Chapter 39

A whole two weeks have passed and Jeff hasn't woken up yet. There have been no signs of his condition getting better but it's not getting worse either. The weather has gotten colder now. Snow might come soon from the temperature. I hope Jeff wakes up, I want to spend time in the snow with him. I think it'll be great. That is if he ever wakes up around this time.

"So how have things been with that person," Travis asked me as we walked to my house. I sighed and said, "Not much progress. He's still in a coma. We're not sure if he'll live or die. He's not showing any signs." Travis nodded and looked down at his feet. I lifted up my scarf more so it covered my mouth and nose. Travis adjusted his beanie and scoffed, a puff of cold air released into the air near him. We made it to my house and I brought out my spare house keys. I unlocked the door and invited Travis in. We both felt the warmth of the house and the smell of coffee. My parents are definitely home today.

"Hey darling!" my mom exclaimed as she came out of the kitchen. I smiled and hugged her. She saw Travis and went up to him. "Welcome back hun," she said as she pinched his cheek playfully. He chuckled and took off his beanie. I slipped off my scarf and went to go find my dad. He came out from the back door, shaking from the cold. I waved to him and he smiled. "How you been baby girl?" he asked as he hugged me and kissed my forehead. I smile and say, "I've been good enough. How is everything here?"

"Things have been fine. Especially since now that you're here. You can help clean the house with us!" he said happily while I frowned. "Seriously dad," I grumbled and he just laughed and patted my head. "Why don't you help me clean upstairs, Ellie," my mom suggested, "maybe Travis can help your father with the yard."

"I'd be glad to help if that's okay with you sir," Travis said to my dad. My dad shrugged and gestured Travis to follow him outside. He gave me a quick smile before walking outside and closing the back door. "May god have mercy on that boy's soul," my mom muttered and motioned me upstairs. I'm not sure if she was joking around or if she actually meant it.

We walked upstairs and my mom told me to clean up her and my dad's room. I nodded and got to work sorting out clothes, papers and random objects. My mom cleaned the bathroom and mopped the floor in the hallway. Minutes went by and I had almost everything in my parents room sorted. I huffed and rested against their bed. I still needed to finish up their closet. I crawled over and started putting things aside.

I picked up three old shoe boxes in the corner of the closet and started walking out when I lost my grip and they all slipped out. All three boxes clattered to the ground and the contents sprawled out on the floor. I groaned and crouched down to pick up everything when I spotted something interesting. I shoved past other small papers and things to see an old photo. It was a picture of my dad, he looked a little younger though but I knew it was still him. But it wasn't just him in the picture. Some lady that I have never seen before was standing with him, hugging him and smiling widely like he just told a joke. She looked older, her face showing slight wrinkles yet she looked radiant.

I stared at the photo, wondering if I've seen that woman before or not. After a while I knew that I haven't. I heard my mom come in and say, "All right, I'm done mopping the hallway. I think I'll make some tea for us. What happened in here?" I looked up I her and said, "Stuff." She chuckled slightly and came over to help me with the fallen contents of the shoe boxes. As she was grabbing stray receipts I handed her the old photo and asked, "Do you know who that woman is with dad?"

My mom looked at it and said, "Ah yes. I definitely remember who she is. That's your father's mother."

My eyes widened. This was the grandmother that I've never met. The one who went missing. The one I'm trying to find. The former proxy.

"How come I've never seen her before?" I asked my mom. She said, "She left us before you were born. We never saw her again. We don't even know where she is." I looked down at the photo, staring at my grandmother's face. I grabbed the picture and said, "I'm gonna go ask dad about her." My mom nodded and said, "Okay. I'll finish up here then." She started cleaning up the mess that I made and organized what I was supposed to organize.

