Possession < Spider-Man • Book 1 >

- 6 -

chapter six:

Caelum's entire body felt heavy and sore. He felt as if he were sitting underneath the sun for days and nobody had bothered to check on him. He let out a low moan, his eyes rolling aimlessly behind their lids. He heard muffled talking around him, but his ears felt clogged, like they do after going for a swim. He distinctly heard someone say, “waking up!” as his eyes began to open slowly.

The room was bright and he squinted waiting for his eyes to adjust. He recognized the look of the hospital room near immediately. It was early, he could tell, the sunlight’s rays had pieced through the curtains on the window. How much would this cost him, he wondered? He couldn’t possibly afford a hospital bill.

Someone was talking, he wasn’t listening, he didn’t have time to listen. “Algol? Are you listening to me?” Caelum turned to look at the speaker, it was his father.

He stiffened, and immediately pain spread through his body. His mother was sitting beside his father, a look of worry on her face. “Don’t yell at him,” she scolded, and looked at Caelum. “How do you feel?”

“. . . I will live,” he said after thinking for a moment, his throat was sore and a bit croaky. He was also tired. He wanted to sleep, but he had the distinct feeling he had been doing a lot of that lately. That was odd ― Caelum rarely ever slept. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital,” his mother answered, sounding completely like the nurse she was. “We're trying to figure out what happened to you and if there will be any lasting effects.”

“And what exactly was that?”  Caelum asked, his head was pounding. He didn’t feel like talking, but there were things he knew he needed answering. What had happened to him? They were at the grand opening. . . his father was causing a scene. . . and there was a boy, a little boy.

“You saved Calvin’s son,” his father explained. “Calvin Lee, remember? Somebody’s kid came trampling through and you pushed him out of the way. The exhibit hit you instead of him. It wasn’t supposed to fall off the podium like that, but the screws hadn’t been on right. Kaxton offered to pay the medical bills and gave some money for your college to keep us from suing them.”

Caelum let out a sigh of relief, relaxing on the bed. He wouldn’t have to pay hospital bills, he wouldn’t be late on a payment. “How long have I been asleep?” He asked.

“About a week,” his mother answered. “But it’ll be a lot more while they keep you undersupervison to make sure there were no―”

“I can’t stay here!” Caelum suddenly said. “No, I–I have to go back to school!” He couldn’t believe his ears. A week ― a whole week! All the hours he could’ve spent at the shop wasted while he laid sleeping in a bed.

This completely threw off his budget. He still owed that 126 dollars, he would have a tone of work to finish as well. Caelum felt like he was going to be sick. He was going to be sick. He turned away, bile rising in his throat, and vomited on the ground. He heaved, tears coming to his eyes. His mother stood, and pressed a button on the remote. Then, she went to the side of the room, grabbing a strange green bag with a rubber, curved rim.

She gave it to Caelum and he vomited again, it filled the bag, and then snapped off, somehow tying itself. She took it with a gloved hand and handed him another, but he didn’t need it. Everything that might have been left in his system was gone, and he felt starved.

The door opened and a nurse along with a few doctors entered the room. One had began to ask questions, but Caelum could hardly focus. He was so tired. Someone was touching his arm and his chest, shining a light down his throat and in his eyes they closed again.