Free Momentum by Imogen Rose

done.
    “I have permission to take you to your mom. Ready to go?”

 

     
     
    R eady? I was more than ready. I stood up and grabbed David’s outstretched hand. He pulled me in for a hug. I put my arms around him and felt a push, just like the last time I had wandered with him, followed by a feeling of warmth and… happiness, which was weird because I was far from happy .
    “We’re here. You can open your eyes,” he said moments later.
    I did and let go of him to turn around to figure out where we were. It was a kitchen, much like the one we’d just been in.
    “Hello, kids.”
    “Hi, Morena,” I said, anticipating a hug.
    “Morgana,” she said.
    “What?”
    “I’m not Morena. I’m her sister, Morgana.”
    “You look identical,” I said, amazed.
    “We do, sort of. We’re identical twins,” she explained. “David, how are you doing? Inez filled me in with what’s happened. We’ll find your dad, don’t worry.”
    He nodded, but didn’t look very convinced.
    “I’ll drive you over to the hospital if you’re ready,” she offered.
    “Yes, please. Do you have any other news about my mother?”
    “No. The hospital is just a short drive away. Let’s go.”
    Once again, we drove in silence, everyone immersed in their own thoughts. Mine were a mess of everything and nothing. I had been lucky to make the drive to the hospital only a few times previously. A couple of those had been to deal with cheer injuries and a few to visit Harry–who had sustained several injuries playing hockey–and my friends.   I had never visited my mom or dad in the hospital before. Mom, in fact, never got sick, not even a cold. She said it was because she drank green tea everyday. I had tried some of that stuff; it was nasty. The green tea hadn’t helped her this time. I figured it couldn’t provide her with protection during a car crash. What about the airbags? Maybe that was what had knocked her out and put her into a coma.
    Morgana dropped us off at the emergency bay where Gramadea was waiting.
    “Hi, Arizona. Are you okay?”
    “I’m worried. Can we go up and see Mom? Where’s Dad?”
    “Sure. Rupert is up there with her. He hasn’t left her bedside.”
    I nodded. He wouldn’t. David and I followed her down the hallway and into a suite. I expected a dark room with my mom lying in bed with a bunch of tubes stuck in her, with Rupert by her side. Instead, I walked into a brightly lit room full of chatter, which stopped dead as I entered. Everyone turned to look at me and moved away from the bed so that I could see Mom. As expected, she was lying down, heavily bandaged, with tubes sticking into her. I walked over, nearly not noticing Dad whose head was lying in the palm of her hand. He looked up.
    “Arizona!” He got up and enveloped me in his arms. “Did Raj hurt you?”
    I tightened my arms around him. “Dad, I’m fine. What happened to Mom?”
    “Car crash, a hit and run, the other car or truck drove off leaving Mom’s car turned upside-down on the highway.”
    “Is she going to be okay?”
    “Her vitals are stable, but we’ll have to see when she comes out of the coma.”
    “How long?”
    “We don’t know. It’s a medically-induced coma, so the doctors will bring her out of it when she’s ready.”
    “Induced?”
    “Yes, the doctors put her into this state to give her time to heal.”
    “And they can just bring her out of it?”
    “Yes.” Dad turned back around to look at Mom, his eyes welling up.
    I picked up his guitar, which was leaning against her metal bed. “She can hear, right?”
    “Maybe,” Dad whispered, as I perched myself on the bed next to her and strummed a few chords. Dad began humming along while stroking Mom’s forehead. We sat like that for ages, with everyone else in the room quiet. Mom didn’t stir. Not even a twitch.
    I looked around for Harry and Ella. They weren’t among the other familiar faces–Gramadea, David, Grandma, Dr. Fox, Kellan, Ali, Maria, Morgana,