delirium (sequel to apathy)

26

26

    That was just the start, Amir. Marten will kill you to get what he wants.
                              - JL.

I read the words on the note over and over, not completely processing what I was reading. I had no clue who or what JL could indeed be, since there was nothing else on the paper that could give me a hint as to who it was. The note wasn't typed, in fact, it was written in neat handwriting I had never seen before. At first I thought it was Jose, but I've seen his handwriting before, so it couldn't be him.

I heard the door begin to open, and I reached over and grabbed my jeans off the side of the bed. A terrible pain shot down my back, but nevertheless, I shoved the note deep down in my front pocket. I sat upright just in time, Mom walking right into my room afterwards. She held a fresh set of clothes for me in her hands, and placed them on my bed close to me.

"Brought you some fresh clothes," she smiled, kissing my forehead. I returned her warm smile, feeling her rub my back. She fluffed my pillows, and then took seat on the edge of my bed. I thought about the note, debating whether or not I should tell her about it. I decided against it, instead bringing up something else to ask her. She didn't say anything about it, but she seemed to be stressed out. She was always worrying about me, and I didn't really want to give her an excuse to worry herself out over me. She has my little sister to take care of.

"When am I able to get out?" I asked, looking at her. She paused for a minute, obviously thinking. I picked at the food on my tray, eating a little bit before taking the small container of my meds next to my drink. I certainly needed these meds, because my body hurt all over. I most definitely needed some relief.

"In a day or two," she replied, and I nodded. I certainly wasn't complaining. I was in tremendous pain, and I'd stay for a while until I got better. However, I had things to do. We all had things to do. The sooner I got out, the less time we would waste getting to the bottom of this issue.

"Well, can I go see Avery?"

"I don't see why not..let me go get the nurse to help you with your clothes." Mom kissed my forehead, and rubbed my back before leaving the room. It wasn't long before a nurse came in, and she quickly helped me put on my fresh clothes. She also gave me crutches to support myself, as she told me that I shouldn't put too much weight on my legs, if I could help it. I already knew most of this, but I listened just to make her feel better.

I made sure to bring the note along with me before I made my way to Avery's room. I knocked on the door, and heard a weak voice telling me to come in. I entered, closing the door behind me, him glancing over at me. Avery was sitting up in the hospital bed, his leg propped up on several pillows, said leg decorated with several stitches. He had bandages and gauze wrapped around his chest, and a scar right across his cheek. He really did get it worse than me.

"Hey man, what's up?"

"Hey," he gave me a weak smile.

"Ramiro was right," I said, "you look like shit."

Avery chuckled, but ended up going into a small coughing fit. I managed to sit down in the chair near his bed, leaning my crutches up against his bed. "You good?" I questioned, and he nodded. "Yeah. I finally woke up about twenty minutes ago," he said, "I've never been in so much pain, bruh."

"Same here."

I was surprised that Avery had even woken up, to be honest. It wasn't like he was in a coma or anything, but the last thing I remember seeing before I blacked out and ended up in the hospital was seeing Avery laid out on the floor. And to think, it was all because of one mere person. It was crazy. To think that someone you were beginning to trust was just going to turn around and betray you like that.