Coma (Paranormal Romance) (19 page)

Helen went silent, so Maya filled the gap by
saying, “We're leaving for college soon.”

I darted my gaze toward her, “Already?” She
nodded, so I asked, “How soon?”

“This weekend,” Helen answered instead of
Maya, ice coloring her tone. “Do you think you'll manage to see us
off?” She laughed, sarcastically.

“Of course,” I said, feeling kind of
embarrassed. I lost track of time, but they weren't exactly alone
either. It wasn't like their worlds revolved around me. Instantly,
I thought about Zack. His world, however, did. I smiled.

“So, we'll see you on Friday?” Maya jolted me
from my dazed state.

“Sure,” I said, still with Zack in my
thoughts.

We parted, exchanging sour smiles, and bitter
hugs. The last thing Helen said to me was, “This isn’t healthy,”
giving me
the look
.

Obsessing over Zack as much as I did wasn’t
the healthiest thing to do, but neither were the circumstances we
were in. We tried to squeeze a lifetime in mere moments. It was
bound to be intense, we were bound to burn up in that flame, but it
was worth it.

~*~

Seeing me crossing the street, Zack pushed
himself onto his feet, smiling wide. He started toward me, stopping
at the pole. He leaned against it with one shoulder, crossing one
leg over the other, and tugging hands in his pockets. With his head
tilted, almost touching the pole, he shamelessly ogled me, wearing
a devious smirk.

“What?” I said, grinning, when I reached
him.

“Flawless,” he said, lowering a kiss on the
top of my head. My cheeks flushed. “Our bench?” He asked, threading
his fingers through mine.
Our bench?
I smiled, nodding.

We started toward
our bench
, walking
slowly, swinging hands, both having trouble keeping teeth behind
our lips. With the day so sunny and perfect, I couldn’t imagine
this could ever be over. I stole several swift glances of his face,
and sighed. Flawless, as well.

Our bench was empty as it had always been. We
sat down, keeping close to one another. Zack wrapped his arm around
me. I placed my head on his shoulder, and he leaned his head
against mine, zigzagging his finger down my arm. I shuddered.

“Are you cold?” He asked. I shook my head, so
he smiled, and continued circling down my arm to my fingers.

“Zack,” I said.

“Mhm,” he muttered.

“Are you afraid?” I looked up at him, and he
stopped circling my hand.

“Of what?” He gazed at me, picking up my chin
with his finger.

“Of going back,” I breathed, choking on those
words.

His face became rigid, his jaw flexed.
“Terrified,” he mouthed, barely audible, pressing me tighter
against him.

“I don’t think I can handle it,” I
straightened up on the bench, tilting my body toward him.

“Neither do I, but there’s nothing we can do
at the moment,” he swallowed a knot. “I still hope we’ll figure it
out somehow.”

Pain gripped my chest, and I said the most
foolish thing an idiot in love could say, “I swear, I’ll kill
myself after you’re gone.”

Zack’s eyes gawked in shock. He shook his
head, and opened his mouth, then stared at me for several moments.
“Lyra, don’t! Why would you say a thing like that?” He cupped my
face, staring absorbedly.

“Because it’s true,” I stretched my palms
over his. “I can’t handle this, Zack. It hurts too much.”

Incredibly fast, he kissed me, his hands
still cradling my face. The kiss was hard, full of fear and
frustration. He broke off and said, “You’re crushing my heart!
Can’t you see what you’re doing to me? To us?”

“But it hurts so badly! Why do you want me to
spend the rest of my life in agony?” I stood up from the bench.

“Two reasons! One—because you could meet
someone later on, and still have a normal life,” he stood up, and
started toward me, I snorted. “Two—because I will spend every
second of my life trying to get back to you.”

I took a step back, “That’s sneaky, Zack,” I
hissed, “You know I won’t be able to take my own life now, because
I’ll be hoping you’ll find a way back for the rest of my life. And
you know how tiny the odds are of you coming back, so you are
hoping I will have a number one!”

He hugged me, resting his chin on the top of
my head, saying, “Not true. My being here is the proof that it can
be done.”

“Since you chose the sneaky way, here’s a
treat for you,” I broke free from his hug, leaving him flustered,
with arms hanging loose beside his body. “When you wake up in your
world, come here to this bench, and dig around this tree,” I
pointed to the first tree next to our bench. “I will bury a box in
there—a time capsule—and it will contain a journal. I will write to
you every chance I get, so you’ll know I never let you go, hoping
you’d come back, until I drew my terminal breath. You’ll know
exactly how much it hurt!”

