An Incest Birthday Ch. 25

"That's very much true," mom agreed and game me her signature look, that didn't take long.

We spent the rest of visitation talking about a bunch of nothing, but had a lot of fun doing it. they told me about how boring and on edge everything was while they were waiting for me to wake up, and how Rita refused to leave the room the whole time I was here. I held off on telling them about my experience with my conscience, I would talk about that with Rita first, and then if it felt right, I would tell everyone else. When visitation ended the doctor came in and informed everyone it was time to go, and that they wanted to do some overnight tests on me just to doublecheck everything they already did, and when he said everyone, he stressed it, making sure Rita knew he was talking about her, which didn't please her too much.

"Come on I won't get in the way, I was fine the first 2 ½ months!" Rita said.

"Come on honey, let them do their jobs. You said you wouldn't leave until he woke up, and now he's awake, besides, don't you wanna take an actual shower instead of using the sink again, and sleep in an actual bed instead of being folded up in that chair?" mom asked.

She thought for a minute, she still wanted to stay but she knew mom had made some valid points. "It would be nice to have a shower, but he just woke up and we have to leave already?"

"It's only for one day honey, we'll be back bright and early, I know you'll make sure of that."

She wanted to protest again, but mom gave her the stern look, the one where we knew to just give in. "Fine. But we're coming back at 12:00 exact, wait, it's the weekend tomorrow, so we'll be coming back at 3:00 exact!"

I said my goodbyes and see you laters to everyone, and when I got to Rita she turned my head at the last minute and snuck a kiss from me. She was the last one to leave out the room, probably hoping someone would change their mind about letting her stay, but when she realized it wasn't happening, she finally accepted it and left.

"I've never seen someone who just didn't wanna leave," the doctor said.

"Yeah that's us. She only left now because she knows I'm ok."

"I guess all twins are like that, well most of them anyway."

That caught me off guard. "How'd you know we were twins?"

"You mean besides it being on file? It's quite obvious. You two have that invisible bond, that closeness, only a few siblings share it, and nine times out of ten they're twins."

"I guess we're unique then, being one of the only few."

"You could say that. I'm gonna run a few tests while you're awake and the rest while you're asleep, you should be able to sleep right through them."

Fine with me doc, whatever gets me outta this bed and back into mine."

He called his help team in and they hooked me up to more stuff and clipped more things to me and drew more blood which took up nearly the rest of the day, and having to sit perfectly still while it was happening was extremely boring. They checked the areas where I'd been shot to make sure I'd healed properly, and while they were doing all this they didn't tell me any of the results, I just had to cooperate. When they finished he gave me a cup with two pills in it, but they didn't say what they were, they just had an RX on them.

"It's to help put you to sleep and keep you sleep so we can run the last of the tests, special for patients who just woke up from a coma. Don't worry, we're not drugging you, everything we're giving you has been approved and paid for by the person paying your hospital bill," the nurse laughed when she saw the look on my face.

When she said that I immediately thought Ashley. This would be a messed up way of messing with someone, but apparently she was done with that, so I had to choice but to trust it. I took the pills and laid back, waiting for them to take effect.

"They'll kick in very soon, so just lie back and relax," the nurse said.

I did as she said and within twenty minutes the pills did start to kick in. My eyes got heavy and I got lightheaded, and before I knew it, I was asleep, not even remembering it happening. I don't remember dreaming, or having a nightmare, or anything, I was just asleep, I don't know for how long, but I wasn't in any pain, so I took it as a good sign and enjoyed my first actual night of sleep in a very long time.

I woke up the next day feeling pretty good, the soreness was still there but that was about it. The doctors told me since I was fine I should wash myself up and do whatever morning ritual I normally did. I got out of the bed for the first time in over two months, and while it took me a second to get my legs under me, I was eventually moving around on my own. I didn't have my phone to call anyone, so I laid back down and watched lifetime, which the TV seemed to be stuck on and there was no remote, so I had to suffer. About an hour or so later the doctor came back in holding the chart, and he had a puzzled look on his face.

"So doc, how am I looking?" I asked.

"You're perfectly fine. Like I said before, you went from near death, to perfect health. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like that night never happened."

"Well I'm still sore where I got shot at."

"That's the only thing I've recorded, but other than that, nothing. Remarkable. I'll inform Ms. Jennings of your recovery."

