In Your Dreams Bobby Anderson (15 page)

Gail sighed and fin
ished her chore of wrapping the poor girl’s hands. She would stop in later and give her breakfast, a tube of food attached directly to the stomach. Oh, how she hated working with the coma patients. Now, that Mr. Thompson down the corridor in room 109, he was a nice patient to work with. Burnt from head to toe and still as friendly as could be. It was people like him who inspired her to do her job. It wasn’t as heartbreaking as this young girl lying here in front of her. From what Gail knew about comas, the chances of coming out of one at all were not favorable. And if you were so lucky to come out, the chance of being the same person you were before you went in was almost zero.

Once Gail
had done her duties and exited the room, the small group got back to work.

“Tell her something about Bobby again,” Emily suggested.

“What else is there to tell her?” Susan said impatiently.

“Tell her I had a car accident,” Bobby said. That should get her worried.

“Guys,” Judge interrupted the brainstorming. “My guess is she can hear all of this. Don’t you think you should be planning in the hall?”

“Well, too late for that
, I guess.” Susan touched her sister’s cheek. “Sis? Can you please think of Bobby? Or think of me if you want to. But can you do it now? Bobby has something important to tell you.” Susan leaned in close to her sister’s ear and whispered, “I think he wants to ask you to marry him.”

Bobby, Judge, and Emily
gasped at the same time. “Susan!” Emily cried. “How could you?”

“
Shhh!” Judge indicated towards the patient.

“Um,
sh—should you have said that?” Bobby murmured, so that Maggie hopefully wouldn’t hear him.

Susan
mouthed, “Yes” and leaned in again. “If you don’t see him, he can’t ask you.”

Bobby wished he had a bar of
soap to smell at that moment, preferably vanilla. Was he ready to propose? Then he heard the most terrible sobs coming from Maggie. Had she snapped out of her coma? But when he looked again, he saw that they were in fact on the beach and she had wrapped herself into a ball on the sand. She was crying and rocking.

Bobby longed more than ever now
for that quiet newspaper morning with her, just once. No dramas. No sadness. No escape plans to figure out. And especially, no waking up with a bump on his head afterwards. Just a quiet newspaper weekend and a homemade cup of tea. Now
that
would be a great dream.

Bobby
went over to Maggie and touched the top of her head. She stopped rocking but refused to look at him. “Is it your hands?” he asked gently.

Maggie nodded
, but didn’t take her head out of her arms.

“I hear
they can be fixed.”

“
They can?” Susan didn’t sound convinced.

“Sur
e. I mean, I’m not going to lie; you will have scars, but they’ll get better. There are people with much worse, you know,” Bobby said, quoting Gail.

“What happened to me?” Maggie seemed genuinely confused. “I mean, what happened
, really? How did we get on this island? Was it a plane crash? Were you on the plane too?”

Bobby thought for a moment
. What should he say? He realized that he could say anything, anything at all. “Yes, Maggie. It was a plane crash. I was traveling with my manager.” Bobby wasn’t quite sure what was coming out of his mouth, but he couldn’t stop his story now that he had started. “I spotted you in the departure lounge before we boarded. You were so beautiful and sweet and on your own. I didn’t know where you were headed, but thankfully you got on the plane after me. You brushed past my seat and you looked worried because, I don’t know, I guess you’d never flown before or something.”

“I hadn’t.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“And what happened next?”

“Well, I was excited because we were headed to the…”

“
Caribbean?”

“The Caribbean. Right! I was going
for business, you know, publicity; so that wasn’t all that exciting. I hadn’t expected to meet anyone special, but when you brushed past me and I knew that you were special.”

Maggie smiled. “
I thought you were special too.”

“Oh? D
id you notice me?”

“O
f course! You’re Bobby Anderson. Anyone would notice you. And what happened next?” Maggie wasn’t rocking anymore and her face brightened as she concentrated on the story.

“
So, anyway, the plane took off and I knew it wasn’t going to be a long trip, just over three hours; so I hoped I could talk to you before we landed.”

“And did we?
Talk?”