I went downstairs in a rush and went into the kitchen to walk out the back door. I walked out into the cold and called out my dad. He stopped raking fallen, brittle leaves and looked over at me. I saw Travis was doing the same but in a different area of the yard. "Hey daddy," I called, "can you come over here real quick? I need to talk to you about something." He nodded and told Travis to keep working while we were talking. I lead my father inside and he asked me, "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

I had a feeling that this was going to be a tough thing to talk about with him, but I need information. It's the only way I'll ever find my grandmother. "Do you know who this is?" I asked as I handed him the old photo. As he took a good look at it, the light in his eyes dulled and his features turned grim for a moment. "This....this is my mother," he answered, "I remember taking this picture with her. I completely forgot about this old photo though."

"I found it while cleaning out your room," I explained, "how come I've never seen her before?" I know why, she left my parents before I was born. I'm only asking because maybe there's a chance that my dad knows her reason to leave. If he doesn't know then maybe I'll just get different information. My father sighed and said, "Honestly, Elizabeth, I'm not sure myself. She just suddenly left. She never told us anything about where or when she was leaving. One day she was just...gone. I don't even know if she's still alive...." My dad got a saddened look in his eyes and I tried to change the mood. "Well...what about your father? Do you know him?" I asked.

He shrugged and said, "Nope. I've never met him. He left me and your grandmother. She raised me on her own without him around. I wish the bastard could've come around at some point but that was as impossible as pigs flying. So it was just me and her. Hell, she barely ever dated any other man. She never got married or had any boyfriend that I remember. All she cared about was me. No one else."

I gave my dad a soft look and mumbled, "I'm really sorry, daddy." He noticed the slight sadness in my voice and he picked up my head by the chin. "Hey, don't feel sorry for me," he said, "why should I feel sad about never meeting someone who wanted nothing to do with me? I don't care about my father. I loved my mother...but she left me just like my dad. And right now, you and your mother are all I care about. I could waste all my time, searching for my missing mother but you need me more than her. If she never told me where she went then I was never meant to know in the first place. Simple as that."

I gave him a little smile and said, "So you're not upset over her?" He shrugged and replied with, "A little. It disturbs me that she never got to meet you. I mean look at you. You're the prettiest girl ever and I'm proud that you're my daughter. Maybe she would've felt the same way as a grandmother, if only she stuck around to see you at least once." He gave me a smile and kissed my forehead. I giggled and hugged him. I look up and ask one more question. "What was her name anyways?"

He looked at me and took a few seconds to think. "It was Maribel Umber." I thought of the name, making my mind familiarize itself with it. I smiled and hugged my dad once more before telling him to finish up what he was doing and I would finish up inside the house. He went back out and went back to raking, although Travis had gotten most of the work done while we were talking. I went back upstairs and went into the bathroom. I locked the door and looked in the mirror. I started smiling like an idiot and I looked down at the old photo still in my hands. I got her name. I got my grandmother's name. Yes! I got her name! That's all I need to really get started on finding her! Can't wait to tell Ben! Maribel Umber, get ready to meet your granddaughter, the proxy!

...

As soon as I walked in the mansion I searched for Ben. I saw him in the kitchen, eating Fruit Loops and playing a DS. I stroll in and put the old photo on the table in front of him. He looked up from his game and then looked at the photo. I said, "Maribel Umber, my grandmother, should be in her fifties by now. This is what she looks like." I pointed down at it and Ben picked up the photo. He examined it carefully and I stood in silence, waiting for a reply from him. After a moment he said, "All right, this is good."

"Really? It's enough?" I asked, astounded. He nodded and glitched away, when he came back he had a laptop in his hands and set it down on the table. He spoke as he typed, "I can hack into the state's database system and look up the records of everyone in the state. I'm sure I'll find a bunch of people with the same name but I can narrow it down with a little more info. It could take me a while though so be patient."

I smiled widely and said, "Oh my god, thank you so much Ben! You have no idea how relieved I am to have this finally happen!" He chuckled and said, "No problemo, girly. Just hang tight and I'll have everything you need soon."

I nodded and walked away to go put my stuff away in my room. Once I put away my school bag and winter clothes away I headed for the laboratory. I walked in and saw Laughing Jack trying to grab a glass of water from a side table. He groaned and whined as he was struggling against his bandages. Suddenly he fell over and landed on the floor. "God dammit!" he yelled and stayed on the floor, moaning out the pain. Yes, LJ is still here. He hasn't recovered yet but Slendy says that by next week he should be ready to go on his way. The only reason why he's not suffering as much as Jeff is because he's not human, Jeff on the other hand is. That's why he's stuck in a coma while LJ only has to suffer some surges of pain every few minutes.

