Don't Walk Away
Chapter
Fourteen
(Four Days Later - That's right, Day 12)
Chloe adjusted the fresh bouquet of flowers on Brady's nightstand, and smiled at
his still motionless form. She held his hand in hers and kept her smile
plastered on.
She had been smiling a lot more in the past few days than she had before. The
smiles came naturally, and stayed longer. Mimi had been the one to notice the
day before, commenting that Chloe seemed happier, more hopeful and almost had a
spring in her step.
Mimi had definitely been right in her assessment. Chloe had done exactly as
Brady had advised her to. She had let go of the blackness in her heart and found
hope. It was inevitable that the dark thoughts would still sometimes seep in,
trying to grab a hold of her and mire her down again.
But, Chloe did not let it happen. She was determined to push them away, but not
to let them well up inside her again. When she felt sad or angry, she talked
about it, got it out of the way and moved on. Ever since the day that she had
finally been able to cry, she had almost done a complete turn around in her
attitude.
Belle liked to jokingly refer to it as the 'Great Salem Flood of 2002', and
Chloe had to agree. Once she had begun, everything kept flowing out of her and
did not stop until she felt free again. And it was only after she had recovered
from her mini-breakdown that she developed her new, improved, more optimistic
approach to life.
Chloe laid her arm on the railing and rested her chin on top of her arm. She
looked at Brady curiously, memories of the last dream he had appeared in still
floating through her head.
She muttered under her breath, "You never did tell me the second thing,
Brady. What was the second thing I've lost?"
Chloe laughed quietly to herself. So many times in the days that had past, she
had talked to Brady's comatose body and somehow expected him to answer. But, she
knew that he wasn't just going to snap his eyes open, sit straight up and give
her the answers she was looking for. No, no, Brady Black was far too difficult
to make things easy on her.
"But, that's why I love you. You've always been a challenge to me."
She sighed softly and shut her eyes for a moment. The room around her was quiet
and still. There would be no other visitors for at least a half hour, as
everyone else had left to have a decent non-cafeteria meal at the Brady Pub. The
one thing that had not been fixed was Chloe's ability to sleep well. She slept
only in short intervals, and did it wherever she could.
Somehow the silence was comforting, and it enveloped her like a warm blanket.
Chloe gave in and let the feeling of contentment lull her to sleep. She muttered
to herself as she felt sleep take her over. "Just a quick nap... That's
all."
***
She did not find herself in a hospital room this time, nor was she standing on
the beach from her last dream. Chloe had somehow dreamed herself into a place
comforting and familiar to her. She was standing right in the middle of the
gazebo in the park. The same one that she had sang with Brady at last summer.
Chloe looked down at her clothing and smiled. After days of wearing her most
casual clothes, while slumming around the hospital, Chloe was quite pleased to
be wearing something a little more dressed up. She was, in fact, wearing the
same dress that she had worn the night that she had been here with Brady. Even
her hair was styled in exactly the same way it had been that night.
She heard footsteps behind her and turned to take a look. Brady was standing at
the entrance; also wearing the white shirt and black pants he had worn that
night. Every detail of that night was etched in her brain for all time, and all
of it had been recreated in her dream.
Brady grinned at her and walked closer. "Hey there, Diva. How have you
been?"
Chloe smiled happily and replied. "Don't you already know that?"
"I do. I was just being polite enough to ask. You're doing a lot better. I
see an amazing improvement since our last visit."
"Well, it's all because of you."
Brady shook his head and gently took her hands in his. "No, it's because of
you. I may have guided a little, given you some ideas. But, my words mean
nothing if you don't listen to them."
Chloe nodded slightly and kept smiling. "I listened, and you were right. I
feel so much better... I feel like any moment you're going to open your eyes and
everything is going to be okay--"
"But..."
"But nothing. There is no but."
Brady raised his eyebrows doubtfully. "Yes, there is. You're still not sure
about something, Chloe. What is it?"
Chloe averted her eyes and sighed softly. "Geez, Brady... you never let up.
You never let me get away with anything, do you?"
"No chance, no how, Diva. Now spill it."
"It's about the last we talked. You said there were two things that I lost.
