Free Fabulous Five 011 - Hit and Run by Betsy Haynes

his eyes were closed, and he looked as peacefully asleep as
ever. The commotion that had begun in the hall soon died away as the little
group gathered beside his bed, and all Jana could hear over the hum of the
monitors was the sound of anxious breathing.
    Before her eyes could adjust, Dr. Garza rushed in and
hurried to Randy's side. After the nurse had filled him in on what had
happened, he said, "Please stand back for a moment, everyone. I'd like to
examine the patient."
    Obediently, all of them except the nurse moved away from the
bed to allow the doctor plenty of room. Jana held her breath. Randy had heard her. She was positive. "His eyes fluttered," she whispered. "I
know he'll wake up."
    When Dr. Garza had finished his examination he motioned them
back to the bedside. "Now, miss, will you tell me exactly what happened
when you thought he heard you?"
    "He did hear me," Jana insisted.
    The doctor nodded patiently and said, "Please go on."
    Jana hesitated. Do I have to tell him the whole story? she
wondered. All the stuff about Sleeping Handsome and the kiss? "Well,"
she began slowly, "I read somewhere that people in comas can sometimes
hear what people say to them so I just came in and started talking."
    "What did you say to him?" asked Dr. Garza. "You
don't have to tell me the exact words—just what kinds of things you talked
about."
    Jana drew in a deep breath. "I told him how sorry I was
about the accident and that I shouldn't have gotten mad at him and run into the
street in front of a car. I also said I wanted him to wake up so that things
could be the way they were before."
    Dr. Garza nodded slowly, as if he was thinking it over
carefully. "And were you sitting in the chair when his eyes fluttered? Or
standing by the bed? And were you speaking? If you can be very specific about
that moment, I'd appreciate it."
    Oh, no, she thought. This was what she had dreaded. All four
adults were staring at her now, waiting for her answer.
    "Well . . ." she began. "Actually what
happened was . . . I kissed him on the cheek and said, 'Wake up, Sleeping
Handsome.'" Jana dropped her eyes as she felt color seeping into her face.
They would think she was crazy, or at the very least, boy crazy.
    "Oh, Jana. That's lovely," said Mrs. Kirwan, and
when Jana looked at her, she could see that Randy's mother was misty-eyed.
    Dr. Garza cleared his throat and took charge again. "It's
very possible that he did hear you and responded to you emotionally," he
said, looking straight at Jana. "I'd say it's a very good sign, and I'd
like to recommend that you visit Randy as often as you like, with Mr. and Mrs.
Kirwan's approval, of course."
    Jana stared at Dr. Garza, only vaguely aware that Randy's
parents were insisting that she spend all the time at their son's bedside that she
could and that Dr. Garza was cautioning all of them to remember that although
this was a good sign, they shouldn't get their hopes up too high. She knew all
that was going on around her, but her thoughts were on Randy and the moment his
eyes had almost opened. She had done something. She had actually done something
that might help him wake up, and she wanted to jump up and down and shout with
joy.
     
    For the next few days Jana divided her time between school
during the day and the hospital in the evening. At school, she was the center
of attention as everyone wanted to ask her how she felt and if she had news of
Randy. Even Laura McCall stopped her in the hall between classes on Monday
morning.
    "I'm really sorry about the accident," Laura said.
Her eyes were downcast and she spoke barely above a whisper. "Funny said
that you were upset about Randy's spending so much time with me, and that's why
you ran into the street. I never meant for anything so awful to happen. I was
just asking him to do me a favor. Honest. That's all it was."
    Jana looked at Laura thoughtfully. She had never seen Laura
look so genuinely sorry. "I guess I just misunderstood," said Jana,
knowing that