I walk over and help him up from off the floor. "Thanks," he groaned as he got himself comfortable in his bed. I gave him the glass of water he was trying to get and he drank it eagerly. "You have no idea how long I've been reaching for this damn glass," he muttered as he finished the water. I chuckled and took it from his hands to set it back down. "How are you holding up," I asked him. He gave me a thumbs up but then suddenly yelped in pain. Another surge hit him. "Damn that Corrupted poison really messes you up," he hissed as he held his side. "I should've been over this by now but it's taking forever to go away! I'm not really used to this."

"I have a feeling that this is the longest you've endured so much pain," I said. He nodded and muttered, "Tell me about it." I gave him a small smile and turned around to look across the room. On the other side I saw Jeff, in his hospital bed, unconscious. I walked over and looked at him. He had a sleeping mask over his eyes to keep them protected since they can never blink. His chest moved up and down from his steady breathing. He was hooked up to a machine that keeps track of his progress and another machine that's practically keeping him alive.

I pulled up a chair and sat down next to him. I grabbed his hand and clutched it tightly. Deep down I anticipated for him to squeeze back but I knew that wasn't going to happen. His hand was just limp and that's all it would be until he wakes up. I leaned my head on the space next to him and caressed his hand with my thumb. I miss the warm feel of his hand. But now it's cold and unmoving. I wonder how he's doing. I wonder what's going on in his mind. Is he dreaming as if in just a deep sleep? Or is he aware of his unconsciousness and is suffering in a prison of his own mind? I hope he's having a dream.

"I wish he would wake up sooner," I mumbled. LJ heard and said, "Me too...although he'd probably kick my ass if he saw me, I'd be pretty relieved to see him up."

I smiled slightly and said, "It's nearing winter. Snow will be coming in a few weeks. I want him to wake up so that way we could spend time in the snow. I think it would be fun and I'm sure he'd be up for it. But...I'm not sure if he'll ever wake up." I clutched Jeff's limp hand tighter and let a tear slip. I leaned my head against his and closed by eyes. I squeezed his hand once and sighed. And then he squeezed back.

Wait.

He squeezed back...

I gasped and looked at him. He was still unconscious but who knows if he is! I ran out of the lab, screaming and jumping around for Slendy. I caught him walking through the halls and I grabbed hold of his pale hand. He was surprised by this but let me drag him back to the lab. I explained what happened and after I was done he examined Jeff. After a couple of minutes, Slendy sighed and shook his head. He turned to me and said, "He's still in comatose. When he squeezed your hand, that was just a voluntary muscle spasm. It will happen every now and then, especially if contact is made while his body is still in comatose. But it was no sign of him getting better. I'm sorry."

At the news, my thrilled heart plummeted into sadness again. I really thought that he would wake up. It could have meant some sort of progress! But it was just nothing, a common thing to happen. I sat by Jeff's bedside and held his hand again. As I squeeze it, I anticipated yet again for him to squeeze back but it didn't happen. His hand was still unmoving and cold. I laid my head down next to our intertwined hands and sobbed softly. Please stop this torture and let him wake up already.

No matter how many times I beg, nothing will ever happen. Even if I prayed my heart out to the Heavens, nothing would happen. I'm desperate for a miracle. I don't want him like this forever, and I don't want him to die either. I just want him to come back. "I love you," I whispered to him in a shaky tone. It's been so long since I've heard his voice that I can barely remember it. But I tried so hard to imagine his voice saying "I love you too" right back. I cried some more at this. I leaned up to him and kissed his lips softly. I pulled away and rested my head on the space beside him. I want him to wake up. I want him to hug me. I want him to tease me. I want him to kiss me. I want him to hold me while we sleep. I want him to scream and shout stupid things randomly. I just want him back.

"Please wake up soon...."