“Don’t—” He bowed his head, his voice
low.

“Oh, I will,” I hissed, defiantly tapping my
fingers against my hips.

“I won’t read it!” He lifted his gaze,
grabbing me by the arms.

“Oh, yes you will,” I squeezed through my
teeth. “If not right away, you will once all hope is gone. You
better get a GPS, and write coordinates to this place, because
you’ll go crazy trying to find this spot 100 years from now!”

He pulled me into his embrace, his whole body
shaking. “That’s anger speaking, Ly,” gently, he started stroking
my hair, “Don’t let it get between us now. Please,” he kissed my
temple. Zack lifted my head, and kissed away each tear that rolled
down my face. “Don’t cry,” his hands gripped my shoulders. “I never
meant for this to happen. I’m so sorry. I should have kept my
distance.”

“No!” I sniffled, “It is what it is,” I dried
my eyes with the back of my hand. “Let's hope you don't wake up
from a coma brain damaged. Or worse.”
Like dead
. My whole
body ached at that though.

“Zack!” A man approaching us yelled.
Instantly, Zack pushed me behind his back, his body screamed battle
stations. “I looked all over for you, man.” Tall, broad shouldered
guy with scruffy hair stopped near us, laughing.

“Who are you?” Zack growled, shielding me
with his body. There was something feline in his movements,
something gracious and dangerous at the same time.

“You don’t know?” The guy scowled, clasping
the back of his neck. He had the same kind of cargos, V-neck Tee,
and strange boots like Zack, not much older, either. And he was
hovering.

“No,” Zack replied, harshly.

“That explains it,” the guy sighed, and sat
down on our bench. “You can drop your shields,” he chuckled. “We’re
on the same team.”

“And what team would that be?” Zack tilted
his head, narrowing his eyes. Gripping his back, I could feel all
of his muscles tighten.

“The good guys, Zack,” the man chuckled, “I
see you found her,” he motioned toward me, behind Zack’s back.

“What do you mean?” Zack said, his hand
reaching behind, firmly gripping my hips.

“Completely evaporated?” The man circled his
temple. When he didn’t get a reply from us, he continued, “I’m
Ethan, your best friend, and a brother in arms. Your cryobox was
sabotaged, and you fell into a coma. But don’t worry, I took care
of your body. It’s hidden in my lab. It’ll be safe there till we
get back.”

“I’m not going back,” Zack said, in a steady
voice, as if it ever were for him to decide.

Ethan’s brows shot up, and then he chuckled.
“You have to. What’s the status on her?”

“What do you mean?” I peered from behind
Zack’s back.

Ethan sighed long, and shook his head,
“Someone damaged his cryobox just as he went on a new mission,” he
put his leg up, and gripped it with both hands. “The mission was to
get you.”

Zack and I exchanged confused looks, then
darted our eyes back on Ethan.

“Get her, how?” Zack asked, suspiciously,
extending his shoulders as much as he could, shielding me like a
peacock.

“Dammit, you’re completely wiped,” Ethan
slammed his palms against his legs. “There’s a temporal war going
on, and you were supposed to come here and prep her for the job,”
Ethan looked at my jaw-dropping face, and chuckled. “You, young
lady, have all necessary predispositions to become a temporal
guard.”

“Come again,” I couldn’t believe what I was
hearing. Did this guy jump out of a sci-fi movie or what?

“That’s what we are,” Ethan pointed at Zack,
then him. “Temporal Guards Alliance.”

Zack grimaced, touching TGA letters on his
boots, then chuckled, draping his arm over me. “Her status is
unchanged, I’m afraid.”

“That’s a setback,” Ethan’s forehead creased.
He pondered something for a while, then said, “Here’s what we’re
gonna do. I’ll go back, and get you out of coma––” My sharp intake
of air stopped him for a moment. He smiled, and said, “I can see
what’s going on here,” he chuckled, “Don’t worry, he’ll be back
soon.”

Zack crashed on the bench next to Ethan,
saying, “What can go wrong?”

