Set in Ink

Chapter 12

I wake up breathing heavily in a dark hospital room. I look around. I can't see much, but I can make out a light switch on the other side of the room. I begin to sit up when I feel a hand push me back down. I feel sharp pain run through my whole body. I decide not to fight the hand. I obey its silent command and I lie down.

I hear footsteps, and a blinding light follows. Kind of like the light from the story I told Addilyn earlier, I think. I know that it was cruel to tell her a story like that, but I had to see it happen. I had to know that we shared a Tattoo for sure.

Addilyn. I think suddenly. Where is she? I now remember the glass shattering. I remember Addilyn covering me. Then there was a man that caught her when she fell. He said "I'm Addilyn's Grandpa, now help me carry her to the car." I had so many questions, but I was too shocked to ask anything.

Now I remember why I'm in a hospital. I reached for Addilyn's limp body, but there was an overwhelming amount of pain. I looked down and there were shards of glass in my arms and legs. There was blood all over me. Turning my clothes a sticky scarlet. I decided I had to work through the pain. There was glass in Addilyn's neck and I had to help her. I reached out again, this time suffering quietly through the pain, and I helped her Grandpa carry her to the car.

We got into his van and he drove us to this secret underground hospital. When we got out of the car I tried to help him carry Addilyn again, but two nurses put me on a bed, not too kindly I might add, and rolled me away to a room. Before we went through the double doors I heard another nurse that was standing by Addilyn say "There is no pulse," then I lost my ability to hear anything. There was a loud ringing in my ears and I passed out.

I can't believe myself. Addilyn saved me. I should have been the one saving her. She might be dead because of me.

"Addi," I whisper.

Then I begin to cry. I cry and cry. I feel a hand on my shoulder, that comes with a quick shooting pain. I look up. It's Addilyn's grandfather.

"Mr. Griffin," I say, surprised that he is here and not with his granddaughter.

"Call me Gramps," he says with a smile, "Addilyn did."

I feel like this is something he would say after Addilyn and I were married. The thought makes me smile a little myself. I remember when we kissed the night before. I remember the feeling that I didn't want anything keeping us apart. I wanted to be with her forever. I wanted her to feel my love for her, and I wanted it to light her up and bring her joy forever, just through one kiss. I remember telling her to leave. That was a mistake. I have never loved a girl so much. It scared me. I have never done more than hug a girl, and not even that since my family died. I love Addilyn so much. I don't want to make a mistake. Then I come to a shocking realization.

"Did you," my voice shakes, and it's hard to continue, I pause for about a minute.

"Did you say Addilyn did?" I finally ask. "As in past tense?"

Gramps frowns and I feel the most horrible pain, and fear, and hopelessness I have ever felt in my life. I'm angry. I'm angry at myself, and I'm angry at the word. I should have saved her.

"I should have saved her," I yell, not able to control my anger. "It isn't fair," I scream even louder.

I know that this sounds childlike, but I don't care. She's dead and I can't do anything about it. I can't bring her back to life. I can't help in any way. It's over. she is no longer alive. I begin to cry. I cry more violently than I ever have before.

"No, no she isn't dead it's okay," says Gramps. "She's in critical condition. The surgeons took the glass out of her neck and fixed everything, but serious damage was done and she's having trouble breathing. They said they think she will make it, but they can't be sure," he laughs a little. "They think she will make it, like that's any comfort."

I am still crying. She can't die. I can't lose her. I know that I haven't known her for long, but she had a magnetic pull. I couldn't resist her. I feel like I have known her all of my life. I sob until my sobbing wears me out. My energy is still low from all of the blood I lost, I guess. I fall asleep while crying.

Gramps says when I wake up, that I even cried in my sleep."

How long was I asleep?" I ask, I am not that curious about the answer to this particular question, but I want to know how long Addilyn has had to recover.

I move and there is no pain at all. I must have healed pretty well.

"Two days," Gramps states.

Two days. That's why I feel so healthy. If two days have passed, then they must know if Addilyn will live. Unless... she's already gone. The thought is unbearable, but if it is true, then I know I will have to move on and bear it. Like I did with the deaths of my family.

"Addilyn?" I ask, her name has so much meaning.

I say it like she's the most precious thing in the world. Like she is my everything, and maybe she is."

She's alive and breathing," he says.

I gasp, and then I let out a huge breath, like I was holding it for years.

"I want to see her now!" I exclaim.

"You can't, they won't take any visitors, not even me, she is sleeping and we can't wake her. They think it will be a few more days until she wakes. Sorry son."

"Oh," is all I say, then, exhausted again, I fall back asleep.

The next three days go by in a blur of mashed up food, and sleep. Gramps is in my room all the time now. On the fourth day when I wake up he isn't in my room though. A surge of hope rushes through me. The door of my room opens slowly and Gramps walks in slowly, his head is down.

When he lifts his head I see that he is crying. It's silent, but tears stream down his face. I feel my hope deflate like a balloon. To think that I am completely recovered, I can walk again and all that is left is scars, and she didn't make it, is a terrible thought, but I know I have to think it. I have to take up this burden like I did the lives of my family. I have to bear it.

"She is....." he begins, there is a long pause and I feel tears roll down my cheeks, I brace myself for the news. "In stable condition." he finishes.

I begin to cry harder, but now they are tears of joy. She is alive. She is alive and that's all that matters.

"And she is awake," he continues. "She has asked to see you."

I sob. I let these happy tears soak the collar of my shirt, I don't mind. I jump out of my bed and run to her door. I remember how I stood outside waiting for good news, all day for three days until at night Gramps would tell me to sleep, and I would obey him, not willing to upset him. Now I stand outside with a new light in my eyes. A new kind of hope. I am reassured. She is alive and she is even speaking. Is it possible for someone to recover so well, so quickly? I don't care. It must be because she did. I walk into her room smiling and sobbing and sit by her bed. She looks at me and smiles, and I couldn't be happier. What a sight I must be.

I don't care.