The Terror #wattys2017 #TNTHorrorContest

Concsiousness

        We arrived at Heather's room which just so happened to be number 1266, she was awake and having her lunch.  It was the first time since the incident that I had seen her in any other state than sedated. She was now out of the fixture that held her arms at shoulder height and she had what appeared to be new casts on her arms with which she could now use her fingers. Though still in the casts she was able to maneuver some green jello on a spoon to her mouth and was doing so as we walked through the door.

        Michelle had stopped in at the hospital florist on the way up and brought her some flowers, in this case, a single large sunflower surrounded by Babies Breath and some kind of greenery.  A small lollipop balloon with "Get Well" emblazoned upon it was perched amongst the greenery.  She held it in her right hand against her breast and had that gigantic purse hanging from her left.  

        Michelle stepped in first as I was holding the door for her and the moment she rounded the corner and they met eye to eye, the flower pot hit the floor with a popping sound as the container cracked and Heather's spoon tinkled on the floor as she dropped it in surprise. The popping sound took me straight back to Steve's scalp slapping the pavement and the darkness overtook me.

        Michelle cared not about the flowers but nearly jumped to the bed and embraced her best friend,

        "You're AWAKE!"

        They fell into each other's arms and wept openly

        "OWEY OWE," Heather cried.

        "Oh, I'm sorry sweetie, I'm so sorry! Are you alright? How do you feel? Oh, I've missed you so much!"

        "I'm okay, I'm fine, I finally have fingers and I'm out of that stupid fixture"

        She was still talking slowly as she was still on pretty heavy doses of pain killers but, she was smiling and that hadn't happened in a very long time.  Though I had been making my way here pretty regularly, Michelle had not. Some people can't deal with hospitals and pain and the grief that goes along with it.  I had seen Heather semi conscious a few times but never really enough to know what was going on.  Now after only a few days since I had been here she made this giant stride and somehow I felt like I had missed something. As if something I was supposed to be here for happened without me and now, Michelle seemed to be getting all the credit. Even as I stood there and watched the two friends do what friends should do, I knew that this jealous part of me was shoving it's green blade into the soft part of my heart.  What was I here all this time for if not for some .....what? I wasn't sure what it was that I wanted but there was an anger stirring in me that I knew I could not allow to show it's ugly face.  I slowly backed out the door to give the girls some privacy but more so to slow the beating of my pulse and the sweat that was appearing on my brow.  

        I went to the waiting room just down the hall and luckily I was the only one there. I sat on the Burnt Sienna sofa and tried to calm myself down.  I was not acquainted with these emotions, I was still but a boy in my heart but a very loyal boy.  "She still doesn't know what happened," I suddenly realized the time had come to tell her about Turtle and Dale and the part I played in it. This made my swirling brain spin faster and tighter and then, the weight of Dale's head in my lap, it wasn't just the weight this time though, there was an odor, distinct, dull and sharp all at once and a coppery taste in my mouth.  I could feel the wet warm blood of my cohort in the crime of ruining Heather's life, as it ran down my legs. Just then something ....cracked.  Something small inside my head, behind my eyes, something light went dark and I saw that darkness rise in my vision. As if a shade was being pulled up from behind my corneas and as soon as that shade took up all my vision, just darkness remained and I lost consciousness.

        I awoke in a hospital bed with a doctor waving a flashlight in my eyes....again...