Page 20 of Sparking Sara

I look down at them. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.”

She holds her hand out. “How about I put them on our desk where she’ll be able to see them through the glass window when she wakes up?”

If she wakes up, I think.

“Okay. Thank you. How’s she doing today?”

“Dr. Miller is just finishing up with her. Go on in.”

“Good morning,” I say to the doctor as I put on the jacket I remembered to bring with me today.

“Good call,” he says, nodding to my coat. “We’re still having trouble keeping her temperature down. But the good news is her ICP has stabilized, so we’re weaning her off the sedation meds.”

“Really? Does that mean she’ll be okay?”

“We still don’t know. We’ll take her in for an MRI later today. And as long as her ICP stays down, we’ll remove the monitor from her skull after another twenty-four hours. She still needs the ventilator, but I’m hoping that as the sedation meds wear off, she’ll start to breathe over the vent.”

I look down at Sara, still lifeless and alone, and I sigh.

“I’m sorry,” Dr. Miller says. “I wish I had more news, but it’s always wait-and-see with this type of injury.”

I nod.

“One thing you can do is talk to her. As the meds wear off, the hope is she will become cognizant. If she does wake up, she’ll be scared. It helps to talk to her. Maybe remind her about things she likes.”

“I don’t know what she likes. I’m just a firefighter who was at the scene,” I remind him.

“Right. Well, if her cousin or boyfriend show up, maybe they could talk to her about her life. It could help.”

“Thank you.”

He looks from Sara to me. “Pardon my bluntness, but why are you here if you don’t know her?”

I wave my arm in a motion around the empty room. “Because no one else is. I’d hate to think of her lying here alone.”

He studies me. “Okay. Well, I’ll check on her later.”

After the doctor leaves, I take my usual spot in the chair by her bed.

“Hi, Sara. It’s me, Denver. Remember me? I’ve been here for the past few days. You’re in the hospital and you’ve been in an accident. But you’re going to be okay. The doctor said you might even wake up soon. Which is good, because I almost forgot what your eyes look like.”

It’s a lie. I don’t think I’ll ever forget what those chocolate-brown eyes looked like as they held my gaze in the mirror.

“It would be nice to have a proper introduction. Oh, I met Davis today. He’s an interesting character. He told me a little about your paintings. What an awesome job you have, traveling around the world in order to recreate memories for people. If there was one thing I would want a painting of, it would be my parents. Of course you’d have to go to Vail or Breckenridge or Aspen to do your research. Because you would have to paint them on a snow-covered mountain.” Then I laugh. “And I’m sure I could never afford what you would charge, so it doesn’t really matter anyway.”

I look around the room, trying to think of what else to talk about when I see a new face in the doorway.

The woman walks in. “The nurse said it was okay to come in.”

“Yes. Please.”

She walks over and looks sadly at Sara, and then she looks back at me. “I’m Lydia. Sara and I are … uh, were, friends what seems like forever ago. Her cousin called me yesterday and told me what happened.”

“I’m Denver.”

“I know. The nurse outside told me everything. So you’re the one who saved her?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know about that. But I was in the car with her after the accident.”

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