The Coma (Part 27)

“C’mon I have a surprise for you!” He said loudly and excitedly, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the room with all the paintings.

“When’d you have time to get me a surprise? We’ve been together nonstop basically for days.” She sounded confused and Sam smiled at it.

“I did it when you were asleep.” He smiled wider and pulled her down the stairs, out the door, and to the car.

“You seem excited, is it a really good surprise?” She smiled up at him before they got into the car. Sam nodded.

“And you don’t even have to wear a blindfold. You won’t look up anyways.” Lydia smiled.

“That’s very true.” They laughed and sat in the car, Lydia staring at the carpet as every time before. An hour went by and they were still going. Lydia questioned where every few minutes. Finally, half an hour later they had come to a stop. Lydia tried to look up but Sam covered her face quickly.

“No peeking.” He said, “Close your eyes, I’ll come get you.” She smiled and did as she was told. She felt his hand on her other shoulder and jumped slightly, not expecting him so quick. He chuckled and pulled her up, slamming the car door behind her, and dragging her behind him. They walked for a while before finally coming to a stop.

“You can open your eyes now.” He whispered into her ear, kissing her head lightly as he let got of her hand and moved away. She opened her eyes slowly, a wide smile glued to her face.

In front of her was an easel with a pad of white drawing paper placed atop it. On the side, leaning against the easel, a large set of every color paints lay. Paint brushes were in a cup next to a painter’s palette. Beyond the easel a vast lake stretched out, the other end nothing but a small green dots that appeared to be trees. To one side of the easel a handful of trees stood, giving her shade, and to the other side a bench was place, overlooking the lake.

“Wow.” She whispered so that Sam could barely hear her. Her inspiration for painting had been gone for over three years now, but as she looked over the vast lake she suddenly wanted to again.

Turning on her heel, Lydia faced Sam. Her eyes speaking what her mouth could not. She had no words to explain how amazed she was. How did he do all this without her realizing? And why was he so amazingly nice to her? Though she would like to know the answers to those she wasn’t about to complain.

“So do you like it?” He asked quietly.

“I love it Sam!” She jumped up and hugged him tightly and he hugged her back. When they let go they were both smiling and Lydia backed away towards the easel, knowing she could only use it here one day and wouldn’t be able to leave it.

“Let me see you paint.” Sam whispered and walked towards the bench, sitting down in it and looking over at Lydia who had made her way to the paint box and was now going through the many bottles to find the right colors. Blues, purples, reds, yellows, oranges, violets, greens, blacks, whites, every colour Lydia could imagine were all inside one box.

She pulled out a few and quickly poured a tiny bit of each onto the palette and began to paint on the sheet. She stood there for over an hour working on the picture she was painting as Sam sat one minute watching her and the next watching the lake. Lydia would have thought he would have gotten bored, but he seemed to enjoy it as much as she did.

Finally Lydia had finished the picture. She backed away and stared at it, as if trying to get a better view, trying to decide if she liked it or not, before nodding her approval. As soon as she did Sam stood up and walked over next to her to see the picture as well. He looked at it long and hard before smiling and wrapping one arm around Lydia’s shoulder’s.

“You are an amazing artist you know?” He said loudly, wanting the whole world to know, even though no one else was around. She smiled up at him.

“Do you like it?” She asked, quietly. Her voice was sad and happy at the same time.

“What a stupid question. I love it! You are a brilliant artist.” Sam shouted and leaned down, kissing her hard. Something in his kiss scared her, it was hard and deep, as if he knew they only had a short time left together and she didn’t want this to end. Quickly she cleaned her brushes and put the paints away, packing everything up.

“So I guess you are ready to go then?” Sam said quietly, his voice seemed almost disappointed.

“Well, I’m ready to stop painting, at least for now. I would like to just sit with you, if that’s okay?” She smiled and he smiled back. She knew there was no reason he would say it wasn’t okay. What reason would he have?

Sam helped her and they quickly got all of the supplies packed into the trunk of the car, carefully. She smiled and kissed him again, still amazed at what he had gotten for her.

They walked over to the bench and Lydia sat down next to Sam, but was soon pulled up into his lap. Leaning back against his chest they watched as the lake glittered with sparkles of white and yellow and a sailboat seemed to fly over the water in the distance. The warm sun beat down on them hard, and they were sweating before too long.

“It’s getting hot; I think we better get going.” Sam whispered into Lydia’s ear and she sighed quietly. “What is it?” She closed her eyes against the lake.

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking.” She whispered and got up from his lap slowly. Sam pulled her back down as soon as she had gotten up.

“What were you thinking of that made you sigh? You should be able to tell me.” He gave her that crooked smile that she couldn’t resist.

“Joey never did anything like this for me. And I never felt this…” She paused, not really wanting to finish the sentence but forcing herself to. “I never felt this in love with him either. I was with him for almost ten years and these few days with you…” She stopped again. “I don’t know, forget it.” She stood up again and quickly moved far enough away that he couldn’t pull her back down.

“Lydia-“ Sam followed her as she walked up to the shoreline of the lake and slipped her high heeled shoes off. Slowly she stepped into the water, not responding to Sam who had called her name twice now. He stayed at the shore, watching as she walked deeper until it was only inches from the hem of her skirt before staring down.

“Where are we Sam?” She asked quietly.

“You mean what town is this?” She nodded. “It’s called Rubio, it’s in Washington County.”

“So, it’s still in Iowa then?” Sam nodded at her but she didn’t see, and she didn’t care, she knew the answer. “What is this lake called?” She danced around in the clear water more as a group of fish darted around her feet.

“This is Lake Darling.” He smiled.