Reality of Life (Perception Book 2)

by Shandi Boyes

  “How are you feeling, how do your muscles feel? Any cramps, pain etc?” Dr Miller questions.

  I shake my head, causing Emily to narrows her eyes at me. I hate hospitals with a passion and would have lied through my teeth to get the fuck out of this place as soon as possible.

  “My leg is pretty sore” I reply causing Emily’s eye to return to their normal state.

  “That will be expected, you have been lying in that hospital bed for three months. It is going to take a lot of rehabilitation and physiotherapy to get your body back to its original condition, but I have no doubt you will make a full recovery” replies Dr Miller.

  I stare into Dr Miller’s hazel eyes, I am dazed and confused. She did just say I have been lying in a hospital bed for three months, didn’t she? But I just completed three months of rehabilitation with her, didn’t I?

  “Sorry, but who exactly are you?” I question her confused. I am having trouble trying to work out what is and isn’t reality.

  “I am Dr Miller; I am a specialist your record label brought in to assist you with your comatose state” she advises smiling.

  “So you’re not a therapist for people with anger and alcohol issues?’ I question, still confused. I watch as she smiles before she gently shakes her head.

  “No, I am not that type of therapist” she advises as she moves closer to my bedside.

  That is when I notice Jacob standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. He wouldn’t be fucking with me… would he?

  “Noah, when patients are in a coma studies have proven that the cochlear nerve is last thing to be affected by their comatose state. That means while you have been in coma certain things or events you may have heard may have caused your brain to react to them. You may believe your thoughts were real, but it most likely a result of your subconscious activity” she advises softly.

  So everything that I had just been through believing I had lost Emily for the past three months was all a part of my subconscious? It couldn’t have been, it felt so real and it hurt so fucking much. Emily, Jacob and Dr Miller’s eyes all stare at my intently.

  “Do you want to tell us what you believe had happened?” asks Dr Miller.

  “No” I reply quickly. They are not memories I wish to rehash on, they felt like the worst months of my life. I quickly lean over to pull Emily back towards me. She is here with me now and that is all that fucking matters.

  “I will tell you one day, just not today” I whisper gently into Emily’s ear as she cradles into my chest. She nods her head gently acknowledging that she had heard me, as I close my eyes to relish the feeling of her being so close to me.

  To say the next month was a fun time would be a fucking understatement. I had gruelling physiotherapy sessions with Dr Miller twice every day. Dr Kirkpatrick blatantly refused to let me sign myself out of hospital against doctors wishes, and Jacob threatened to hold me down in the bed to force me to stay if he needed to. He glared at me confused when I said I was sick of him using his size against me.

  It is hard trying to adjust back into the reality of life, but once they start explaining things that had happened during my coma, I soon realise that it was my subconscious playing tricks on me while I laid in an unconscious state.

  The fact that Ryan was the one that dragged Emily away from me at the accident scene made me believe that she was dead. As he was the one that had told me about my brother Chris dying. My brother’s funerals played havoc with my memories, making me believe it was Emily in the white coffin at the church they were buried at. The concert series didn’t even happen, but I am sure we would have fucking kicked ass if it did. I have no doubt our band will be awesome when we eventually play in a live concert in a huge stadium.

  I was surprised as hell when Emily told me my dad had visited me several times over the past two months. She said he would never talk, he would just sit and hold my hand while watching over me cautiously. I haven’t had a chance to see him since I have woken up, I want to, but I also don’t know how to handle seeing him again right now. Jacob contacted him to tell him I was awake, but asked him not to visit until I made contact with him first. I fucking love my dad, I really do, I just don’t know what to do in this type of situation. I ended up calling him a week after I had awoken, he sounded relieved to hear my voice but said he understood my request for him to stay away. I think my dad thinks he is just as much of a jinx to the people around him, as I believe I am.

  But do you know why the past month was the best month of my life? Because I got to see our baby happily kicking away inside Emily’s belly. Dr Kirkpatrick had organised for Emily to have an ultrasound at the hospital clinic so that I could be wheeled down to attend. They had the coolest 3D ultrasound machine, so we could see the baby’s ten little fingers and ten little toes in full detail. The baby also looks like it might have Emily’s little turned up nose. When they asked if we wanted to find out the sex, Emily’s gaze turned towards mine seeking permission. I gently shook my head; I wanted it to be a surprise. I thought Emily would have been upset as she seemed so excited when the ultrasound technician had asked her, but she smiled brightly when she refused his request.

  Emily never left my side the entire month that I was doing rehabilitation, I used her as my motivation. I would make her stand at the end of the walking bars to give me the incentive to get to the other end. Her face breaking into her beautiful dazzling smile every time I took a step towards her. Her belly has grown in the past month, she can still get away with looking like she isn’t pregnant if she wears a loose shirt, but if its fitted she isn’t able to hide her little bump. She is still as fucking beautiful as she has always been, I have had to try and convince her a few times the past month to get a little sneaky with me. I love that she is still shy, but all her defensiveness instantly melts away when I kiss her.

