Dying For Their Fake Coma

For three years, I voluntarily erased my existence. I became a ghost before I was even dead.

To pay for the experimental treatments that would wake my family from their comas, I accepted a contract that no sane person would sign. I spent a thousand days living in the subterranean mausoleum of a superstitious billionaire, keeping a silent vigil for his deceased son. I survived on a liquid "purification" diet that stripped the flesh from my bones and turned my blood into sludge.

Finally, just before the holidays, the miracle happened. My parents woke up. Even my brother, Cole, whose mind had been shattered by the accident, regained his clarity.

I thought the nightmare was over. I thought I was walking back into the light.

Then, Cole sat me down on the edge of my hospital bed and shattered my reality.

"Nora, youve done well these past three years. I think youve finally learned your lesson."

He smiled, a terrifyingly casual expression. "When we have Christmas dinner in a few days, I want you to sincerely apologize to Tessa. Do that, and we can be a family again."

The air left the room.

My beloved family hadn't been sick.

There was no coma. No paralysis. No brain damage.

They had staged the accident. They had played dead for three years simply because they felt I was too "arrogant" for beating their adopted daughter, Tessa, for Valedictorian. They wanted to "break my ego," to teach me "humility."

They wanted to teach me a lesson about life.

But they didn't know the punchline: I was actually dying.

Why couldn't they have kept the lie going for just a few more days?

...

The specialist pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, flipping through my chart with a furrowed brow.

"This pathology is... bizarre," he said, his voice dropping to a professional murmur. "Its rapid, aggressive. It looks like accelerated decay. Ive never seen a living body shut down like this."

He hesitated, then cleared his throat. "Miss Vane, have you considered signing a body donation directive? Given the rarity of your condition, research institutes would pay a premium. A significant premium."

At the time, my eyes had lit up.

Even though Mom and Dad were "awake," rehabilitation is expensive in New York. Cole had no income. They needed every cent.

So, without a second thought, I signed my body away to science.

But now? Now the ink on that form felt like a joke.

Cole said it was all a lie.

He said if I just apologized to Tessasweet, fragile TessaI could be his little sister again.

My hands trembled as I shoved the donation paperwork deeper into my coat pocket.

"Why..." My voice was a rasp, like sandpaper on stone. "Why tell me now?"

Why not wait until I was in the ground? Why give me this cruel clarity right before the end?

Cole rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortably like a boy caught stealing cookies, not a man who had destroyed his sisters life.

"Tessa said she didn't like lying," he muttered. "She said she couldn't stand the guilt. She told us if I didn't make you apologize, she wouldn't come home for the holidays."

He chuckled, a soft, affectionate sound. "Thats Tessa for you. Always thinking of others. While you were... away, she showed us your photos every day. She was so worried."

Ah. I see.

I let out a dry, rattling laugh. The irony was a physical weight in my chest.

Seeing my expression crumble, Cole moved to comfort me, his hand hovering near my shoulder.

"Nora, don't cry. Its not that big of a deal."

"Think about it. When you took that Valedictorian spot from Tessa, she didn't say a word. She suffered in silence. If Mom hadn't noticed her depression, we never would have realized how ruthless youd become."

He was talking about three years ago. The graduation.

I beat Tessa by a fraction of a GPA point. I became Valedictorian.

The whole school cheered. Teachers told me my hard work had paid off.

But at the dinner table, my family looked like they were attending a funeral.

But I earned it!

I spent nights fueled by cheap coffee and panic, studying until my eyes bled, all for the scholarship money. They saw me. They saw the light under my door at 3 AM.

Why was I expected to hand it to Tessa on a silver platter?

Cole shook his head, disappointment radiating off him.

"Nora, why don't you get it? You lack basic empathy."

"Tessa lost her parents. Shes an orphan we took in. Shes sensitive, fragile. And you? You flaunted that first-place trophy like a weapon."

"I don't understand how my sister became so cold-blooded."

For a second, my mind drifted. I remembered why I fought so hard for that title.

Mom and Dad had promised: If you get Valedictorian, well take a trip. Just the four of us. A real family vacation.

Ever since Tessa moved into our brownstone, I became a ghost in my own life.

She was quiet, so my parents bought her the world to solicit a smile. She came with worn-out clothes, so Cole raided my closet, giving my favorite dresses to her, telling me I should be "generous."

Even at the family portraits, Tessa stood in the center. I was pushed to the edge of the frame.

I was a child too. Didn't I deserve to be seen?

Did Tessas "sensitivity" mean I had to set myself on fire to keep her warm?

And for the last three years... God.

I dropped out of Columbia. I worked three jobs until my body gave out. Then I found The Contract.

The wealthy eccentric in the Hudson Valley. He wanted a "pure soul" to lie in the sensory deprivation crypt next to his dead sons sarcophagus. To "guide the spirit."

The pay was astronomical. It covered the best private care facility for my "vegetative" parents.

For three years, I didn't eat a solid meal. I drank their proprietary "cleansing tonic"a vile, chemical sludge. I meditated in freezing darkness. I became skeletal. People who saw me on my rare breaks crossed the street, thinking I was a walking corpse.

