A “Dead” End

Chapter 8

Mother and daughter were lost in their own thoughts, both of them grateful to be together again….their thoughts were rudely interrupted by the beeping of the monitor in Sarah’s room. Her heart rate and pulse were dropping and her brain waves were showing unusual activity…like her body was fighting with her brain. Hope was crying unashamedly, begging Sarah to hold on…to not give up. Abby was trying her best to prevent her body from going into shock and her heart from crashing but she needed help and there was no one there except for her and Hope, who was completely hysterical at this point. Abby begged her to snap out of it but when nothing else worked she slapped Hope to bring her back to her senses… Once Hope was calm enough to react, Abby asked her to concentrate and help her save Sarah. Abby prepared to use the defibrillator to shock Sarah’s heart into a regular rhythm. 

Though her heart stabilized a bit but the longer she stayed in coma, the lower her chances will be. Abby told Hope the complete truth so her daughter was prepared to say goodbye to her friend, if it comes to that. Hope was not ready to give up though, from her own experience, she knew that Sarah would be able to hear things that they were speaking around her. Sarah was different…. not like Hope, who had spent over 6 months in limbo because she was not able to overcome her guilt and pain over Anna’s death. Sarah was brave, a fighter and a survivor with a purpose. She wanted to come back as soon as her body healed enough to enable her return. 

She wanted to find the cruel monsters behind the organization that had snatched her from her mother as a baby. She had to fight for herself as well thousands of other children who were a prisoner of the organization that was using them for nefarious purposes. So she reminded Sarah of her purpose, the fight she had to take on and the importance of her staying alive. Abby wanted to take Hope away, try to ease her pain but then something amazing happened…..Sarah’s heart rate became normal and steady, her blood pressure started stabilizing. It seemed like getting reminded of her purpose was strengthening her will to live……….

Hope decided to keep reminding Sarah of her purpose every day…several times a day. If talking to her helps in improving her condition then she will talk till she runs out of words to say. Hope would have liked to spend every waking moment with Sarah but that was not possible….she had just been out of the hospital bed herself and all the inactivity, while she was in coma, was taking a toll on her body. She was required to spend time with Luke and Jeremy alternatively doing several sets of muscle strengthening exercises, stretches, yoga…etc to bring her strength back and ease the pain and stiffness caused due to her body being inactive for so long. Sarah might still be unconscious but it was very clear that she was getting better. Her vitals were improving daily and her body was healing quickly…it was like her whole being was aware of the importance of the tasks ahead of her to accomplish and was supporting her purpose in their own way by speeding up her recovery. 

Sarah was good for Hope’s physical, mental and emotional recovery. She has given Hope a purpose, a new direction. Hope was beginning to let go of her guilt and was focusing on regaining her full strength as she wanted to work with Sarah in her mission for Justice. She knew the road ahead would be tough so she was taking her exercise regimen really seriously and working diligently towards gaining full strength so she can start working on her training again. Hope was not into partying and shopping like other kids her age and spent most of her free time learning new things.

When Luke had first mentioned about training Hope in not just basic self defence but a more advanced level of mixed martial arts, Abby was strictly against it. She understood the importance of knowing how to defend herself but wanted her daughter to be more focused on intellectual studies and most importantly her life as a teenager. It was Susan who had convinced Abby… reminding her about the past events. Abby had changed her entire life, her identity…even her choice of career to escape her past and to keep Hope protected from the consequences of her mistakes. Abby might be seriously rich and famous but she kept away from the limelight. Susan and Luke were the face of her business and she had turned away from medicine completely and gone into research instead. Her first passion was medicine that is why she kept her skills updated and twice a year she would go to foreign countries, as part of Doctors Without Borders, to operate upon needy patients that could not afford proper medical care. 

Abby knew it was vital to ensure that her past does not ever catch up with her and Hope. She kept all of Hope’s “skills” and “accomplishments” under strict wrap. Hope trusted her mom completely and had never asked why she had to keep a huge part of herself hidden from others, she just accepted that Abby knew best but no matter how careful she was there was always a chance that they may have to face Abby’s ugly past in the future. Abby knew one day Hope may need to be told the truth and she wanted to make sure Hope was equipped to handle any situation that she may find herself in. It was for this reason only that she had finally agreed to let Luke and Jeremy train Hope. Now Hope was working hard to ensure she can resume her training back with full force as soon as possible so she can help not her new friend and countless others. 

She was still lost in her thoughts when she felt as if she was being watched. Startled she looked up to realize that it was Sarah…she was finally awake. She rushed over to check her vitals and reflexes. She took some blood to run a few tests and then buzzed Jeremy to prepare the imaging room. Sarah was trying to figure out what was happening around her….where was she…was she back in the compound, she started panicking immediately. She tried to move her hands only to realize that she had a sling restricting her right shoulder while her left hand was heavy because of the cast it was wrapped in. Her right leg ankle was covered in a plaster cast as well and raised up to keep it elevated. Her ribs seemed to be on fire, any time she tried to move and she could feel the pinching of various stitches and sutures due to her movement. She could not even move her head without feeling like someone was pounding on it with a huge hammer. She felt dizzy and in immense pain. She was still struggling to understand her circumstances when she heard a familiar voice, just before a known face came into her line of sight. It seems like Hope managed to save me after all, that was her last thought before darkness claimed her again………