  Cormack has also visited me several times, our album had continued to stay in the number spot for over twenty weeks. The longest number one album Destiny Records has ever produced. It meant the debt the band had with Isaac was able to be repaid in full. I was just as surprised as Nick was that Isaac was able to afford to borrow the band so much money. I know his dance club ‘The Dungeon’ is very popular, but I don’t think it would leave you millions of dollars in the bank to borrow to someone on a whim. But I will be forever grateful to him that he was able to ease the pressure that was placed on Emily when she found out I was being sued.

  The acoustic version of ‘Surrender Me’ has raised over two million dollars for brain injury research. I am incredibly grateful that my accident didn’t sustain me any permanent damage. I have requested that Cormack use part of the profits from our current album to go to the Taxi driver’s family. I know what it feels like to lose someone you love and I want to try and help lessen their grief.

  I haven’t seen or heard anything in regards to Delilah since I have awoken. To be honest I don’t really care what the fuck is going on with her, as long as they keep her away from Emily. Jacob had told me about Emily’s run in with Delilah and I was furious, but he informed me that he had taken care of it. I know I can trust Jacob; he protects the people he cares about just as fiercely as I do, and for that I will be forever in his debt.

  So here I am, four months after my accident and I have finally been given permission to go home. I am not walking out as the same Noah I use to be, my leg was pretty badly broken that I have a slight limp, which Dr Miller guarantees will vanish over time. I also have a deep scar running down one side of my forehead, but every time Emily looks at me I can see the sparkle of lust behind her eyes and that’s all that fucking matters.

  So with Emily cradled under the nook of my arm, my hand gently hovering over her stomach, we both happily commence walking out of the hospital. Just as we are about to exit the large double glass doors I spot Cormack standing to the side.

  “You guys ready?” he questions while smiling.

  “As ready as we will ever be” I reply smiling, before Emily and I walk o
ut the glass doors and get blinded by several flashes of paparazzi lights.

  Chapter 35

  Emily

  “How much?” Noah questions as his eyes pop open wide in shock.

  “Forty-eight million dollars” Cormack replies, while his smile beams brightly.

  I almost feel like I need to faint that I quickly take a seat at the dining table. Cormack had just been advising the band how incredibly well their album has been selling. Nick had eventually piped up and asked Cormack what endorsements would the band see from all those sales. I knew the album had stayed in the number one spot for months, but I didn’t know what that had meant money wise. But now we just found out, in six months the band had earnt themselves forty-eight million dollars.

  I peer over at Noah and see that his mouth has been left open wide in shock. It was only when Nick and Slater start screaming in jubilation, while jumping around Jacob’s dining room that Noah eventually smiles his panty dropping grin directly at me. I don’t think any of the guys had expected this type of response from the public for their first album.

  “Can you believe it?” Noah whispers excitedly, before gently placing his hands each side of my belly to lean down and kiss my rapidly growing bump.

  “I knew you could do it” I reply as I pull his handsome face towards mine to give him a long and tantalising kiss.

  “You fucking did” Jacob declares loudly while slapping Noah on the shoulder, causing him to smile against my lips.

  “We did it Jake, we fucking did it” Noah replies while turning around and grabbing Jacob in a hard man hug. Jacob’s face morphs into shock, before he eventually grabs Noah into one of his man hugs and starts spinning Noah around the room like he normally does to me.

  “Put me the fuck down Jacob” Noah pleads, only making Jacob spin more as he chuckles louder.

  It was after the meeting Noah told me to stop searching for a house as he knew exactly the house he wanted to purchase. After we had left the hospital we went straight back to Jacob’s house. Jacob is our family and he welcomed us with open arms, but we knew eventually we had to find a home of our own, so we would have a place to raise our baby together. Noah and I had talked a lot about the band the past two weeks. I thought he would be itching to get back to the industry he loves so much, but he has stated that he wants to wait until the baby is born. I think that is a good idea as he also needs time to recover fully from his injuries. Cormack was fine with him taking all the time he needed, and now I understand why. Destiny Records would be making a killing out of ‘Rise Up’

  After Noah had awoken from his coma, I was afraid that I wasn’t going to be attractive to him, since I look like I have swallowed a rock melon, but it only took a few days for me to realise that Noah seemed to be even more attracted to me, baby belly and all. Noah has always been an attentive and affectionate lover, but he is even more since he has awoken from his coma. I no longer needed to be worried about the nurses catching me sleeping next to Noah, it was more what Noah was trying to get us to sneakily do in that bed that had me worried.

  I don’t know if I will be able to ever look Dr Miller in the eyes again after she walked in on Noah and I after a physio session. She was polite and quickly diverted her eyes, but I could see the red hue of her cheeks as she darted back out of the physio room. She obviously told Jacob about our little slip up, as he was happy to give Noah and I a good ribbing about it during his next weekend visits.

