Chapter Four: Inbetween Reality

It was seven o’clock in the morning when Lilly got the call. Dr. Eleanor Travis had still been treating Miley, even after all those years. She always updated Miley’s family if anything new was going on.

“Hello?” Lilly said groggily.

“Lilly?” The doctor and she were on first name basis.

“Yeah? What is it?”

“We need you to come down to the hospital as soon as possible,” Dr. Travis said. “It’s urgent.” Lilly stared at the phone. Oliver, who had also woken up, asked, “What’s wrong Lils?”

“We have to go to the hospital as soon as possible,” she whispered, covering the mouthpiece. Oliver jumped to his feet and began getting dressed, while Lilly thanked Dr. Travis, hung up, and followed suit.

Fifteen minutes later, after fast driving on Oliver’s part, they reached the hospital. Luckily, they’d managed to leave Simone with the family next door (they didn’t want her in a hospital filled with germs, especially because she was still so young) on short notice.

Lilly raced to the front desk, and after persistent arguing with the graying, old nurse at the counter, they were permitted to enter Miley’s room.

Robbie, Jackson, Gina, Nancy, and Jake were already there. Dr. Travis was also there.

Robbie nodded in her direction, Jake lifted a hand, and Jackson just stood there.

“So, are we all here?” Dr. Travis asked. When they all nodded, she began.

“We took some tests yesterday, and the results we got show that Miley is improving. Her motor response is the same, as is her eye, but her verbal tests are getting better. Now, this meeting is to keep you up to date. Firstly, this positive result shows that her chances of waking up are improving, although slightly so. So, we would like to warn you, don’t be surprised if she sometimes floats in and out of consciousness. Don’t expect anything either – she might not remember it when she wakes up. Secondly, we would like to see if there is anything specific that wakes her up. You see, I was a bit surprised when she said zombie, Mr. Ryan, especially because it was around you. It might not mean anything, but we would like to try.”

Jake nodded.

“And, finally, we would once again like to give you our best wishes,” Dr. Travis concluded. “Believe me, I have total faith she will wake up again.”

Mr. Stewart thanked her, and Dr. Travis left the room.

Lilly detached herself from Oliver’s arms and walked over to Miley’s bedside. She noticed Robbie, Jackson, and Oliver were right behind her.

As she looked upon her best friend’s face, tears began forming, and guilt came washing over her. She hadn’t visited Miley for so long, it seemed. Lilly let the droplets of water run down her face as Oliver wrapped his arms around her.

“I-I rea-really want h-h-her to be o-kay,” Lilly choked out, between sobs. She buried her head in Oliver’s chest, turning away from the pain that faced her when she looked at her best friend’s lifeless face.

Oliver held her like that for a while, just stroking her hair, while Robbie moved forward and took his daughter’s hand. Robbie knew Miley would get better. Jackson merely watched behind him – he knew if he attempted to talk to Miley he would break down.

Oliver and Lilly eventually left the room, and were soon followed by Robbie and Nancy, the Jackson and Gina. It was just Jake with Miley.

Jake sat in the chair by the window for a while, just thinking. Eventually he decided that he needed to do something, that he couldn’t just sit there lifelessly.

“Hey Miley,” he said, approaching her. He smiled at her, touching her face. Jake almost recoiled – it was so cold – but the feeling of her skin under his hand was nice, pleasant, and all too familiar.

Jake wished she could open her eyes, so he could gaze into them, see the blue, the twinkle, the way things used to be. Her eyes did flutter every now and then, but for the most part they stayed closed.

Jake let one tear drop as he watched her. She looked so peaceful, but that didn’t change the fact that the whole thing was very unfair. Yes, he should be happy she wasn’t in any pain (as far as he knew), but he didn’t know what would happen if – no, when – she woke up. What if she didn’t remember anything? What if she had to learn everything again, go back to grade school? What if she didn’t even know her own name, who she was, who he was?

No, he couldn’t let himself think of that. Instead, he began talking to her.

“Guess what, Miles? Remember that movie I told you about? It’s going great. We’re having tons of fun filming. Maybe I’ll bring you to meet Mickey one day. You’d like him, he’s wacky and crazy, and loads of fun.”

In his head, Miley answered him.

That’s great Jake. I’d love to meet him.

“And all my co-stars are really nice. One of them is a big Hannah fan.”

Maybe I could give them an autograph, or a Hannah T-shirt.

“And you should see some of the sets. It seems like they took years to build!”

