Zoë seemed to be the only person who was excited for Christmas that year. With Isaac in Korea and Zac still in a coma at the hospital, the holidays didn't seem to live up to their expectations. Zoë, being only six years old, didn't seem to understand what was going on and thus, wasn't affected by it. As it was if you asked her about her big brother Isaac, she'd look at you blankly for a minute and say "who?" until finally she remembered. She hadn't seen him since she was four and before then he was hardly ever around because of the tour. If you asked her about Zac she'd say that she missed him but that was the extent of it because he had been gone all the time and when he was gone she just sort of forgot about him. She had no idea he was in the hospital and the family wanted to keep it that way.
Madison stayed at the Hanson home all of this time, although she nearly never went to see Zac. Seeing him in the hospital bed like that seemed nearly impossible for her to bear so she usually stayed at home with Zoë while the rest of the family went off to see him. Today was different. While everyone was else was scurrying around putting up last-minute Christmas decorations, she snuck out of the house and drove down to the hospital to see him.
"Why, Madison Ashton, we haven't seen you around here lately," one of Zac's personal nurses said as she walked into the restricted part of the hospital. They'd sectioned off his room for security reasons and she was hoping they'd let her in without a pass, and sure enough, one of the nurses recognized her and let her right in.
"Yeah…it's kind of hard to see him like this," she said. "Is it okay that I see him now?"
"Yeah, go right ahead." Madison walked down the corridor to Zac's private room and let herself in. The familiar beeps of his machines and the sterility of the room made her cringe but she forced herself inside. She closed the door behind her and didn't go in any further. Slowly looking up, she took in his pale blue bed sheets and his white hospital gown with the blue polka dots that everybody wears and nobody likes.
She took a few steps, not going towards him but off to the drawer next to him where his belongings were kept. She'd put the ring she picked out for him in there but didn't actually look in there. Diana said that his uniform and everything was in there, and she had yet to check it out. Opening up the drawer, she pulled out the set of clothes and looked at them. His nametag was still on his over shirt. "Private Hanson," she read to herself. Shaking her head, she unfolded the shirt and looked at it. She couldn't picture Zac wearing it. It was so army and violent, Zac could never do something like that. She was sure she had a million stories to tell that he'd never tell her no matter how much she begged, and although a part of her wanted him to tell her all of it, she knew she'd never be able to bring herself to ask.
Along with his army green T-shirt (which was torn and ratted from the explosion) was his camouflage pants, socks, and army boots. She glanced back at the drawer and saw a silver set of dog tags lying against the wood. She picked them out, placing everything except for his T-shirt back in the drawer. They clinked together as she picked them up to look at them, and she cringed at the sound. Looking over them, she read his stats that were engraved onto the silver surface. She threw them into the drawer and closed it quickly. It was too much for her to handle.
Clutching the shirt to her face, she fell into her chair and began to cry. This was all that blasted Smith's fault. He only had a week left before he was gone from her life forever, but these past four years had been too much already. If things were good in the world he would have never been elected president. If things were good in the world there wouldn't be a Smith to begin with. Davis would have decided to run four years previous and this whole war would have been something the United States would have just watched from afar and say "sucks for them" with their snotty United States attitude while the people over there hoped for some support they would never get.
She bundled herself up into a little ball and allowed herself to cry for the first time since she heard that Zac was hurt. And Zac was lying, undisturbed, in his heavy coma next to her.
Taylor walked into Zac's hospital room later that day and found Madison asleep, her head on the edge of his bed, his army uniform T-shirt clutched tightly in her hands. She looked disturbed, obviously heavily into a nightmare, and by the way she was holding Zac's uniform, he believed it was about him. Clearing his throat, he attempted to wake her up, but it didn't work. Finally he walked over and pushed her a bit, and her head slipped off one of her arms onto the bed and she woke up.
"Taylor? What are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing. You looked like you were dreaming." She sat up and fixed her hair a bit.
"I don't remember." She glanced down at Zac's uniform. "Oh…um…" She quickly stuffed it back into the drawer. "What time is it?"
"It's almost four. How long have you been here?"
"Pretty much all day. So why are you here?"
"I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to my brother. Everyone was wondering where you went; the last place anyone would have expected you to be was here." Taylor looked at his brother a moment but looked back at Madison. "Why are you here?"
"I don't know." Taylor grabbed a chair from across the room and set it down next to Madison. They both looked at Zac. "Do you think he's uncomfortable? Being asleep there like that and having people constantly coming and watching him. I know I wouldn't like people staring at me while I was asleep."
"But if you were in a coma, wouldn't you want somebody to visit you and be with you when you wake up?"
"No. I wouldn't want anybody to be around to smell my breath after I just woke up after weeks."
"Well I know if I was in a coma I'd want people around me all the time. I wouldn't want to wake up in some weird place with nobody I know around." Madison shook her head. "So what do you want for Christmas?"
"What?" she asked, looking over at him.
"What do you want for Christmas? I know it's a little late to ask, but I would like to know." Madison looked down at the ground.
"I don't want anything for Christmas. It's not about me this year."
"But, Madison, it's always about you." She grinned. "Come on, there has to be something…a new sweater, some kind of music, something." She shook her head. "Well I got you something and I think you'll really like it."
"What is it?"
"You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see." Taylor grinned. "And, well, I really didn't get it for you, Zac told me to get it, but technically I bought it so technically I'm giving it to you."
"So really it's his present to me as well as yours." Taylor nodded. She looked at Zac. "Maybe I do want something for Christmas. Maybe I want him."
