Page 28 of Meet Me on Greenwood

My mother would have found that funny. She would have said something sharp, and then laughed at her own joke before I could respond. She used to do that.

I gripped the necklace and let myself think clearly for the first time in a long time. I had to get back to make things right with Bri. I wasn’t sure what I would do with my company, but I needed a change. I needed to live.

12

Bri

Tulsa Woman Remains in Unexplained Coma

Isat in the beige hospital room listening to the white noise of a fan with a broken blade and the beeping machines monitoring my sister’s heart rate. I’d never been so terrified as I was seeing the electric blast hit Gema. It happened so fast, but I knew immediately that she was in trouble by the way she’d slumped to the ground. It had been four days, and she still hadn’t woken up.

The doctors said the injuries were minor, but they were unsure why she was in a coma. I’d been angry with her and I’d wanted to hurt her feelings, but I never wanted this.

I startled awake as someone knocked on the door. It was Maise, Gema’s friend. She’d come to sit with her every day, and this time she’d brought two cups of coffee from the machine in the cafeteria and handed one to me.

"Thank you," I said breathing in the warmth.

Maise nodded, pulling up a chair next to Gema’s sleeping form. She’d had a tube inserted to keep her fed. It brought back memories of Mother when she was in the hospital.

"Any change from yesterday?" Maise asked.

"No. She’s been quiet."

Maise took Gema’s hand and brought it to her lips. "How long are you going to sleep, Gema? We need you here."

The only answer came from the beeping of the machines. At some point, the doctor came in, giving us a wary smile as he checked through her vitals from the past day.

I watched as he inspected her arms and hands, opened her eyes to check her pupils, and looked at her brain activity. Then, he looked to us.

"It is baffling. I would have thought she’d be awake by now. By all accounts, she is fine."

"Then what is happening?" I asked.

"As far as I can tell, the lightning strike sent her into a coma. Now, I can send her into a deeper coma and try to bring her out, but my experience with patients this healthy is to let them come out of it when their brain is ready."

Maise asked the one question I couldn’t. "What if she never comes out of it?"

"Let’s not cross a bridge we don’t have to." The doctor frowned. "Right now, I’m recommending we stick to the course. As long as her vitals stay strong, we’ll allow her to wake up when she is ready."

It was strange to see my only living blood relative lying there. Without her, I’d be utterly alone, and while I’d always thought that was what I wanted, I realized it wasn’t entirely true, especially now that I was facing it. I wanted my family to understand me, to accept me. I wanted to feel valued and loved without the condition of having to measure up to my twin.

"How is business going?" Maise asked.

"Which one?" I said, not really wanting to discuss it just to fill the silence.

Maise’s eyebrow rose, as if she heard my tone and couldn’t care less. "Your jewelry company. Gema was always going on about it."

I shrugged. "I doubt that. I do just enough to pay my bills." It wasn’t the truth. If I hadn’t gotten a roommate and that second job bartending, I’d probably be homeless. Even homelessness sounded better than groveling to my father.

"What about the cute ones with the face? Were those dumpling bracelets?"

"The gyoza?" I said, impressed. "They have dumpling charms. How do you know about those? They are my best seller. I have a client in Europe who buys them in bulk."

A thought seemed to cross Maise’s face as she looked back at Gema. When she turned back to me, she said, "I must have seen them on one of your social media posts."

That was strange. "I don’t have social media anymore. After Bryan stalked me, I disabled all of it."

Maise stood abruptly. "Maybe I saw it before then. I need to refresh my coffee. Do you need anything?"