Take My Hand (Sequel to "Stand Up Tall")

Chapter 25.

Autumn.

I never noticed how good coffee tasted when you had a hangover.

The waitress walked over to my table and asked if I wanted a refill. I nodded in reply, and she grabbed my cup and walked away. I was unaware of how many cups of coffee I had drank over the last hour of being here, but that didn’t stop me from drinking more. 

This place reminded me so much of Averielle. God, do I miss her. I felt like going out with Jinx last night was quite a mistake. What was I trying to do; replace Averielle? Find a way to get beer and cigarettes so I could get things off my mind for a few hours? What did I feel I would get out of hanging out with Jinx again?

I wonder if my mom will let me back in the house. I shrugged and picked up the cup of coffee the waitress had set down on the table in front of me. She smiled, and I smiled and nodded as she turned and walked to the next table.

My phone vibrated from in my bag, and I almost spilled my coffee as I set it back down on the table and searched through my bag.

“Hello?” I said, holding the phone up to my ear. 

“Autumn?” Gerard asked. Thank God.

“It is. Any news on Averielle?”

“We just got off the phone with the hospital. They said everything is going great, and she’s showing improvement. They said not to worry one bit. She’ll be home in no time.”

I had assumed that a weight would have lifted off my shoulders, and a smile would creep across my face. But it didn’t happen. What was wrong?

“That’s great news.” I said, sighing. “I’m so glad she’s doing good. I can’t wait until she’s home.”

“I can’t, either. I’m so happy, Autumn! She’s getting better!” he laughed.

“I’m glad you’re feeling happier, Gerard!”

“Well, I’ll talk to you soon. I’ve got to go.”

“Alright. Thank you for updating me!”

“Your welcome.” he said, hanging up.

I sighed and put my phone down in my lap. I had a weird feeling that something was wrong. But what could be wrong? Wouldn’t they tell us if something had gone wrong?

Averielle.

My eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the blinding light that was shining in my eyes. I jolted up quickly, only to be pulled back down by dozens of what seemed to be wires attached to my arms. I looked around nervously, trying to figure out where I was. I soon recognized the small, plain room I was in to be a hospital room. I tried to sit up again, failing miserably because of all of the things connected to my arms and pumping medicine into my veins. I grew sick at the thought, and quickly tried to distract myself from the thought of one of my biggest fears.

Why was I in a hospital room? Why was I hooked up to dozens of machines that burned my ears from the off-beat beeping noises they were making from next to the bed I was in. They had hospital rooms in the building I was in? What had I done to get in here? 

Questions bounced through my mind, not finding any answers from my surroundings. The walls were painted a plain, off-white color, also the color of a majority of the rest of the things that made up the room. The door on the other side of the room was shut tight. 

I looked down at the hospital bed, hoping to find a button I could press that would call a nurse to my room. There, tangled in the sheets that covered me and wires connected up and down, were my arms. Exposed. I quickly messed with the sheets so they would cover my arms, but realized that the sheets wouldn’t be able to cover my arms all the way up to my shoulder. I panicked and I didn’t know how to cover them. 

Surely, the doctors and nurses that had brought me into this room had already seen them. I was shaking from that thought. I didn’t want anyone seeing my arms, my past. It was like reading someone’s diary, or reading their thoughts. It was an invasion of privacy, and I didn’t want it exposed to the world. 

The last few hours of what I remembered flooded my mind. The last thing I remembered doing was telling Lindsay my story, showing her my scars, my past, my secrets. I then ran back to my room, and cried. What had I done that caused me to be sitting here in this hospital bed? 

The door on the other side of the room suddenly opened, and Lindsay stepped in, shutting the door behind her before facing me, walking towards the bed that I sat in.