The recycled smell of hospital air is overwhelming. I open my eyes to slits, and everything's blurry and too bright but I can still see shapes. Gwen is asleep in a chair at the end of my bed, and outside the door I can hear the soft murmur of voices.
Caleb.
His voice is unmistakeable. Like a half-remembered dream. Opening my eyes the whole way, I take in the cuts on my arms, the tv quietly playing MTV, and the click-beep of the IV machine. It's only when I roll my head to the side, I realize something is wrong. Reflected in the metal sidebars of the bed, I see my face, only I don't recognize it as mine. My green eyes are puffy, my red hair a tangled mess. There are cuts over my cheeks and forehead, and under my hair I can see a small large shaved section, where black stitches stand out starkly against the pale skin. My breathing escalates as I touch the stitches.
"Gwen," I say quietly, not looking away.
"Gwen, GwenGwenGwenGWEN!" I start to panic, hardly able to breathe. She jerks awake and leaps out of her chair to snatch my hand away from my head and squeezes it. She holds me in her arms, perched on the edge of her bed as I start to cry uncontrollably. The voices stop abruptly and Caleb rushes in, followed by a doctor.
"What...what happened to me?" My voice comes out sludgy, thick with tears.
"Belle, it's okay. You've been in an accident. But you're alright now," Gwen explains. "Right?" she asks tentatively, looking towards the doctor.
"Not exactly," the doctor says, sitting down in another chair on my right. Caleb stands awkwardly beside him, his eyes puffy and red. He can't hold my gaze.
There's something about him...
"Unfortunately," the doctor breaks off my thoughts, "the large cut on your head was very severe. You've suffered some brain damage."
The words echo around in my skull.
"On top of that, you've got broken ribs, whiplash and a small incident with internal bleeding, but that stopped a couple days ago," the doctor says, standing and checking the machines I'm hooked up to.
"A couple days ago?" My voice cracks. Caleb clears his throat, finally looking at me.
"You've been out for more than a week, Belle." The way he says it sounds painful, as if the words hurt him.
He's so familiar...
"The good news is that you can go home in a few days," the doctor announces, smiling slightly and then ducks out of the room. The door closes with a soft click.
Caleb goes and sits where the doctor had been sitting. He rests his head in his hands, breathing out loudly.
"Caleb?" I croak.
He looks up at me slowly.
"Caleb?" I say a little louder. He smiles, and a foggy memory surfaces in my brain, like a half-remembered dream.
"Yeah, it's me, Belle," he forces a chuckle. I try smiling, but it's watery. Leaning forward, I sit up and try to cross my legs under me. He gets up suddenly and tries helping me, but I push his arms away. When I see that he hasn't moved, I look up at him and then down to his arm, where my hand was currently latched onto, holding on for dear life.
He stares at me.
"You...," I start to say, and he shifts uncomfortably under my grip.
"Me?" He licks his lips nervously and swallows hard.
"I...I remember you...," I say slowly.
His eyebrows scrunch together.
"Aren't we together?"
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Hey my lovely readers (if I have many by this point)
This chapter was short, and I've been traveling a bit this weekend so I thought I'd upload.
As always, feedback and critique are appreciated.
Love you all! :-)
YOU ARE READING
Hit And Run With It
Teen Fiction**NOTICE: There are some huge plot changes coming to this story, so please bear with me while it is under construction** After the accident that nearly killed her, Belle Evans begins her long road to recovery. With her boyfriend, Caleb, and her fami...
