I opened my eyes and looked around the room. It was dark and everything seemed to have no color at all. I realized that I was looking at an actually hospital room instead of the room I fell asleep in with Kyle at my side. I saw Lexie curled up in a big arm chair, sleeping soundly. Cooper was up pacing around the room while chewing his thumb nail. He paused in front of Lexie and looked down at her. He brushed some of her blonde hair out of her face and then grabbed the blanket from the other chair to cover her up. I tried to speak but found I couldn’t. I couldn’t even wiggle my fingers no matter how hard I tried. Cooper pulled up a chair beside my bed. He grabbed my hand in his and put them against his forehead.
***
I started awake, expecting to see Cooper by my side. Instead, I saw Kyle. He was still holding my hand and fast asleep in a chair with his head laying on my bed side. I looked at him for a while longer as he slept. His dark brown hair had hints of red in it and his skin was dark as though he had been out in the sun a lot. It was nice to see his face completely relaxed and to not have any worry across his face. He really was quite handsome. I never denied that much. If he wasn’t so damn infuriating I could see myself falling for him.
What was I thinking? If he and Lena are right then I don’t even belong here in this world and once I wake up from this coma, it’s back to business as usual. And that’s what I want, right? I mean, yes, I miss my friends, but I have no family. My dad died when I turned 19 in a car accident and I haven’t seen or heard from my mom since I was 7. The closest person I have to a sibling is Lexie. Cooper is also more like a brother than anything. I had a crush on him once but found out he had feelings for Lexie and I let it go.
As I sat thinking about my friends, Lena opened my door and came walking in. “Good morning! I hope you slept well. And I hope you were more comfortable than my brother.”
I smiled a little at her comment and tried to pull my hand from Kyle. He held on tighter and his eyes began to flutter open. My breath caught in my throat as his dark brown eyes met my hazel eyes. He was staring at me with sleep still clearly in his vision. When he realized I was awake and staring at him, he sat up and immediately let go of my hand.
“Sorry, but you wouldn’t let go of my hand last night and I didn’t want to wake you once you fell asleep.” His cheeks turned slightly pink and he looked away.
I couldn’t believe Kyle was actually blushing. Maybe it was because he just woke up, but it seemed like it just happened. I kept quiet because I really didn’t want to upset or embarrass him. He saved me after all and even though he insists on calling me by that stupid nickname, I’m forever grateful he is here. Lena, on the other hand, was fine with pointing out his blush, but that’s what sisters are for I guess.
“Kyle, I do believe you either have a slight fever, caught some sun yesterday or you might actually be blushing.” She didn’t turn to look at us again, but kept preparing the bandages she was going to replace.
Kyle took in a quick breath, got up, then left through the balcony. I almost screamed when I thought he was going to jump, then realized that the tree branches were literally within stepping and grabbing distance. He climbed up the tree branches and was gone. I looked out of the balcony doorway and was amazed at how strong and beautiful the tree looked just from this small view. I could only imagine how big the tree actually was. This world just keeps amazing me with it’s beauty and strength.
“Don’t worry,” Lena said turning around and coming towards me. “I just embarrassed him a little. He’ll be back. I wanted him to go and that was the best way for me to get him out of here without a huge fight. He has been very resistant to leave your side all night. I have been in and out of your room to check you were sleeping without pain and he just held your hand and slept by you all night. I tried to get him to leave and he just grumbled at me. You moved a little when he tried to move his hand away but the moment he put his hand back, you sighed and relaxed. I don’t know how he isn’t sore from sleeping in that position all night. But, that’s Kyle for you. He thinks of those he cares about first.”
I continued looking out of the balcony doors and waiting to see if he would return. “I guess he doesn’t take embarrassment too well, huh?”
Lena laughed and lifted my shirt to change my bandages. “No, he really doesn’t. But he will at least admit when he was in the wrong and that is a hard quality to come by for men and women anymore. Too many people with fragile prides and egos.”
I nodded but didn’t answer. Once she unwrapped my side, I looked down and was even more amazed today than I was last night. The wound was almost completely healed. It looked like a soft pink around the outer edges, like new skin, and a smaller scab in the center. Whatever she was doing was working amazingly fast. While she went to grab her cloth to wash the wound, I touched it and jumped. It was still sensitive, but not unbearable to touch. I would always have a scar there for the rest of my life.
“It’s healing beautifully,” Lena said as she wrung out the cloth. “I’m even a bit surprised at how fast it’s healing. You must be a fast healer in your world in general. That usually helps if you are already a fast healer. I heal fairly quick, but Kyle heals even faster than I do.”
“So you don’t always use your special concoctions?”
