Affinity (RDJ) - 1st person

Chapter 9 - Hold You

The shrill sound of screaming pins me to my bed.

My eyes are open, but nothing else seems to move. I struggle against my invisible tethers, desperately heaving my body to escape, but I can't.

The screaming stops, and I'm left panting in the wake of its passing.

"You should get up."

I turn my head to see my sister standing next to my bed, glaring forwards into the blackness of my room, her eyes black and dead.

As her eyes lower to look at me, I catch sight of her head. Where it once was whole and round and identical to mine, the right half is now missing as if blown away by a machine gun.

The blood begins to pour as I scream.

I jolt awake, breathing heavily. I'm drenched in sweat, and my heart pounds in my chest. Blinking hard, I try to forget the sight of Robyn's broken skull.

Flicking on my table lamp, I shuffle up in bed, hugging the duvet to me as a form of protection. It had taken me over 2 hours to fall asleep last night, my mind numb with unrelenting thoughts spinning around.

Friends... drinks... dancing... Robyn...

Robert.

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. I need to occupy my mind. Give it no room to replay the embarrassment that was last night. Throwing the covers off me, I slide out of bed and pad across the cold, wooden floor to my closet. It's my day to visit mom today, although it's the last thing I want to be doing right now. I sigh, pulling open the wooden doors and find something to throw on.

I walk through the hospital car park after getting off the bus and head inside. The automatic doors swoosh open in front of me, and I find the receptionist. "I'm here to see Laura Boden," I manage, emotionless. My dad got special permission to stay over last night so he's already with her.

"Sure, head on up!" she replies, smiling. I head to the lift and jab at the button. An 'out of order' sign flashes red at me, so I head to the stairs and begin climbing to the third floor.

As I reach her room, I hear muffled voices coming from behind the door. I enter and see a man who I don't recognise standing talking to my dad. They're deep in conversation, my dad's fingers curled on his chin as he listens to the doctor's words. He notices me and stops the doctor mid-sentence.

"Hey, Rem. This is Doctor Shepherd, your mom's neurosurgeon." I extend my hand for him to shake, and he does so.

"Pleasure to meet you, Remy. I've heard a lot about you," he smiles.

"He was just talking to me about his new clinical trial. It's research into why coma patients don't always wake up and he thinks he's found a... something or other that could help your mom. That could... wake her up. Right?" my dad says nervously. I look at the doctor expectantly, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Well... we think we've found a drug, still in its experimental phase, that could improve your mother's condition. I hear you're a med student, so I won't sugar coat it. It reactivates the neurone pathways in the brain after brain damage and rebuilds the connections, thereby eventually building enough connections to possibly reawaken the patient. Well, in theory. It takes a few rounds of the medication for it to start having an effect, and your mom is a prime candidate what with her being comatose for so long now."

My dad interrupts. "It's a really long shot, but it could be the only chance she has. The doctor says the hospital will apply for an FDA approval, but that could take years." My brain is reeling with all of this information, and I can't really process it properly with the lack of sleep I've had.