Part 28 (1/2)

”It wasn't my geography that needed to change. It was me.”

”Huh?”

”Never mind.” Hope smiled. Maybe reality bled into her coma life, but she'd found just the opposite to be true too. ”Okay, it's now or never. You're waiting out here, right? In case I have to make a run for it?”

”You got it.”

Hope got out of the car, took a deep breath and stood in front of Heaven Sent Flower and Gift Shop. The last time she'd seen that sign it was on the side of the truck and only read HEAVE, which was exactly what she did.

The building number was 352. No surprise there. Large snowflakes began to fall lightly across her face. For fun, she stuck her tongue out to catch a few.

But there was no time to waste. She opened the front door of the shop and little bells rang. Two elderly ladies greeted her in unison. Their sweaters matched and they looked like sisters.

She spotted him, his head down, at work on something important. When he looked up, his face lit exactly the way she thought it would.

”You're out!”

She wore a playful, mischievous grin. ”I know who you are.”

”The guy who sat by your bedside, bored you silly 'til you woke up?” He set his pencil down. The two ladies giggled and moved to the back of the shop.

Yeah, she had her flirt on.

Out of her bag she took a hand-drawn card, filled with every color imaginable, the whole rainbow and more.

Two caricatures were sketched on the front of the card. She watched his face and she knew he recognized himself and her. She really loved to see him smile.

It read: Do You Like Me? She flipped to the inside: Yes, No or Maybe So.

He looked up at her, his eyes awash with . . . delight?

Yeah, delight.

”Don't say no,” Hope said.

”Hope, I . . .”

”Don't say no.” Comatose, she realized, makes people bold.

He walked to the other side of the counter and stood very close. ”I'm not. I simply wanted to point out that on the inside, you're asking me to make a choice but you don't say what you think. How you feel. We need a rewrite.”

”I think . . . I'm um, my thoughts . . . they're telling me we need to believe again, believe it's worth the risk. Believe our pain has brought us to this place. Sappy, huh?”

”Just right. I'm glad you're here. I wanted to ask you a question. How does a girl in a coma send a guy greeting cards?”

”What do you mean?”