“Absolutely not. If you have a cut that is not too deep, infected, or that is non-life threatening we tend to let your body do most of the work. It’s better if you heal on your own, but with your wound it was very dangerous to let it go. You had already lost a lot of blood and we can’t give you blood here. We have no way of knowing how you would react.” She finished bandaging my side and then put my shirt back down. “I set out some clothes for you. I hope you don’t mind a dress for now. I need to take your exact measurements for the other clothes. This dress is very comfortable and you are a bit taller than I am and this dress is already too long on me.”
I looked over at the chair near the desk against the far wall. A beautiful, plain light green dress was draped over the back of the chair. It almost seemed to shimmer in the morning light that was peaking through the trees. I got up cautiously and when Lena didn’t discourage me, I walked over to the desk. My legs were a little wobbly, but I didn’t feel like I was going to fall. I could feel Lena walking right behind me, just in case I did begin to fall. I lifted the dress and was just amazed at how beautiful it was in its simplicity. It had no jewels or extra layers. The sleeves were long, but loose and the waist flared out at the hips. The top was tighter but not uncomfortably so.
I turned to Lena. “It’s beautiful. Are you sure it’s okay that I wear this?”
“Of course. I can help you get dressed if you like. That way if you feel weak I’m right here.” She smiled at me with such kindness.
I nodded and began removing the white shirt and pants I was wearing. She must have changed my clothes when I was finally stable. The material of the dress was surprisingly soft and light. It reached the whole way down to my toes, which was surprising because I was at least 3 inches taller than Lena. She smiled at me again and turned towards a closet. She bent down to pick something up and turned back towards me. They were tan colored slippers. I looked at them a little confused because they didn’t look like they would provide much support or protection. I sat down and she put them on my feet. I was yet again completely surprised. They felt extremely soft as if they were lined with a type of fabric and the soles were very sturdy for being as small and skinny they were. This world ceased to amaze me.
“We try for comfort and protection. These shoes won’t prevent a nail from going through the sole. But they will prevent discomfort and pain from rocks and the nail won’t go very deep into your foot.”
I turned around towards the mirror I saw earlier. My hair was a complete mess, but I looked amazingly exotic anyway. Lena pulled the chair out from the desk and motioned for me to sit. I moved to the chair and sat looking into the mirror. She began to gently comb through my hair and I closed my eyes. I always loved having my hair combed or played with when I was younger and I haven’t had it done to me in such a long time. Lena didn’t do anything fancy or exciting with my hair. She just pulled a a little back from each side and braided that small amount down the back, leaving the rest of my hair down. When she finished, I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror. Standing there behind us, leaning against the balcony was Kyle. His eyes were looking over my reflection and when he finally made contact with mine he slowly smiled. It seemed to by turn to blush and look away.
“Well, welcome back, Kyle,” Lena said turning around and walking towards him. “You’re just in time to take Amy out for a little stroll.”
Kyle leaned forward and slowly walked towards me, uncrossing his arms. His eyes burned into mine. I couldn’t look away from his reflection this time and I didn’t want to. He walked towards me with a smirk on his face, like he knew what he was doing to me. And I guess he did, because I could feel my cheeks burning. I wanted to look away from him, but I couldn’t. His eyes had me in a trance.
“How does that sound?” His words broke through the fog in my brain.
“Sorry, I must have been zoning. How does what sound?” I shook my head and turned to look directly at him.
He smiled even more because he knew what he was doing to me. “I said, we could walk over to my grandfathers tree house which is just a few minutes away. How does that sound?”
“Oh, yeah, that sounds fine. I think I can manage that. I don’t feel sore and I seem to be walking just fine. Will I need to climb down?” I got up and went to the balcony.
“Absolutely not!” Lena exclaimed grabbing me and gently pulling me towards the bedroom door. “We do have actual stairs and front doors. Kyle just refuses to use them unless forced.” She glared over her shoulder at her brother.
I smiled and looked over to where Kyle was standing. He was already gone and out the balcony. I see what she means by him refusing to use the stairs and front door. I shook my head and followed Lena down to the main floor. The stairs wound around the tree like the tree was made this way. Everything in this “tree house” was made to be a part of the actual tree and have the tree as its center. It was amazing!
Kyle opened the front door just as we came within two feet of it. “See, Lena. I’m using the door.”
“Yes, well, that wasn’t exactly what I meant.” She stuck out her tongue at him and I laughed. I finally got to see a younger side to Lena.
Kyle held the door open for me. I stepped out and was blown away again. It was like five trees combined into one with every other tree. Some trees were twisted together but were still amazingly huge the whole way to the top. The sun was able to peak through the leaves and it made it much cooler in the shade.
“This can’t be real.” I breathed looking all around me at these beautiful trees all around me.
Kyle grabbed my hand and I looked over at him. “It’s real here."
***
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