The Chaotic Interim (boyxboy)

Chapter 8

The very second Carson pried open his leaden eyelids, there seemed to be a million things going on at once. His head was pounding and he was finding it hard to open his eyes more than a tiny bit. The people around him didn’t even notice the brunette was awake until he moaned after trying to turn his head.

From then on, Carson was bombarded with endless amounts of questions and information about his condition from the nurses and the doctors. They hardly even gave him any time to gather himself and his thoughts before they were prodding at him trying to get answers about what had happened.

By the time the police, his doctor, and his nurses left him alone, Carson felt successfully drained and exhausted all over again. He hadn’t quite understood all of the official terms when the doctors were telling him was was wrong with him, but he got the basics. He had a concussion--which he realized was why his motor skills were running so slow--his ribs were heavily bruised from all the pressure they had been under, and he had other various cuts, scrapes, and bruises all over him from the rough handling he had received.

Carson kept feeling an overwhelming urge to cry every moment he was awake, but surprisingly, he never did. He was so sore and mentally torn up, that before the nurse even came back into the room with his parents, which was why she had left in the first place, he had already fallen back into the abyss of sleep.

When Carson woke up again, he felt considerably better, but by no means was he feeling even remotely fantastic. He blinked his eyes open a few times, adjusting to the gray brightness coming into the room through the light filtering shades. The brunette didn’t even get the chance to try and sit up before someone was hovering over him.

“Carson,” Josiah breathed. His face was a perfect representation of relief. “Hey, bud. How are you feeling?”

Carson blinked slowly, feeling drowsy. He was confused at first having just woken up from deep sleep. It took a few moments before he collected his thoughts and things came rushing back to him. When they did, he looked up at Josiah’s expectant face and tried to answer, but she could barely even croak out a word, his throat was so dry.

Josiah immediately reached for the full cup of water and brought it to Carson’s lips. The older boy carefully touched the back of the brunette’s head to help make it easier for him to take a drink.

Carson greedily gulped down the room temperature water and gagged. Startled, Josiah pulled the cup away and gently released his friend.

“Sorry,” Josiah said sincerely. His eyes looked sad, and Carson frowned because of it. He didn’t like seeing his friend like that. “Are you okay?”

Carson nodded and then regretted it. His head still felt sore. The brunette reached a pale hand up to his head and felt a bandage covering his left ear. His indigo eyes went wide as he looked at Josiah. He hadn’t even remembered it being there the first time he woke up. Actually, he didn’t remember much from then except for the endless amount of questions he had to answer.

“You had a gash where the top of your ear connects to your head,” Josiah explained. “Your doctor said it was from the football...”

Carson swallowed. He almost nodded again, but remembered his concussion-induced headache. “Oh,” he said quietly. His voice sounded weak to his own ears, but he ignored it. Carson glanced around but noticed it was just Josiah standing with him. “They told me it was you that called 911.”

Josiah forced his expression into one of neutrality. He nodded. “Yeah, I did.”

Carson watched his friend’s face and worry started to seep in. “Thanks, Joe. I seriously can’t thank you enough. I’m so sorry.”