Cake: A Love Story (41 page)

They did a good job easing the fears of the crowds but Jake’s condition was anything but stable. Three days after being placed in the coma, Jake was weaned from the drugs. We all gathered as Jake was removed from the machines. We were warned that if his heart did not start beating on his own that he might need defibrillation and that if he didn’t breath on his own, he might need more time on the ventilators.

I few tense minutes followed when it looked like Jake’s heart might not start beating on its own. The doctors prepared the paddles. Then suddenly the lines on the monitor started moving. Jake heart was beating and he was breathing on his own. The relief was overwhelming. All that was left now was for Jake to wake up. He didn’t. Doctors performed a variety of tests on him. An EEG was given to measure his brain activity and it appeared that he had normal function yet still he didn’t wake up making doctors fear his brain was damaged more than they had originally suspected. It appeared that he had slipped into a coma. Nothing they tried, or we tried, could wake him up. This was not what Jake predicted. Hovering between life and death. This was no way for a man like Jake to live.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jake

I was awake but everything was dark. I tried to open my eyes but they remained shut. I felt nothing. No pain. I didn’t know where I was. I faded in and out for what seemed like forever until I started hearing voices…Casey, my mom, my dad, Kyle…they were all calling to me. I could hear their stress and fear. I struggled to wake up. Why couldn’t I wake up? Was I dead?

I could feel Casey touch my face. I could taste her tears on my lips. What was happening? ‘Wake up’ she kept telling me. ‘You promised. Wake up.’ I was trying. I really was, but I was stuck. Not alive. Not dead.

Chapter Thirty

Casey

Four days after he’d been removed from the ventilators, I sat in the private waiting room with Kyle waiting for word on another test that was being performed on Jake. Kyle and I had become close since this all began. There was an unspoken understanding between us. Both our lives revolved around Jake. Neither of us really knew what to do without him. I saw Kyle’s head dip and he buried his eyes in his hands. He’d barely slept in days. I got up and walked over to him.

“Can I get you anything?” I asked.

He shook his head and didn’t look up.

“He’s going to wake up,” I said.

Kyle nodded then glanced at me. His eyes were red.

“It’s his fault,” Kyle whispered.

“Whose fault?” I asked, upset that he would blame Jake for this.

“Ray. If it weren’t for him Jake wouldn’t be in a fucking coma,” he emoted angrily.

“Oh,” I said, not knowing how to respond. We sat silently for another minute.

“I was there. Did you know that?”

“Where?”

“With Jake when it happened.”

I sat down. “I…I guess I knew that. I mean I remember hearing in the news years ago something about his brother witnessing the kidnapping.”

“Ray came up to us with a gun in his hand. He had a mask on. He forced us to lie down on our stomachs. He threatened to kill us if we didn’t do what he demanded. If I did something wrong he would kill Jake. If Jake did something wrong he would kill me. I can’t tell you how terrifying it was. It messed me up Casey. I still have nightmares about that day. And I only spent 5 minutes with him.”

I rested my hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

“I mean can you even imagine what it must have been like for Jake? I used to obsess about it…try to imagine that it was me who was taken and not Jake. The things he had to do to survive…I wouldn’t have lasted a day in there.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh I know that. I’m a follower, Casey. I’ve never desired to lead. I’ve always had Jake for that. He was always the coolest kid and the bravest kid, and the most talented kid. I was none of that and you’d think I’d resent him but I didn’t. I was just happy to bask in his greatness. Hell, I’m still doing that!”

“Who can blame you? He’s pretty great,” I smiled.

Kyle glanced at me. He smiled weakly. “You aren’t kidding! Jake fought a serial killer for 36 days and lived. I mean what kind of mental toughness does it take to do something like that?” Kyle said shaking his head in awe. “No. I wouldn’t have lasted a day.”

“You never know how strong you are until you’re put to the test.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Kyle agreed, looking worn. “Sometimes…,”

Kyle stopped himself.

“What?”

“Sometimes I wonder if this is just all ‘Final Destination’ stuff. What if Jake cheated death all those years ago? What if everything since that day has been leading up to this?”

“I don’t believe in superstitions?” I said firmly. “Jake survived because he was stronger than Ray. It was his fate to survive, not the other way around. He will wake up, Kyle.”

“When? I just want him to be okay,” Kyle said, his voice breaking. “I just want him to give me that look.”

