if nothing happened. Are you in any pain at all?"

"Just a little, but nothing that doesn't feel like it won't go away in a couple of days."

He kept looking at the chart in his hand as if the answer to his questions were gonna pop up on it. "I don't know what happened, but you're basically...fine! You're a lucky son of a gun you know that? I'm gonna go put this on file, I'll be back a little later."

He walked out of the room and Rita came back in. she came around the bed and sat in the chair and immediately took my hand, keeping her eyes locked on me the whole time.

"Hi."

"Hi," I said back with a slight smile.

"I'm so happy to see you, I missed you so much."

"Me too, you have no idea. How long was I asleep for?"

"Two months and thirteen long days. The doctor said it could be longer and there was a possibility you could have brain damage, or not wake up at all."

She started to cry and I immediately wiped her tears. "Hey, its ok, I did wake up, and I'm fine, no brain damage. Its gonna take more than two bullets to keep me down. Speaking of bullets, what happened to the guy that shot me?"

"He got rushed after he shot you and held until police came. His name is Johnny Adams. They said it's an open and shut case and he's going away for a long time."

"The important thing is you didn't get hurt." I paused for a second and covered her hand with mine. "Look Rita, about the whole Ashley thing I..."

"I don't care anymore. I don't. You almost lost your life over some middle school pettiness that could have been easily avoided. I'm not taking the chance of that happening again. everything that happened with Ashley doesn't matter anymore, besides, she came clean about it all."

"She did? About everything?"

"Yeah, the night of the party, the wigs, all her plots against you, everything. The confessed it all to me, the guilt finally got to her, she even smashed her phone against the wall."

"She did? That phone was her life! Everything that was Ashley was in that phone."

"Yeah well all that's left is the SD card she gave me from it. She kept apologizing and promised she'd make good. She came to visit you every week, even though I wouldn't let her get too close, and brought you a new video game each time she came in, that's the stack over there. She even paid all of your hospital bills, which weren't cheap at all, even though I didn't want her to. I hate to say it, but I think this time she actually did change, but if you don't want her to be in here, I won't argue with you, I won't trust her so easily either."

I look at the stack of video games and smiled, it was all the ones she called me a loser for wanting, but she still knew exactly which ones to buy. "It's ok, if she comes in I won't kick her out, I wanna see her face when she tells me whatever she has to tell me. Maybe she really is trying to change, and all it took to humble her was me getting shot."

Next thing I knew before I could say anything else mom, dad, and Aunt Lisa came flying into the room and damn near choked me out with a hug that was tighter than Rita's. I looked over at her through the bodies huddled around me and she was smiling back.

"I called them when the doctor had me step out."

Mom was kissing every part of my face she could get ahold of. "My baby! Oh my baby!"

"I'm happy to see you too mom, can you loosen it up a little, you're squeezing my neck!"

"You had us all scared to death! With the doctor talking about not waking up..." Aunt Lisa said.

"Don't you ever do anything like that ever again you hear me! Never again!" mom said.

"Count on it mom, I don't plan on getting shot ever again."

Dad pat me on the shoulder when mom and Aunt Lisa finally released their death grip on me. "I knew you'd make it, you're a fighter just like me."

"Yeah believe me, it was definitely a fight, and not an easy one. So Rita told me I was out for about 2 ½ months, what I miss?"

"Nothing much, just a lot of the waiting game really that's about all. You know nothing exciting ever happens around here," dad said.

"Except in this family," Aunt Lisa said as she winked at me.