“I wanted to
. I got up a few times and looked around, but I didn’t spot you. The flight got bumpy and I was told to take my seat.”

Maggie looked sad. “
What happened next?”

“Well,” Bobby paused to think. “Just when I
believed our meeting was a hopeless dream, you brushed by me again.”

“What was I doing
?”

“You were looking for the restrooms.”

“Oh… I didn’t need the restrooms actually,” Maggie said shyly.

“No?”

“No. I just wanted to see you again.”

“Well, you brushed by me
, and my hand touched your leg. I looked up at you and you looked down at me, and you smiled.”

“You smiled back.”

“Of course. And my heart stopped.”

“It did?”

“Yes. Did yours?”

“Yes, of course.
What did we do next?”

“Well, we didn’t know each other
, so I couldn’t just pull you down and kiss you,” Bobby laughed. Maggie laughed too. “So, I let you go.”

“But I’m still here.”

“That’s true. You went to the restroom; I kept watching the door from the moment you closed it, waiting for you. It was like waiting for magic to happen.” Bobby stopped talking because he was there, remembering when he saw Maggie for the first time, not on the plane, but on the beach. To him that was as real a memory as the real ones he’d had all his life. That smile of hers, just like the one she was giving him now, well it damn near made his heart stop. It
was
magic.

“Go on!”

Bobby coughed to clear his throat and continued. “So you came out, and I was watching, as I just explained, and you looked at me again; and this time you really looked at me, you know?”

“Like I knew you?”

“Yes. I felt that you knew me, and that I wanted to know you…so badly. The plane started shaking. I called you over to sit down in the empty chair next to mine.”

“You buckled me up.”

“That’s right. And it felt so good to have you next to me. I was really glad the plane was jumping around, because I could tell you—”

“
You told me we’d be all right.”

“
Yes, because when I went to tell you the other thing that I wanted to tell you, I could see that you were afraid.”

“
You told me not to be.”

“That’s right
…”

“What was the other thing you wanted to tell me?”

Bobby coughed again. “I wanted to tell you, that, you were the most wonderful person I had ever met.”

Maggie hid her face in her hands and tried not to blush.
“But the plane went down anyway. Into the ocean,” she said, not looking Bobby in the eyes.

“
Yes. There was a lot of panic onboard, and the stewardesses ran around buckling up passengers; they looked terrified. But we held hands, and I think we both felt that it would be all right.”

“There was a fire.”

“Yes,” Bobby sighed. She was remembering.

“It was so hot and I was so scared.
Even though we were holding hands, I still felt scared, Bobby.”

“
I know. The fire was really scary. So I steered us towards the closest exit.”

“That’s right.
But there were flames down the corridor, so I put my shirt over my head because I didn’t want to burn my face.”

“That was smart of you. I didn’t even think about that.”

“We jumped onto the life raft and drifted away from the plane.”

“
It was just the two of us. All the other passengers got into different life rafts and drifted away, but we stayed together.”

“
And my hands got burnt.”

Bobby nodded. “Yes. And your body too.
”

“My body too?” Maggie gasped and looked un
der her T-shirt. Her eyes drooped as she evaluated the damage.

“
You were so brave, Maggie.” Bobby said quickly. “If it wasn’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have made it out of the plane.”

“Why not?”

“Because you made me want to save myself.”

They both stopped talking
and looked at each other. Bobby felt lost in her eyes.

“Will you marry me?” he whispered.
Even without Susan’s suggestion of marriage, Bobby knew that this was what he wanted—what he’d always wanted.

At first Maggie did not respond
. Bobby looked out to the ocean for some relief from his emotions. What if she was getting ready to say no? What if in real life she had no feelings for him whatsoever? What if she only loved her cello?

“Yes.”

“What did you say?”

“Yes, Bobby Anderson. I will marry you.”

“Are you sure?” He still couldn’t believe it.

“Well, you asked me, remember? Aren’t you sure that I should be sure?”

“I’m not sure of much these days, dear. After all, I
am
going to star in Marionettes, and as far as I can tell, that could go either way.”