I bet they did. You should see some of the stages at my Hannah concerts.

“I went to the Oscars not so long ago. I think I told you that already. I didn’t win anything this year, but I got to meet Johnny Depp.”

Seriously? Shut up! You’re kidding me! You have to introduce us!

Jake continued having the ‘conversation’ with Miley, eventually growing tired and giving up. It was three o’clock in the afternoon when he did so, and he realized he’d be late for a premiere party if he didn’t head over soon. He still needed to get over there, go through all necessary procedures, and make it by six o’clock. Jake sighed. At most, he had another half hour before he had to leave.

He didn’t care if he was late, but he knew it could get him fired from the movie.

Jake looked at her face carefully, and a thought popped into his mind. He lightly leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, savoring the short moment he felt the familiar jolt of electricity pass through him, from his head to his toes.

“J-J-Jake?” Jake quickly pulled away as he heard Miley’s voice. Her eyelids were lightly fluttering, and her lips were moving.

“Miley, you there?” Jake asked. She slowly opened her eyes fully, and looked right at him. Jake froze, mesmerized. He could feel so many emotions pass between them at that moment. There was love, sorrow, hurt, pain, longing, and so many more he couldn’t even describe.

“I love you,” Jake finally whispered, leaning close to her. In less than a second, Miley’s eyelids had moved back to their original position.

“Mr. Ryan, there’s a limo out front, waiting for you. They say its urgent you come right now,” the nurse said from the doorframe.

Jake didn’t want to leave, but knew he had to. He slowly walked out the door, keeping his eyes on Miley the entire time. Even when he got home, he couldn’t stop thinking about the great feeling he got when he kissed her. For the first time in six years, he actually believed Miley would get better.

Jake continued these visits for the next two months. Every time, he would kiss Miley at least once, and she would usually open her eyes and stare at him, then fall asleep again. Jake knew he should tell the doctor about it, but somehow he wanted to keep this a secret, something between the two of them.

Slowly, Miley’s tests began improving, and he knew he couldn’t hide it from the doctors much longer. After all, it would be very odd that when all of a sudden he began visiting everyday, she got better.

One morning, the day after Dr. Travis told them Miley was ‘moderate’ on the scale, Jake had gone to visit her again. He hoped to tell her he was so happy her eye tests were improving, and after talking with her for two hours, he stood to kiss her goodbye.

He felt the feeling again, and once again Miley opened her eyes. She moaned lightly, and Jake told her he loved her. Jake turned around to take his coat and leave, but stopped when he noticed Dr. Travis standing in the doorway.

“How long have you known?” Dr. Travis asked.

“A couple of months,” Jake admitted. Dr. Travis gave him something that resembled a death glare.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I wanted it to be our thing,” Jake said. “I still love her. And even though she’s not conscious, I wanted there to be something between us.”

Dr. Travis nodded. “I totally understand. But you should have told us – it could help us cure her.” Jake hung his head, ashamed.

“You know what’s odd? Her motor response hasn’t been improving, yet it seems perfectly fine when she’s with you. Mr. Ryan, it’s like your lips are a sensor. Every time you kiss her, she makes a response. It’s not scientifically possible.” Jake turned red.

“I have to go,” she said. “Lots of patients to see today.” Jake nodded, and Dr. Travis left the room.

As he turned around, the nurse who had been standing there while they talked spoke up.

“It’s love,” she said.

“What?” Jake was confused.

“Don’t mind Dr. Travis. She works completely on the basis of scientific knowledge. A bit thick, if you ask me. She doesn’t believe in miracles, unexpected things. To her, if it hasn’t been medically proven, it’s not true.”

Jake smiled.

“And I know it is possible,” the nurse continued. “Not scientifically, but possible nonetheless. It’s love. I’ve seen the way you look at her, the way she wakes up. You actually remind me of someone. Can’t remember who, though.”

Just as he was heading out the door, the nurse began talking to him again.

“I just remembered. You guys remind me of the couple on one of my favorite old TV shows, Zombie High. Jake Ryan, the Zombie Slayer, and Hannah Montana. Such a cute couple. Shame they never dated in real life,” she said, and walked away shaking her head.

Jake didn’t make it halfway down the hall before he burst into laughter.

AN: Thanks for reviewing, everyone. And thanks for putting the story in your faves. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll try to post the next one soon (this story is getting a bit harder to write because I keep wanting to make her wake up, but I can't cause the story's not too far in yet). Please review if you have the time, and tell me what you think. Thank you!!