A New Beginning

Hospital

When Shane opened his eyes, he couldn't make out where he was because of the bright lights. Anxiety struck him as he tried to sit up, but his weakness and severe abdominal pain forced him to lie back down.

"Hello, Shane," an unfamiliar female voice greeted him.

Shane looked in the direction of the sound. It was a young woman wearing blue scrubs and a stethoscope. "Where the hell am I?" he cried, trying to sit up again.

"Relax," the woman put her hand on Shane's shoulder. "You're in the hospital right now." Shane laid his head on the pillow and sighed. His pain had eased up a bit; he was dressed in a hospital gown and there was an IV in his left arm. The nurses must have cleaned him up, because the dried blood that was on his face had disappeared. The cuts and scrapes on his body were covered with bandages made of gauze and tape.

The woman continued to introduce herself. "My name is Cassie; I'm one the nurses that work here. Do you remember what happened?"

Shane remembered the brutal fight he had with Trip and his companions and how Trip had sunk his pocketknife into his abdomen and twisted it around. He slowly nodded his head.

The nurse explained to Shane what had happened after he passed out. Somebody found him and called 911, the ambulance had come, picked him up, and brought him to the emergency room in the hospital. Before he woke up, the nurses had cleaned him up, bandaged his wounds, and inserted an IV in order to give him a blood transfusion and pain medicine.

Shane stuck his hand under the blanket and felt for his phone. "Where's my phone? And my wallet?" he asked.

The nurse pointed to a white bag with the words "Personal Belongings" printed on it. "Everything's in there," she reassured him. "Your wallet, phone, and keys."

"Okay," Shane replied.

"Do you have your parents' numbers that we can call?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah," Shane answered. He proceeded to recite his mom's cell phone number by memory.

"I'm going to call your parents and let them know where you are," she explained. "I'll also let them know that we're going to keep you here for another day or two for observation."

"But I have a football game tonight!" Shane protested. "I have to get out of here today!"

"Not in the shape you're in," Cassie replied firmly. "You'll only injure yourself more. Besides, we need to get a CT scan on you to make sure you don't have any brain injury."

Shane watched as Cassie disappeared behind the curtain that separated the room from the hall, pulling it shut behind her. He felt upset and disappointed about missing his football game. What would his coach and teammates say?

Just then, an idea popped in his head. Since there was no one in the room, he could easily slip out unnoticed. Shane sat up and dangled his feet off the edge of the bed. He still felt lightheaded with activity, but that didn't stop him. He stood up, grabbed the bag with this things in it, and started walking towards the curtain, when he suddenly felt a tug on his left arm.

Shit! He thought. I forgot about the IV! For a minute, Shane thought about how he was going to make his escape. Just then, he started feeling lightheaded and nauseous all over again. Not again! Shane thought to himself. He grasped the IV pole for balance, but his vision blacked out once again and he fell unconscious to the floor with a crash.

Shane woke up to see Cassie and three other nurses hovering over him. He was still lying on the floor, and there was a blood pressure cuff on his arm. One of the nurses was taking his vital signs. "Were you trying to escape?" Cassie asked.