I looked at Cole now. His skin was flushed with health. His eyes were bright.

Did they ever wonder what I was doing for three years?

Something inside me snapped. A cable holding up the bridge of my sanity just gave way.

I grabbed the plastic pitcher from the bedside table and hurled it at the wall.

"Get out! Get the hell out!"

"Why?! Why did you do this to me?"

"I bet Tessa is laughing her ass off right now, isn't she?"

At the mention of Tessa, Coles concern evaporated. His face hardened into a mask of ice.

He grabbed my wrist. His grip was strong. Too strong.

"Nora, calm down. Youre being hysterical."

"This has nothing to do with Tessa. This was a decision Mom, Dad, and I made together."

"If you want to blame someone, blame us. Don't project your jealousy onto her."

He straightened his cashmere sweater, glancing around the sterile hospital room with disdain.

"Were hosting a gala dinner in a few days. New Year's Eve. Come home then."

"Today is Tessas college graduation. I have to go. I won't let your drama ruin her big day."

The door clicked shut.

I collapsed into the mess of spilled water and plastic, forcing myself to relive the wreckage of my short life.

Cole was twelve years older than me. He practically raised me while our parents built their empire. My first word wasn't "Mama," it was "Cole."

He used to call me "Bug." He used to look at me like I hung the moon.

When did my brother become her brother?

Once Tessa arrived, it was like a switch flipped. He only had eyes for the "poor orphan girl."

A wave of nausea hit me. I bent over and retched, coughing up a thick, black fluid.

I wiped my mouth and remembered the doctors warning.

If you want to buy yourself a few more days, avoid stress. Any emotional shock could stop your heart instantly.

I had planned to arrange my affairs. Spend one last Christmas with them. Die quietly in my sleep, knowing I had saved them.

But it was a scam. My sacrifice was their punchline.

I took a deep breath, the air rattling in my fluid-filled lungs.

I called an Uber. Destination: Columbia University.

My dream school. The place I gave up to save them.

The campus was alive with blue gowns and mortarboards. I remembered my birthday wish from four years ago.

"Im going to get into Columbia. Im going to make you proud."

Mom had kissed my forehead. Cole had smeared frosting on my nose. "You get into Columbia, Bug, and youll be the star of this family."

I looked up.

There they were.

Mom and Dad, looking elegant and healthy in designer suits, flanking Tessa like she was royalty. Cole was beaming.

"Tessa! Happy Graduation!"

"Thank you, Auntie. Uncle."

The girl who used to look like a frightened mouse was now a swan. She wore a tailored white dress under her gown, her smile practicing a perfect modesty.

"And Cole... thank you. For everything."

Mom paused, feigning shock. "Oh, honey, why are you still calling us Auntie and Uncle?"

"What should you be calling us?"

Tessa blushed, burying her face in Moms shoulder. A muffled, sweet voice emerged.

"Mom."

"Oh!" Moms eyes crinkled with pure joy.

I hadn't seen that smile in years. Not directed at me.

For three years, I thought she was in a coma, her face bandaged, hooked up to machines in a private wing I wasn't allowed to enter "for sanitary reasons."

I hated myself every day. If I hadn't been so competitive. If I had just let Tessa win.

It turns out, the coma was just a performance. A piece of theater directed by my mother to "fix" my personality.

I stood behind a pillar, feeling like a sewer rat watching a royal wedding.

Two students walked past me, their whispers drifting in the cold air.

"How the hell did Tessa Vane get the Valedictorian award? She barely showed up to class. She was partying in the Hamptons every weekend."

"Shh. Money talks. I heard the Vane family donated a whole new wing to the library to secure her spot."

"Gross. And she does that whole 'Im so humble' act. I heard she told the Dean she 'didn't feel worthy' while her dad wrote the check."

I laughed. It was a wet, broken sound. tears streamed down my face.

I didn't know how much a library wing cost.

I only knew that one day of ICU care for my "sick" parents cost me three days in the coffin.

In that mausoleum, the air was stale and cold. When the stone lid slid shut, the darkness was absolute.

Outside the stone, the hired mourners chanted. Inside, I lay perfectly still, terrified that if I moved, Id disrespect the spirits.

I wasn't scared for myself. I was scared for them.

Just hold on, Nora. Just one more day. Dad needs the ventilator.

The darkness ate away at my mind. The "tonic" ate away at my stomach.

Even the billionaires staff told me to stop.

"Miss Vane, this is... it's too much. The boy is dead. Youre alive. Please, go home."

I knelt before them, begging. "Please. The doctors said my mom moved her finger today. I need the bonus. I need them to walk again."

I sold my life, hour by hour, for a lie.

I wiped my face and blended into the crowd.

I watched them. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run up to them and tear their happiness apart. Am I not your daughter? Is blood nothing to you?

I steeled myself. I stepped into their path.

I lifted my head, ready for the confrontation.

But they walked right past me.

They didn't recognize me.

I was so gaunt, so withered, that my own parents looked through me like I was a dirty window.

Cole even extended a hand to guide Tessa away from me, as if I were a beggar who might infect her.

"Watch out, Tess. Keep moving."

It felt like a physical slap.

