The Name's Sinner - Chapter Twenty Seven
Usually when you close your eyes you see darkness; an abyss of pitch black, created by your own eyelids. But when I close my eyes, I don't see black...I just see him.
I see flashing images of Edward. I see his hellish face and the menace in his eyes. I can see that he wants me dead, I mean, the psycho flooded an alley in an attempt to drown me. He's now yet another person who wants me dead, just what I needed at a time like this.
I feel my heart rate pick up its pace as sweat accumulates on my forehead. I hate to admit this, but I'm afraid.
"Eddie?" I hear Maddy's low voice, over the murmur of hospital machines. "Eddie, can you hear me?"
Drawing in a long breath I force myself out of the darkness of closed eyes and try to pry them open. As soon as I do, I'm hit with the brightness of strong beams of light hanging from the ceiling.
"You can hear me!" She cries happily, her tired face cracking a smile. I feel her hand in mine and give it a squeeze. "You scared me, Ed. I thought you were gone for good."
Still adjusting to the change of light, I shift myself and sit upright. Even though I hurt all over, I manage to let out a quiet, "I'm fine."
"That's great, but the doctors said they'll still need to run some tests and have you get an X-Ray."
I nod, as I slowly take her in. She looks like a mess, but I don't mind, because I probably look a hundred times worse. Her dark hair is disheveled and face pink with tears. She keeps a smile plastered on, but her droopy eyes and tired demeanour give her away.
"How long have you been sitting here?" I question, hoping it hasn't been more than a half hour or two.
"Hmm," she thinks for a moment as she checks her phone, "it's thirteen minutes past noon, so I guess a little over twelve hours-"
"Twelve hours?" I repeat. "Mads, I'm alright. You should get home and get some sleep."
"I tried taking a nap here, but I couldn't sleep knowing you might not be okay."
A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. "You're really compassionate, you know that?"
She simply rolls her eyes, as she plays with my hair.
"It's still wet," she comments, with a slight frown.
"What?"
"Your hair is still damp. You know they found you wet in a puddle, down some alley way? When the hospital contacted me, I didn't have any explanation. I guess that's another reason I was so worried. The thought of you suddenly passing away and no one knowing why, not even me."
She continues talking but I don't hear a word after an alley way is mentioned.
As if on cue, more flashing images of the night before return. I remember things a little clearer now, and it's not as dark. There's soccer balls, and water at my neck line. Edward must've been messing with my head. He couldn't fill an entire alley way with water, he couldn't have really-
My train of thought is abruptly cut short when medics dressed in white scrubs usher in. Maddy welcomes them with a smile, but I instinctively perk up. There's something off here.
There must be five or six people dressed in the same white gear, head to toe. I can't tell male from female- even the face is covered with surgical masks and tinted safety goggles.
One stalks over to my bedside while Maddy's inquires, "So after the X-Ray do you think it will be okay for him to come home?"
"Sure," the person replies in a raspy voice- female. "If you could just wait outside for a moment, we need to get these tubes out of the way."