One of them was hope. But, you never told me what the other one was."
Brady nodded in understanding and then kissed her forehead. "That's because
you already know."
Chloe rolled her eyes in frustration. "Nooooo. If I already knew, then I
wouldn't be asking you. Now would I?"
"You do know what it is. You just have to think a little bit harder about
what you've lost. Something you can get back very easily."
"Think harder, huh? Brady, if I think any harder about it my brain will
blow out the back of my head."
Brady wrinkled his nose up in disgust and laughed. "That's really really...
gross."
Chloe chuckled softly and nodded. "I know, but you get my point. I've been
wracking my brain trying to figure out what piece of the puzzle I'm missing...
and I just can't."
"That's very surprising considering how important it is. Important to the
both of us. It's something you've always had, and something you've always
needed. Something you can't live without."
"Something I can't live without? Well, that's almost an actual clue.
Thanks."
Brady shrugged innocently and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You'll
figure it out, I know you will. It will just come to you, like a light bulb
going off."
Chloe nodded and grinned at him. "And when it does, I'll want to kick
myself for not figuring out sooner. Am I right?"
"Oh, most definitely. Then, you'll wonder why it wasn't the very first
thing that you thought of."
"Well, that's good. I like feeling stupid sometimes."
Brady shook his head. "You're not stupid. You just have your focus on other
things."
Chloe sighed and moved her face closer to his. "Well... There are a lot of
things to focus on right now."
"Mmm-hmmm..." Brady winked at her and pressed his lip against hers.
Chloe held on to him tightly and kissed him with all the love she had in her
heart.
She broke away from him with a smile. "Please don't say that you have to
leave now."
"I wish I didn't, but I have no other choice."
"But, these dreams just keep getting shorter and shorter."
Brady nodded in understanding and gave her another quick kiss. "I know, but
it's for a good reason. Now, you have to go... People are coming."
Chloe nodded in understanding and let him slip away from her. She watched him
walk away until she could no longer see him. When he was gone, she walked in a
circle around the gazebo, wondering why she hadn't woken up yet. She slowly ran
her hand around the railing, and realized that there had to be some sort of clue
here that she was missing. This dream had taken place in the gazebo for a
reason, and she swore to herself that she would figure it out.
***
Chloe was suddenly jolted out of her dream by a hand on her shoulder. She jumped
slightly and lifted her head to look. Belle had tapped her on the shoulder to
wake her, and was standing behind her smiling. John, Marlena and Shawn were
standing in the doorway watching them.
Belle took a step back and spoke. "Hey... Sorry if I scared you. You just
look kind of uncomfortable with all propped up on the railing like that."
Chloe brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and shrugged. "Uhm, no, I'm
fine. How was lunch?"
Shawn stepped forward, holding a brown paper bag in front of him. "Lunch
was great. And, my grandma insisted that I bring you some good non-hospital
food, made with a lot of Brady family love."
Chloe smiled and took the bag in her hands. "Thank you. Please tell her I
said thanks."
Marlena and John stepped further inside and moved around to the other side of
Brady's bed. John looked down at his sun and then looked over at the three
teens. "I'm getting worried. With all of his other injuries healing so
well, they're going to want to take him out of the hospital and put him in a
nursing home. I really don't want to have to do that to my son."
Chloe paused for a second, and an idea popped into her head. An idea to help her
figure out what she was missing, to help her find the final piece to put the
puzzle together. Something that might very well bring Brady back to them. Chloe
stood and looked around at all of them.
"You're all going to be here for the next hour, right? All four of
you?"
They all began to nod and Marlena looked at her questioningly. "Of course,
Chloe. What's going on?"
She smiled proudly at Marlena. "I may just have an idea. I'm going to go
take my lunch up to Craig's office and make a couple of phone calls. I'll be
back in a little bit."
Belle nodded, but looked at her in confusion. "Okay, Chloe... Whatever you
say."
Chloe grinned happily and nearly ran out the door. She was beginning to realize
just exactly what she had lost, and how to get it back. Granted, she wasn't
completely sure, but she had a feeling what she was about to do would confirm
exactly what she was thinking.