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"The only photo I had access to was from when they were very young. They were babies in your arms still."
My eyes fill with tears as I think about all the time I’ve lost away from them. At the same time, I silently ask God for forgiveness for my ingratitude. I’ve just been given a second chance. I am determined to make the most of it with my family.
"How long will I have to stay in the hospital?"
"That depends on how well you progress. It’s impossible to say. You’ve just come out of a months-long coma, Brooklyn."
"Months?"
"Don’t dwell on that now," he says, glancing at his phone. "I’ve just been informed that your sister is outside and wantsto see you. I’ll allow the visit, but I’m going to warn you now—it must be brief. I’m sure you want to recover as quickly as possible, so you’ll need to do your part. Try to control your emotions. I’ll give Madison the same recommendation."
With that, he leaves without another word. I should feel relieved, but I don’t. In a strange and inexplicable way, I feel connected to the doctor—perhaps because he is the one who’s brought me back.
Less than two minutes after he leaves, the door opens again. I blink several times to make sure I'm not imagining it, and at the same time, my throat tightens.
My sister, my life, my baby sister, is here with me, sporting a beautiful baby bump.
Despite Dr. Athanasios’s recommendation, I begin to cry. The headache gets worse and my eyes sting, but I can't stop. "Madison."
"Do you remember me?"
"I remember everything. Thank you for taking care of my kids."
"How did you know I’ve been doing that?"
"I heard you all these months."
"From the beginning?"
"I don’t know when the ‘beginning’ was. I started hearing the conversations after the doctor, Dr. Athanasios, started irritating me."
She was crying too, but now she is laughing as she walks over to hug me. "He was irritating you?"
"He was arguing with me. He called me lazy and said I didn’t want to wake up."
"Jesus, why does that not surprise me? Sounds exactly like something arrogant men like him would do."
She hugs me, and I want to stay like that forever.
"My voice sounds strange. It feels like every word scratches my throat."
"That’s because you went months without speaking. Don’t push yourself. We have all the time in the world. What matters is that you’re back with us."
"All three of you, right? Your bump is beautiful. I know you’re pregnant with twins and that you got married."
"Yes, I’ll tell you all about it later, but Dr. Athanasios told me not to let you get too emotional."
"The doctor, huh? He told me his name was Athanasios."
"Yes, he’s Greek like my Zeus. Bossy by nature."
"I think, in more ways than one, he was the reason I came back. Both by provoking me, which finally made me react, and on the clinical side, I suppose."
"He’s the world’s leading specialist in neurosurgery, Brooklyn."
"How . . . how will we pay him?"
"Shhh . . . don’t worry about that. He’s a friend of my husband’s family, but even so, Zeus was going to cover everything. From the start, though, Dr. Athanasios said he wouldn’t charge anything. This hospital belongs to him and two partners. Now, what I really want, Brooklyn, is for you to focus on getting better."