I stood frozen.

They didn't know who I was.

As they walked away, Tessa paused. She glanced back over her shoulder.

Her eyes met mine.

She smiled. A small, knowing curve of her lips.

She didn't say anything, but the message was loud and clear: I won.

My phone buzzed.

It was a text from Cole.

Nora, today is Tessas big day. I don't want you showing up and causing a scene with your mood. Stay away. Understand?

Be a good girl. Come home for New Year's Eve.

New Year's Eve?

Would I even be breathing by then?

I shook my head, wandering through the campus like a lost spirit. At least I got to see my dream school one last time.

Suddenly, my phone rang. It was the billionaires estate manager.

"Nora? Look, I know you're... retired. But we have a crisis. The caterer for a big event tonight is short-staffed. VIP clients. Easy work, just passing trays. Triple pay."

"I sent you the address. 7 PM."

He hung up before I could say no.

Since my body failed, they had pre-paid some of my medical bills out of pity. I didn't want to owe them. He called it an "advance on wages."

I looked at the address.

The world tilted.

It was my old house. The Vane Estate.

When the "accident" happened, money hemorrhaged. I sold everything I owned. I couldn't afford the mortgage on the estate with them in the "hospital."

I put the house on the market. A buyer scooped it up immediately for a suspiciously low price because I was desperate for cash. That money paid for three months of fake ICU bills.

I looked at the banner hanging over the front gates: CONGRATULATIONS TESSA.

They hadn't lost the house. They had bought it backor never really sold it. They probably used a shell company to buy it from me for pennies, stripping me of my inheritance while I thanked them for it.

I put on the black servers uniform. It hung off my skeletal frame.

The head of catering barked orders. "The daughter, Tessa, is the jewel of this family. Do not spill anything on her. Do not look at her wrong. Or youll never work in this town again."

I kept my head down. I just wanted to work off this debt and go find a hole to die in.

But the universe wasn't done with me.

Twenty minutes into the party, Tessa found me.

"Sister? What are you doing here?"

She was wearing a crown. A literal diamond tiara. She looked like a princess from a fairy tale.

"I only heard about the... financial trouble recently. Are you okay?"

She covered her mouth, feigning shock. "I already scolded Cole. How could he let you work as a servant? Its so embarrassing."

"He promised me hed apologize to you. Did he say sorry yet?"

Her smile was flawless, but her eyes were dead. Predatory.

I didn't look up. "Excuse me, Miss Vane. I have work to do."

I tried to step around her.

She stepped into my path, caught her heel on her own dress, and threw herself to the floor with the grace of a trained dancer.

"Nora! I didn't mean to steal your family! Please don't push me!"

Before I could even process the act, a hand struck my face. Hard.

My father.

"Nora Vane! How can you be so vicious? I thought you had learned your lesson!"

The room spun. My stomach churned, acid and blood mixing.

Mom rushed to help Tessa up, checking her for imaginary wounds. She looked at me with deep, sorrowful disappointment. "If you want to be angry, be angry at us. Why attack Tessa?"

"It seems the punishment was too light."

Punishment?

What crime had I committed that required a death sentence?

"Just because I got first place?" I whispered, the words bubbling up with iron-tasting saliva. "Thats why you tortured me?"

Dad sighed, adjusting his cufflinks. "So, you know everything."

"Good. It was getting exhausting keeping up the charade."

"Yes," he nodded, looking at me like he was explaining gravity to a toddler. "You are supposed to be the heir to Vane Enterprises. We have three hundred employees. They don't need a selfish, arrogant CEO."

"You beat Tessa. You gloated. If we didn't stop you, what would you do next? Crush a competitor? Destroy a family for profit?"

"This was character building, Nora. We wanted to teach you sacrifice."

Sacrifice.

I didn't steal that grade. I didn't cheat. I studied while Tessa slept.

Is effort a sin? Is excellence a crime?

Before I could speak, Dad turned to Tessa, beaming. "Some people just can't be fixed. But Tessa... Valedictorian of Columbia. Humble. Kind. Im not a stubborn man."

He raised his voice, addressing the room. "Tonight, I am proud to announce that Tessa will be the future CEO of Vane Enterprises."

Mom and Cole clapped, their faces glowing with pride.

"As for you," Dad looked at me with disgust. "Tessa is kind enough to offer you a monthly allowance."

"Admit your mistake, apologize to your sister, and take the money."

A monthly allowance.

I laughed inside. I was a dead woman walking. What use did I have for money?

And Tessa... the snake in the tiara... she would never let me see a dime.

I looked at them one last time. I swallowed the blood rising in my throat.

"Since you love Tessa so much," I said, my voice eerily calm. "You can just pretend your daughter Nora died three years ago."

I turned to leave. I couldn't breathe the air in this house anymore.

"Go!" Dad shouted. "If you walk out that door, don't bother coming back for Christmas!"

Coles eyes flickered with a sudden, confused panic. He took a step toward me.

"Dad, thats too far. Shes still family."

Even Mom looked uneasy.

But before anyone could say another word, a scream ripped through the crowd near the entrance.

"Oh my god! Shes coughing up blood! Someone call 911!"