Metamorphosis

Haunts and Hurts

Chapter 45

Haunts and Hurts

"How is he doctor?" Dave asked anxiously.

Dr. Lox, a tall man with curly reddish blond hair, sighed and ran the tip of his finger across his nose. "We just finished surgery."

"And…?" Mira asked anxiously.

The doctor held up an x-ray for the group to see.

"The blade of the knife has nicked his spleen, so we will be keeping him on a nasogastric intubation for the next several days." He looked the stunned group and continued, "Now, the cut was not very deep, the young man must have been attacked from an angle because of the way the knife went in."

"He did." Paige suddenly said, the group turned to her, "We-we saw him about to get… to get stabbed and I called out to him. He must have turned toward me at the last second."

"Well it's incredibly fortunate that you did. In fact, he was incredibly fortunate that you were even there" Dr. Lox held up the x-ray again. "Had the knife of gone in straight, it would have punctured his lungs. I have no doubt that it would have killed him."

Mira leaned heavily on her brother as the news sank in.

"Is he going to be alright?" Carolyn asked.

"As long as the NG tube works and the cut does not get any kind of infection, yes he should be fine."

There was a rush of 'oh thank god's' throughout the group of people.

"Is there anything else we should know?" Carolyn asked. The doctor nodded.

"Yes there is. I'm afraid that Seth has developed a mild fever from the wound. It is fairly common, but we will have to keep a close watch on him to make sure he breaks it."

Mira picked her head up from her brother's shoulder, "Will we be able to see him see him soon?"

"We just finished surgery so I'll have to take him to his room and get him settled. He is still unconscious and will awaken when the drugs eventually wear off. But I'd prefer to keep him quiet and wait for him to wake up on his own. Now, there's no telling when that could be."

"Thank you, doctor." Dave said, shaking hands with the other man. "I also want my son in a private room. I'll call my insurance company and have it arranged."

Beep… beep… beep

Nurse Sanders tapped her foot to the rhythmic beating of the heart monitor as she professionally injected the IV into the patient's arm. They are so young these days, she thought while silently studying the unconscious teenage boy on the bed. From what the other nurses told her, there was a large group of people out in waiting room for him. And one of them, she heard, was a teenage girl pregnant with his child.

"Babies having babies." She muttered under her breath. As she was about to leave the room and finish her rounds with the other patients, the heart monitor suddenly started beeping wildly and the patient began thrashing in his bed.

Beepbeep beepbeep beepbeep!

"Doctor!" she screamed.

Seth's feverish mind was running amuck. Though he was unconscious, he was mildly aware that his body was not in the right kind of state. And the dreams were plaguing his mind.

He slowly walked down what appeared to be a hallway. There were pictures on the walls, but he could not make any of them out.

Where am I? He wondered.

Off in the distance, he heard the sound of giggling. Turning his head he saw Paige, Sara, and Ava on a large pile of cushions in the midst of what looked like a pillow fight. As he approached the girls, a large flourish of feathers blew over him.