  Noah had been worried that his slight limp would ruin his appeal, but you can hardly notice it anymore, his sexy swagger is back in full force. The scar on his forehead gives him a great starting point in conversations. For someone who generally doesn’t like to talk, he seems to enjoy making up stories to tell strangers about how he got the large gash down his forehead when they question him. I can’t believe some of the stories he makes up, and they all seem to believe him too. It’s only once he starts cracking up laughing at the end of the story do they realise that they had just been gibed.

  Approximately four weeks after the meeting, Noah asked me to go for a drive with him in his truck. He has to help me to climb up into the cab, as my belly has grown substantially the last few weeks. I tried to pry out of Noah where we were going, but he would only smile towards me, never saying a word. It is only when Noah’s truck pulls into a familiar looking driveway, that I realise where he is taking me.

  “You hired the cabin again?” I question excitably. I had fallen in love with this cabin the first time we had come here, but I didn’t get to enjoy it fully with everything that was going on with Nick and Jenni.

  Noah doesn’t say anything as he slowly parks the truck into the driveway, before running around to help me step down from his truck.

  “Careful” he whispers as I take the last step. He is always so gentle, as he is worried that he may hurt the baby in some way; he is such a worry wart.

  We walk hand in hand towards the entrance of the cabin, but Noah stops the instant we reach the front door.

  “I have to do this right” he declares while he cocks his eyebrow into his hairline.

  He then gently lifts me from the ground and cradles me in his arms before he walks us through the cabins front door.

  “Welcome home beautiful” he whispers as we enter the foyer of the cabin. My eyes quickly dart to look at his. I notice a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, as he smiles his panty dropping grin.

  “You brought the cabin?” I scream excitedly as he gently lowers me back down onto my feet.

  My gaze darts around at the beautiful wooden entrance, then I spot my favourite framed photo of Noah and I sitting on the top of a cast iron side table. I quickly turn my gaze back to Noah.

  “Really?” I ask him. My heart racing with excitement, as he nods his head while smiling towards me.

  “Oh my god” I squeal in excitement as I throw myself into his arms, covering his face with tiny little kisses while telling him “I love you, I love you, I love you” with every kiss that I place on his handsome face.

  “So you’re not angry?” he questions.

  Why would I be angry, I love this cabin! Its private too, so those annoying paparazzi will be less likely to get a picture of us here. When we left the hospital Cormack had organised a press conference at the front of the hospital. There were thousands of fans in attendance excited to finally see Noah walk out of the hospital. It was at that press conference Noah announced that we are engaged and that we are expecting our first child at the end of June. Ever since then I have noticed the noise of a camera clicking, or a rustle in the bushes while doing something as simple as hanging the clothes on the line.

  Noah and Cormack eventually had to hire a bodyguard to stay with us as they had become concerned about my safety. I personally wasn’t worried. Anyone that attempted to break into Jacob’s house would have had to be a lunatic. Getting through Jacob would be hard enough, but then they would have to try and get through Noah, and he protects what is his fiercely. I knew no one would ever be able to harm me or our baby.

  “No I am not angry” I reply as I lower my mouth down to give him a scorching hot kiss, causing Noah to let out a deep throaty moan.

  “Time to christen the master suite” Noah chuckles against my lips.

  “We already have” I reply cheekily. Noah and I made sure it was christened thoroughly the last time we had visited the cabin.

  “Well we will just have to do to it again” he advises seductively, as he sweeps me off my feet and starts walking up the wooden staircase.

  Chapter 36

  Noah

  “Did you hear Dr Morgan kept saying ‘he’ during the scan” Emily states while chuckling.

  I quickly turn my gaze from the road to look towards her sitting in the passenger seat of my truck. She is so beautiful; she looks exactly the same as she normally did when she wasn’t pregnant, except it looks like she shoved a basketball down the front of her shirt.

  “That doesn’t mean anything” I reply and I notice she brigh
tly smiles, before I turn my gaze back to the road.

  “Yes it does. He didn’t just say it once, he said it three times. I was counting” she informs me; I can hear her smile radiating through her voice.

  “He was calling the baby a ‘he’ so he wouldn’t have to call it an ‘it’” I reply to Emily.

  “In just a few weeks, you will be proved wrong Noah” Emily replies while giggling. Fuck I love her giggle.

  “Uh huh, we will see who is wrong” I reply as I pull my truck into the driveway of the cabin we now call home.

  Emily and I had just gone for an ultrasound with her obstetrician Dr Morgan. A few weeks after I was discharged from hospital, I noticed Emily was googling for a local obstetrician. Her face looked marred with concern as she scrolled through obstetricians surrounding our home town of Ravenshoe. I asked her why she wouldn’t just use the doctor Jacob had found, but the instant I asked her, her face went as white as a ghost.