“What look?”

“The annoyed one. It’s how I get him to acknowledge me. I just annoy the hell out of him until he’s forced to pay attention,” Kyle smiled.

I laughed. Then a thought occurred to me. “That’s not a bad idea, actually.”

“What?”

“Annoying him. Maybe it will wake him up,” I brightened.

“Are you serious?” Kyle asked, looking at me skeptically.

“Is it going to hurt?”

“I guess not.”

“Let’s go then. Let’s annoy the shit out of him until he’s forced to pay attention!”

Kyle and I went into Jake’s room and sent Emma and Scott away, telling them to get some food. We then proceeded to do all the things that normally irritated the hell out of Jake. Kyle was telling stupid jokes and giving him wet willy’s and poking him. I was singing right in his ear. At one point, while Kyle was playing typewriter on Jake’s chest, Michelle walked in.

“What are you doing?” She asked, looking horrified.

“Annoying him,” Kyle responded with a grin.

“You’re doing what?”

“We are doing things to annoy him,” I backed Kyle up. “He hates all these things. We figure at some point he’s going to wake up and punch Kyle in the face.”

Michelle looked on in shock. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Kyle and I peered at her, uncertain if we should continue.

“Well, go on,” she said as a smile spread across her face. “Don’t let me stop you.”

So we spent the rest of the day being the most annoying people on the planet. Michelle even got in on the action questioning Jake about sex and tickling his toes. Jake didn’t wake up but it was a stress reliever for all of us.

As the days passed with no change in Jake’s condition, sadness consumed me. I’d never been much for prayer but I prayed now. Grief overwhelmed me. My mom showed up at the hospital at some point. I didn’t even know she was coming. I spent my days at his bedside talking to him, pleading with him, threatening him. All he had to do was wake up but he didn’t. He just didn’t. Wake up, Jake!

Epilogue

Casey

I looked out over the crowd where my family was gathered. The cap on my head kept slipping down and the oversized gown dwarfed me. I’d waited a long time for this day to come. Everybody I loved was in the stands supporting me, well, almost everyone. My thoughts turned to Jake. I wished he could be here with me on a day like this. I shook my head. No, I would not let his absence bring me down today.

I plastered a smile on my face and, when my name was called, I proudly walked across the stage to accept my diploma. Afterward, I made my way through the crowds until I found the people I was looking for. I was smothered in hugs and congratulations. Not only was my family there to support me but so was Jake’s. What we had all gone through together…they had become as close to me as my blood family. Michelle came up and enveloped me in a warm hug.

“Congratulation, sweetie,” she said then kissed my cheek. “I’m so proud of you. Honors and everything.”

“Thanks Michelle,” I exhaled loudly.

“Hey, none of that,” she instructed. “This is your day. Don’t let anything ruin it.”

“I won’t. I just wish he was here with us,” I replied.

“I know,” she nodded. “He should be here, but there is nothing we can do about it so just enjoy this moment.”

“I am,” I smiled. God how I loved this woman!

Kyle came up and wrapped me in a gigantic bear hug. He had a big smile on his face as he lifted me off the ground and shook me.

“Stop it, you dork!” I laughed and smacked him.

“Yeah, get your hands off my girl!”

I looked out over the crowd for the source of that voice I knew so well. My eyes focused on a man with glasses and a full, shaggy beard. I didn’t even recognize him at first but then he smiled that adorable lop-sided grin of his and I ran over to him and flung myself into his arms.

“Casey!” my mom admonished. “His knee. Careful!”

I ignored her. Jake’s knee was fine. She just liked to baby him because she adored him so much.

“Have you been here the whole time?” I asked.

“Uh-huh, but I had to sit with Lassen in the nosebleed seats. Man, those things suck. I have a whole new appreciation for my fans,” he grinned.

“Who did this for you?” I pulled on his beard.

“A makeup artist I hired. She did so good I didn’t even recognize myself.”

“Well if you looked like this why didn’t you sit with everyone else?”

“Because…imagine Duck Dynasty sitting down in the middle of our families. It would have been totally obvious that it was me in disguise. But with my man Lassen here, no one would suspect a thing.”

“Hey, are you calling me a redneck?” Lassen huffed, but there was an amused look on his face.