"We'll see." She stood up. "Where are you going?"
"Home. I don't think I can stay here any longer." She walked out of the room without a look back.
"Maddie!!" Zoë's excited six-year-old voice yelled at a peacefully sleeping Madison early the next morning. Madison jumped and one eye opened. Zoë was waiting by her bed, her hair in pretty pigtails, in her PJ's and holding her beloved teddy bear. Madison groaned and sat up.
"What do you want, Zo?" Madison asked. She started to take her hair out of the loose braid she'd put it in before she went to bed and smoothed it out.
"Mommy says we can't open presents until everyone is up and downstairs. You're not downstairs!" Despite the fact that it was inhumanly early in the morning and all Madison wanted to do was sleep, she couldn't help but smile at Zoë. She was just excited.
"Oh, all right. I'm coming." Madison got out of the bed and grabbed her robe out of the closet. She put it on and followed Zoë down the stairs. The family had already accumulated in the living room around the tree. Madison sat on one of the further away couches. She hadn't been completely into the Christmas spirit this year, and everybody knew it. She hadn't done much to hide it and as much as they tried to get her into it, none of them really were into it much this year either. So she just sat away from her pseudo-family and allowed them to enjoy their Christmas.
"Maddie, come and get your presents!" Zoë said, who was excitedly passing out presents to the various people in the room. Madison smiled and walked over, getting her share of presents from Zoë and bringing them back to her spot. As she watched the family, one by one, eagerly open their presents, Madison realized what a part of the family she had indeed become. She wasn't just an outsider any longer; she wasn't just Zac's girlfriend who he occasionally brought along and they had to deal with because she was the girlfriend and the family had to support the relationship no matter what. They actually had made her a part of the family.
"Your turn, Maddie!" Zoë yelled.
"Zoë, indoor voice," Diana immediately scolded. Zoë lowered her eyes and apologized. "Go ahead, Madison." Madison picked a present and carefully opened it.
"What, are you going to reuse the wrapping paper?" Taylor asked. Madison looked up at him and stuck her tongue out. "Who's it from?" She turned it over and looked at the tag.
"It's from Santa," she said, smiling. She turned it around again and pulled the package from the wrapping. She opened it and smiled. "Santa's got good taste." She pulled out a sweater, reminding her of what Taylor had mentioned to her the day before. What else did he mention? Music? She'd probably be getting music as well. She waited her turn again and indeed got a bunch of CD's she'd been waiting to get. What she couldn't believe, though, was how much of everything she got. Growing up she'd only gotten five presents for Christmas every year and she got a lot more than that this time around. Well, that's what she got for inheriting a family that had money.
But what confused her was that when she read all of the tags for her presents, she never got anything saying it was from Taylor or Zac. When the last present was open, she grew confused. She was about to open her mouth and ask about it when Taylor spoke first. "Wait, there's one more present. It's for Madison and it's in the other room." Madison's confusion only grew when Taylor pulled her off the couch and dragged her through the house to another room.
"Is this your big present that you and Zac are giving me?" Madison asked. Taylor nodded. He walked to a door and opened it, pushing Madison in first. As soon as she stepped inside she screamed and put her hands over her mouth. Taylor began to laugh behind her. She got over her initial shock and ran over to her brand-new white grand piano. She sat down at the bench and lifted the cover off, running her hands over the black and white keys. "I cannot believe this."
"Do you even know how to play the piano?" Taylor asked. She nodded. "Oh. I didn't know that."
"He knows I love to play. I never in my life would have thought that he'd actually get me one." Taylor cleared his throat. "That both of you would get me one. Wow." She closed the cover and, to her surprise, found her nickname centered on the piano in black calligraphy. "This is so beautiful, Taylor."
"He wrote me a letter explaining the whole thing sometime around his birthday. He actually wanted you to have it for your birthday but I couldn't get it done in time." She opened the cover again and began to tinker away oddly on the keys. "So you really can play?" She nodded. "Play something." She put her other hand on the keyboard and began to play the piano score to her song that Zac had written for her such a long time beforehand.
Diana came in the room and smiled. The piano, actually, had been there for a few weeks now and they wouldn't let Madison in the room just so it could be a surprise on Christmas. She never went to that side of the house anyway, but someone was always with her just in case she ever did. By the sound of her scream, she must have been surprised.
The phone rang across the room, interrupting Madison's song. She stopped playing and walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" she said.
"Merry Christmas!" Davis's voice said over the phone. Madison smiled.
"Merry Christmas to you too, Davis. How is your day going so far?"
"Just perfect, and yours?"
"The same. What's up?"
"Well, besides being polite and saying merry Christmas to the family, I was wondering if you all got your invitations to the inauguration." Madison took the phone back to her piano where Taylor was sitting. She sat next to him.
"Yes we did, we got them a few days ago," Madison said.
"Are you coming?"
"I don't know," Madison admitted. "None of us really want to leave Tulsa with Zac still in a coma. If he wakes up before then, then yes, definitely we'll be there, but probably not. I might come, but the rest of the family won't."
"I certainly hope he wakes up soon. I'd really appreciate it if everyone came."
"Yeah, well, I hope he wakes up soon too. I know how much he especially would like to be there." Her mood noticeably changed. She'd been so excited about her piano she'd nearly forgotten about her boyfriend still asleep at the hospital. "But I'll come. I know you need at least some support…"
"Well I'm glad to hear that."
"So am I." Madison lowered her head and sighed. "Hopefully I won't be alone."