53

GENEVIEVE

ad woke up.

Dad. Woke. Up.

I still can not believe it and keep mentally shaking myself during the entire ride to the hospital.

I think I am dreaming.

That is what I did when he first had the accident, I slept upside down and dreamt about Dad tilting his head and telling me that sleeping in that position is not healthy.

Then I woke up and he wasn’t there, but there were tears in my eyes.

So that is what I think during the entire ride. I think that this is a dream—I’ll eventually wake up and Dad will still be in a coma.

My nails clink together and I dig them into my skin. Pain means it is not a dream and that the call Dan got was real.

That my father is back.

We do not talk the whole way. I just listen to my NF and Twenty One Pilots playlist and count the minutes until we get to the hospital.

Anytime he opens his mouth, I raise the volume until he gets the memo and stops trying to speak. I do not want to talk to him, I do not want him to spout more words that will cut me open.