"Ms. Jennings? Who's that?"

"The girl who paid for your entire stay and meds, a Ms. Ashley Jennings, which by the way were not cheap, not by a long shot. They must really care about you."

He tossed me the remote to the TV as he left the room. How about that, after all this time I never knew her last name. I never bothered to because I never thought we'd be friends, not with as snobby as she was. Was, I wonder if that's gonna stay past tense now. I turned to anything besides lifetime and stopped at Pirates of the Caribbean and sort of fell into the movie, so much that I didn't know what time it was, so I was caught off guard when everyone rushed into the room and plopped on the bed, Rita right next to me.

"Did you forget what time it was? Three o'clock on the dot, just like we told you!" Rita said.

"The only clock in here is on the TV, and I can't see that far, but YAY YOU'RE HERE!" I replied.

"She made sure we were in the car at 2:15 in case of traffic," Aunt Lisa said.

"I'd probably act the same way if she was in a coma for nearly three months."

"Good to see you up and active, now you can finally get out of the hospital," dad said.

"That's the plan, he's been telling me all good news so I might be out sooner than expected."

Mom planted a big kiss on my cheek. "I'll have to make you a big welcome home meal; fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, green beans, and wash it all down with some orange pop."

"Nothing like a big welcome home plate of trans fat, grease, and diabetes," dad laughed.

"Hey I haven't eaten in a long time, maybe a plate of grease is exactly what I need.

We all shared a laugh and the Dr. Garrett came back in with the clipboard, that thing was his life man, it's like he thought we wouldn't believe he was a real doctor if he didn't have it. I laughed to myself as he walked up to us with a big smile on his face.

"So how's everyone doing today?"

"Pretty good pretty good. You have some news from us?" dad asked.

"A clean bill of health, though how he came to it astounds me."

"What do you mean by that doctor?" Aunt Lisa asked.

"If I can speak freely, I can't explain how he's fine. In actuality he should be dead."

"What do you mean you can't explain it? Why should he be dead?" mom asked.

"There's so many things... he lost so much blood I thought he would've died from that, plus when he was shot he hit his head really hard on the concrete, which is very bad when you're losing blood, then he went into shock and ultimately into a coma, with all this happening to one person your body, your mind should be..." he hesitated when he saw Rita looking at him.

"Go ahead doc, you can say it," I said.

"That amount of stress on the brain would render it unable to function, you should still be in a coma, or worse. I don't know how you did it."

"I didn't give up, I had a reason to live," I said as Rita squeezed my hand.

"You sir, are lucky to be alive, damn lucky. You better enjoy life."

"Don't worry I will. So how long before I can get out of here and enjoy life?" I asked.

"It's mandatory we keep you until the swelling and soreness goes down, so I'd say about another two weeks. It's a good thing you had some muscle mass on you, it slowed the bullets down just enough, if they'd hit someone smaller than you it would've killed them."

"The guy was aiming at me and another girl," Rita said.

"Same build as you? If so then your brother saved yours and the other girls life."

Before I could say anything the Wilson's came into the room and gave me the same welcome my family did, pats and handshakes from Jim and Chris, and hugs and kisses from Marie and Stephanie. They both almost choked me out too like mom and Rita did.

"I knew you'd wake up, I wasn't worried at all," Chris said.

"Good to see you up and around, now just to get you out of this hospital," Jim said.

Marie slapped his arm as she sat down on the bed next to mom. "Oh hush Jim they'll release him when he's good and ready. So how are you feeling Randy? Do..."

"Mom you're crowding him! He's probably answered those questions all day. What he really wants to know is what games came out, huh Randy?" Stephanie asked.

"He already knows, and he has them, courtesy of Ashley," Rita said pointing to the games.

"Speak of the devil," Chris said looking at the door and us following his gaze to see Ashley and her father standing at the door, then come in when we noticed them.

"There's more people than I thought would be here, I'll give you some privacy," the doctor said.

Ashley's father walked up to the bed as close as he could get with everybody sitting around it. "How are you feeling son?"

"Like I've been shot," I said being slightly sarcastic.

"Yes that would be the feeling wouldn't it? My little girl told me what you did, how you took a bullet for her. She's been checking in on you to see how you were, and when she told me you were awake I had to come in personally and shake your hand. Thank you for saving my little girls life," he said as he stepped a little

closer and held out his hand.