“I’m just saying you and I are way more compatible now that I look like I just walked out of the backwoods,” Jake teased.

“Did the university know you were coming in disguise?”

“Nope,” Jake said and put a finger to his lips. “They’re probably still wondering why I didn’t show up in the designated viewing room.”

I smiled up at my wonderfully hairy boyfriend. Even looking like a mountain man, he was still the most beautiful man I’d ever known. Jake had kept his promise. He came back to me. It happened suddenly. Gracie was the only one with him at the time. She’d been talking about the kittens and had taken her phone out to show him a picture when, all of the sudden, after spending two weeks in a coma, Jake just opened his eyes.

What followed was not some miraculous recovery. It took time. Although Jake could remember everything and seemed to have normal cognitive abilities, his motor skills needed work. Because he’d been lying unresponsive for so long, his body was slow to respond and his knee needed the movement it had been lacking while he was in the coma. A team of physical therapists worked with him around the clock. Jake took his first tentative steps on his new knee three days after waking up. Within a week, he was walking short distances. He was released from the hospital after that and went home to his parent’s house. His physical therapy continued uninterrupted. Jake wanted to recover more than anyone. It frustrated him to not be able to do things that he was used to being able to do.

Within a month of waking from the coma, Jake was playing his songs on the piano again. There was some worry that his vocal cords had been damaged during the intubation but when Jake started singing again, it was clear that they had recovered nicely. Things were slowly improving for Jake. Everyday, he made progress. After six months of recovery, Jake was nearly back to his old self. In fact, he might have even been better than his old self because the pain that had been dogging him for years was finally under control. He still had some issues but it was nothing like it had been before.

Probably the single biggest challenge Jake was dealing with now was how to handle his fans and the press. After his well-received public statement and his near-death experience, Jake had become somewhat of a hero. His fame had taken on new heights. He was more popular than ever before. If people hadn’t known who he was before, they knew now. His kidnapping, and the fate of the other victims of Raymond Lane, became front-page news again but this time Jake was not cast as the villain; instead he was portrayed for who he genuinely was, a courageous kid who saved himself from a vicious killer. The world now followed his every move. Jake was not exactly thrilled by his accelerated fame; in fact he was decidedly embarrassed by all the coverage, but he was quickly coming to terms with his new normal.

It was for that reason that Jake was asked to stay away from the graduation proceedings. My school’s administration worried that his presence would be too overwhelming and that the security necessary to keep people away would be too costly. They also argued that his being at the graduation might take away from the experience of the other families and graduates. Jake was, instead, encouraged to go to a viewing room and watch the proceedings on a TV screen. Although I wanted him there with me in the stands, I understood the university’s position. This wasn’t just about me. There were other graduates who deserved their day as well.

“Do you know who that is?” Darcy asked Sydney and Riley as she pointed to Jake.

Both looked up at him then Sydney’s eyes brightened and she burst out, “JAKE!”

“Shhh!” All the adults in our group shushed in unison. Sydney flung herself on Jake. I was forced to give up my guy to an eight-year-old. He spent a minute chatting easily with my niece. I gazed at him in awe. He was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I never took him for granted anymore. I loved him so much.

Jake caught me staring and smiled. He whispered something to Sydney. She giggled and then walked away. Jake came up to me and kissed my lips with his hairy beard.

“I forgot to tell you,” he stated. “Congratulations, babe. I’m proud of you.”

We moved our party to a private location after the graduation ceremony was complete and all pictures had been taken. My mom and Michelle had worked together to put the party on for me. They had become friends at the hospital while Jake was in the coma and had kept in touch ever since. It turned out to be a pretty big bash with my family and Jake’s, and my friends from Arizona and some of Jake’s band and crew that I’d become friends with. After dining on catered steak, chicken and ribs from a local barbeque joint, the party broke up around 12:00am. It was just Jake and I and our moms and a couple of others who stayed to clean up. Jake pulled me aside and handed me an envelope.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Open it,” he grinned.

“It’s so heavy,” I giggled. I opened it and pulled out plane tickets…like 20 of them. “What is this?”

“The party isn’t over yet,” he said. Both Jake’s family and my family came back in the room. They were toting suitcases.

“What the?” I looked out over all my excited loved ones.

“We’re flying to Tahiti.”

“All of us?”

Jake nodded, smiling.

“When?”

“In about six hours.”