“
And let’s not forget the haircut.”

“Right. It could be the beginning of the end.”

Maggie laughed. “Well, I think it’s the beginning of the beginning, if you ask me.”

“They should have asked
you.”

“Yes, Mr. Anderson, they should have.”

“I really do love you, you know.” Bobby grasped Maggie’s gloved hand in his and brought it up to his lips, planting a delicate kiss on her fingers. “You, my dear, are exquisite.”

Bobby
released her hand and turned to face her, but stumbled back. Maggie wasn’t wearing the red T-shirt anymore. Instead she had on a white silk shirt that billowed loosely in the wind. Her thigh high shorts were replaced with faded jeans, and even her green clip was gone. Her hair blew wild and her eyes sparkled. She looked perfect.

“I like your clothes,” he said appreciatively. “I mean
, I liked your shorts as well. Actually, I
really
liked your shorts, but I like you like this too. It suits you.”

“Thank you.” Maggie got up from the s
and and headed towards the boat. “Can you push this lady off?”

“Can I push?” Bobby pursed his lips. “Can I push? You hop on i
n little lady and watch me push.”

He helped Maggie on board and set out to push the
old fishing boat back into the water. The sweat dripped off of him in the blazing sun, but the boat hardly budged. “Damn!” he muttered violently under his breath. If he didn’t get this boat out now and he woke up, who could say when she would call him back to her. “Looks like the keel is stuck deep. But don’t worry my dear, I’ll manage.”
Somehow
.

But after ten more minutes
of trying, and another ten minutes after that for good measure, Bobby Anderson had to admit defeat.

“We can wait for the tide to rise,” Maggie suggested.

“Tide?”

“Yes
. There will be a rising tide tonight and we can sail away with the stars.

It sounded like a good idea, so they waited in the boat and ate all the sandwiches and drank all the
cola and the bottles of water too. When there was nothing left to eat and nothing left to drink, they made love, huddled passionately together in the boats hull.

Afterwards
, after he had kissed her skin all over and explored every crevice of her perfect body, he yearned to ask her about her music and her violin and cello; but he was afraid to. As he fought to find the words, she started a soft hum, and as she hummed, she looked out to the dark sea.

“What’s that tune?” he asked.

It’s from Florence and the Machine. Do you know that band?”

“Yes. Sort of.”

“I like them.”

“I thought you liked Paul Simon.”

“Did I say that?” Maggie laughed a cheeky wild laugh and the breeze picked up around her. “I like all music.”

“So, what’s the song you’re humming?”

“It’s called Cosmic Love.”

“Can you sing
it for me?”

“
I’ll try to remember the words.” Maggie looked up to the clear sky and began to sing a slow melancholic tune.

A falling star fell from your heart

and
landed in my eyes

I screamed aloud,

as it tore through them,

And now it’s left me blind

The stars, the moon,

they have all been blown out

You left me in the dark

No dawn, no day,

I’m always in this twilight

In the shadow of your heart

And in the dark,

I can hear your heartbeat

I tried to find the sound

But then it st
opped,

and
I was in the darkness

So darkness I became

The stars, the moon,

they have all been blown out

You left me in the dark

No dawn, no day,

I’m always in this
twilight

In the shadow of your heart

I took the stars from our eyes,

a
nd then I made a map.

A
nd I knew that somehow

I could find my way back

I heard my heart beating,

y
ou were in the darkness too.

So I s
tayed in the darkness with you.

Her voice trailed off, not finishing the last verses. Bobby lay silent, not daring to move.

“
Bobby, do you know what marriage means?” She looked at him thoughtfully, not as if she expected him to know the answer, but as if she had just discovered it for herself.

“I’m not sure.” Bobby stumbled to say the right thing.
He was still trying to understand the song, and what did he know about marriage, anyway? His father had left him and his mother, and Tillie had always vowed never to marry again. Bobby didn’t know if Tillie’s decision was due to a disgust of all men in general, or the fact that maybe you can only really give your heart once. Her heart had been given to his father, for better or for worse.