I looked at him for a second, then at Ashley who was still standing at the door, then I remembered what it took to get back here, and the promise I made, that I intended on keeping, so I held my hand out and shook his. "Don't mention it, just don't ask me to do it again."

We shared a laugh. "Haha no no, wouldn't dream of it, once is enough."

"Thanks for covering my hospital bills, I know they weren't cheap."

"Don't even worry about it. A small price to pay for what you did. If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask. I'm afraid I have to leave now, but if you need to reach me I'll be in touch with your father, we have some business to finalize before the weekend is out."

"Ok no problem, thanks for stopping in," I said.

"Sure thing, and remember, anything."

"Hold on dad, I wanna talk to Randy alone, if that's ok with everyone?" Ashley asked.

Everyone looked at me for confirmation on whether or not they should leave, and I for one wanted to hear what she had to say, so I agreed. "It's ok everyone, just for a second."

They all took their time getting up, letting Ashley know she'd better watch it without actually saying anything, and Rita was definitely skeptical of her, so I knew she wouldn't go too far from the door. Once everyone was gone she closed the door and walked over to the bed and sat down in the chair that was next to it.

"So is there something you have to say?" I started.

"Why did you do it? Why did you risk your life for me?"

"Because it was the right thing to do, regardless of the situation we had."

"As nasty as I was to you, you didn't even hesitate, you jumped in front of a bullet for someone you hated, for someone who didn't deserve to be saved."

"Nobody deserves to die like that, gunned down in an ice cream parking lot."

"But yet it almost happened to you, and it would've been entirely my fault."

"But it didn't happen, so now we can move past it like it and get on with our lives."

The whole time we were talking she looked as if she was trying to control her emotions, but the situation proved to be more than she could handle, and she started crying in the chair. "I'm so sorry Randy, I'm sorry I almost got you killed."

I sat for a minute, slightly caught off guard by a crying Ashley. This is only the second time I've ever seen her cry, and the last time, for me at least, felt like a few days ago. "I believe you, and I don't hate you, not anymore. Life is too short to be caught up in all that unnecessary hate."

She reached out to grab my hand, I flinched for a second, which made her flinch back, but I relaxed and let her. "The old Ashley is gone, forever, I won't be nasty like that ever again, and I'll make it up to you, and to Rita, I promise."

"Just make sure that other Ashley never shows her face again and we have a deal."

She smiled, relieved that I'd been so accepting of her. "Can I have a hug, to seal the deal?"

Caught off guard twice in five minutes, and she was serious. I figured if we were gonna start off clean it might as well be on a good note, so I accepted. She stood up and I leaned forward and she gave me a full hug, squeezing into me and keeping it going a little longer than expected.

"You know, that was the first time since I've known you we hugged," I said as I pulled back.

"Yeah, but hopefully it won't be the last."

"Listen, I know you're turning over a new leaf, but that doesn't mean we just forget about everything you've done. It's gonna take a while before we can fully trust you, you know that."

"I know, and I'm willing to take the time to fix it, as long as you give me a chance."

"I don't see why not," I laughed. "See? Us guys aren't so bad after all."

"Tell that to the one who shot you, but at least there are decent guys out there."

The door opened and Rita came walking in, heading straight for Ashley. "Everything ok Randy?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. We're both witness to a brand new Ashley."

Rita looked confused, but Ashley cleared it up for her. "I promised to turn over a new leaf, I won't be nasty like that ever again."

"You say that, but talk is cheap, do you really mean it?" Rita asked.

"Yes 100%, you'll see. I went home and erased everything off my computers, tablets, and broke up every CD and flash drive I had with anything showing how close you two really are, noone will ever find out about you two from me."

"That's a good start. What about Becky, Carina, and Dana, do they know anything?"

"I never told them anything, not yet. I was gonna show them the video of when you... of when I made you... you know, sorry about that, I didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's ok, well I won't say it's ok, it just reminds me that we still have to get even for that."

"I can't say whatever it is I won't have it coming, just don't be too harsh please?"

"Oh! Haven't even told you what you had to do and you're already being polite!"

"Ok I deserved that. Whatever it is I'm sure I can handle it."

There was a knock on the door and Ashley's father poked his head in the room. "Ok Ashley bear we have to get going, I don't want to be late for my meeting."