“Not getting you out of coma is the worst
case scenario,” Ethan patted Zack on the shoulder. One look at Zack
was enough for me to know that he felt the same way I did. Scared.
But he did a much better job at hiding it. “The sooner we do this,
the better. You’ll get your memories back, and then return here to
get her ready.”

“Ready for what?” I asked, scratching my
head.

“Temporal guard, like I said,” Ethan smiled,
running fingers through his dark blond hair.

“Yeah, I heard you, but what is that?” I
needed details, desperately, I needed explanations.

“A history lesson?” Ethan grimaced, as if
history was his worst nightmare.

“Depends,” Zack chuckled. “In her case, it’s
a future lesson.” All three of us chuckled.

“Okay. The time ended in year 2222 as a
result of time travels gone wrong. Those born before 2222 and after
the time travel invention, formed a group that tried to change the
course of events that led to our extinction,” Ethan looked at both
of us for confirmation we were following the story. We nodded.
“Each time we changed something in history, the extinction came
sooner, with the last ending in 2156.”

“Damn,” I said, counting Zack’s maximum age.
2156 minus 2091 equals 65.
Knowing your end date must be
hard to live with.

Ethan flashed a faint smile, and continued,
“Soon afterwards, two factions had formed, one that wanted to
continue changing events until they found a way to stop it, and the
other that didn’t want more people to perish. We’re the second
faction, and call ourselves the temporal guards.”

“And what am I supposed to do as a temporal
guard?” I smirked, not believing a word he had said. Somehow, it
all felt surreal.

“We track down opposing members, and stop
them in their efforts. Zack will tell you the rest when he comes
back.” Ethan stood up, saluted, and vanished.

“Zack?” I muttered.

“Yes,” he said.

“Did I fall asleep?” I said, staring at the
distance.

“No,” he kissed my cheek. All of a sudden,
his eyes widened, and he pressed his lips hard.

“What is it?”

“Don’t panic,” he said clenching his jaw.

“I wasn’t gonna, but now that you’ve––” I
didn’t finish. Zack started flickering in and out. I screamed “NO!”
but all I could see was his terrified face vanishing from my view
with inaudible
I’m sorry
mouthed.

He was gone. I crashed down to the ground,
slamming my fists. The pain that gripped my chest was the strongest
I had ever experienced. It had the intensity to rip my ribcage
apart, and pierce my lungs. I didn’t want to fight it, I wanted it
to finish me off, I wanted to die. I curled on the ground, feeling
my limbs giving in, and my mind shutting down.

~*~

I pried my eyes opened, squinting and
blinking. I wasn’t on the ground anymore, that’s for sure.
Something much softer was under my head, and ground-hard under the
rest of my body. My vision gradually adjusted, opening a view of
the park in front of me. I stirred.

“Easy,” said a voice I couldn’t recognize,
tucking my hair back. My head was in that someone’s lap on the
bench. I tried to lift myself up, but the voice said “Stay put,”
and held me back with a strong hand. I gave in. I didn’t have a
reason to get up anyway. “He’ll be back in a minute,” the voice
said.

“Who?” I muttered.

“Zack.”

I jumped up, violently, collapsing back down.
The park spun, but I managed to recognize Ethan’s face.

“I told you to stay put,” he smirked,
steadying me back into his lap.

“Where is he?” I breathed, still dizzy.

“He had to go and hit something,” Ethan
chuckled, patting my back. “Your almost-dead body in his arms
didn’t quite make him wanna hug the world, you know.”

I tried to smile, but then I heard footsteps.
Not to make the same mistake again, I straightened myself up
slowly. Zack’s face lit up, and he rushed into my embrace almost
spilling a glass of smudgy water. His firm grip pushed the little
breath I had left in my lungs, but I didn’t care. He was here.

“I was gone only for a moment, and you die on
me,” he smiled, taking a better look at my face.

“I thought I lost you,” neglecting Ethan’s
presence, I kissed him with all that I had.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Ethan huffed, and turned
his head away.

We stopped kissing, and I said, “I don’t want
you to go back. What if something goes wrong, and I lose you
forever?”

Zack chuckled, “I went home, and came back,”
he smoothed his thumb over my lower lip. “Sorry. I’m still rusty,
so I didn’t pinpoint my return to the exact moment I had left.”

I narrowed my eyes into tiniest slits, “You
did what?!”

“Yeah,” Ethan interjected. “We went home, had
a little chat, and came back.”