Rita and I burst out laughing. "Ashley bear? Oh you're done! You better get going Ashley bear!"

"Thanks dad," Ashley said embarrassed, but looked kind of happy at the same time.

"Take care everyone, and thanks again Randy, remember, anytime."

They left out of the room and everyone else came in right behind them and took up their spots they had before they left the first time. "Everything ok between you guys?" mom asked.

"Yeah, I guess it is," I said. "At least for now, it's too soon to tell."

"Well this time around I'm definitely keeping more of an eye on her," Aunt Lisa said.

"She won't be coming to the house anytime soon, if we do hang out with her it'll be somewhere public, or not at all, not until we see she actually changed," Rita said.

"You kids are better than me, if I were in your shoes I wouldn't have anything to do with her, not after everything she did," Jim said.

"I still wouldn't have anything to do with her if it were up to me, but since Randy's the one whose been on the receiving end of everything it's his call," Chris said.

"Can we talk about something else, like when Randy's getting out of this bed," Stephanie said.

"He has a little over two weeks before they said he can go home, and when he does he'll have the biggest welcome home breakfast, lunch, and dinner waiting for him, along with a few other things that shall remain nameless," mom smiled.

"What time is that breakfast? I'll make sure I'm there fifteen minutes early," Chris said.

"Nice try, my own husband won't even be getting any of this, so you're out of luck."

"What? I don't get to eat anything?" dad whined.

"I'll set the Frosted Flakes out for you before you leave for work."

"Aargh! I don't even eat Frosted Flakes anymore! Well I guess it's ok just this once, seeing as he got shot and all. I won't have time to eat it anyway with all the paperwork Ashley's father is gonna have me doing. He's throwing a lot of business at me thanks to Randy, when this is all done there's no doubt in my mind I'll be a partner."

I sat straight up in the bed. "You're welcome dad. I'll need a new car, a bigger TV, candy, lots of candy, an expense account to name a few..."

"Look at this already bribing me! Well once I do get partner I can probably afford it, they get paid way more than everyone else, plus they get a partner bonus."

"Yeah you can sign that over to me," I added and everyone laughed.

"So what do you plan on doing once you get out of here?" Marie asked.

"I don't know, but it's gonna be something stupid, like bungee jumping or something."

"Bungee jumping? You might as well just jump off a building! I'll never trust my life to a rubber band, anything could go wrong with that!" Jim said.

"Yeah you're on your own with that," Chris followed.

"Bunch of scaredy cats, Rita and Stephanie will do it with me won't you?"

"Uhh, pass, I'm with dad, I don't trust rubber bands all like that," Stephanie said.

"If you're serious I'd do it, but we'd have to do it at the same time," Rita said.

"Why does it have to be that? Bungee jumping, really? Why can't you just do something a normal kid would do?" Aunt Lisa said.

"Fine, we could go climb a mountain, or go sky diving, or deep sea diving..."

"You're just trying to come back to the hospital aren't you?" dad laughed.

"You are all so gullible, he's not gonna do any of that, he's probably gonna go home and play all those new games and go stuff his face with all the junk food he can, there's no way I'm letting my baby jump out of a plane for fun fresh out of a coma," mom said.

"Yeah that pretty much summed it up, I'm too lazy to fall out of a plane," I laughed.

We all talked for a little more and then Marie pulled out a portable Apples to Apples game out of her purse, as big as her bag was she could've fit the whole game in there. Chris, Steph, and Rita went to all the food vending machines and cleared out everything that looked good and stashed it all in the room with us so we didn't need to get up to leave. We played for about two hours before she pulled about five packs of Uno cards out of her purse. We played that for a while until it started to get a little boring, then Rita made it fun by betting one of her sandwiches on winning, and that opened up a whole new game. Everyone was betting any food they had, and when we had no food left to bet, or once we ate it all, we started betting money, and then chores, anything to keep the game going. We had been playing the rest of the time everyone was there, well past visiting hours, and when the doctors noticed they came in and asked everyone to leave. By the end of the day Aunt Lisa won the most food, Chris had to do all of the chores at his house, and mom and pocketed all the money, even though I didn't win anything, it was a good time. When it came time to go everyone got their stuff and got up to walk out the door, but Rita stayed seated as if nothing was happening.