:: S I X T E E N ::
Beep. Beep. Beep. That was all Luke heard. He tried opening his eyes. It seemed impossible, but he managed to crack them open. All he saw was white; white floors, white walls, white sheets, everything white. Heck, even his complexion was close to white – he was that pale. What was he doing here? What is this place? What even happened? With all those questions running through his head, he decided to get down from the bed he was lying on. Only then did he realize that his left leg was in a cast and so was his left arm. His head felt odd and when he reached up to it, he felt a bandage.
He groaned and leaned his head back onto the pillow and turned his head left. He saw an old man with a broken arm – he was wearing a cast, so Luke assumed it was broken – sitting on his bed, staring into nothingness. On Luke’s right was a girl – probably around the age of fifteen – in deep sleep. Seeing that girl made realization hit Luke like a lightning bolt. Ellie. His eyes went wide and he sat up quickly, which was a terrible mistake since he instantly felt woozy. He brought his right hand up to his forehead and massaged his temples, wincing at the pain.
Luke heard heels clicking on the tiles and looked up to see who it was. “Oh, you’re awake! Thank god!” The nurse said, letting out a breath of relief as the tension left her shoulders.
“How long have I been unconscious?” Luke asked, his voice sounding so raw and raspy from lack of use.
“About two days.” The nurse said with concern evident in her voice. Luke thought she was kind. Her hair was gray in places and she looked like a caring mother thrust into a nurse’s uniform.
“Do you know on which floor my girlfriend is?” Luke asked hopefully. “Her name is Elaine Hawthorn.” The nurse’s face dropped and she looked close to tears which immediately made Luke panic.
“Oh, I’m so sorry sweetheart.” The nurse, Melanie as mentioned in her name tag, said as she shook her head. “She’s not responding to any medicine. She still hasn’t woken up. I heard the doctors say that she’s in a coma.” She clasped her hand onto her mouth with tears in her eyes.
Luke didn’t respond. He couldn’t respond. He felt numb. He felt as though his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth. He stared at the nurse, his pulse increasing, his breath coming out in rapid short breaths. Shock consumed him. Please, he prayed, please tell me I haven’t done it again. Tears threatened to spill. And spill they did endlessly, uncontrollably as his jaws clenched. He wanted to punch something except he had no strength and no willpower to.
The nurse had no idea what to do, what to say, but she knew if he stayed the way he was it would affect him mentally so she went to call a doctor.
While she was gone Luke broke down completely. Never ending sobs escaping his lips. He hunched himself over, his knuckles becoming white from the grip on his thigh as he tried to control himself. She’ll be alright, he comforted himself, she’ll be…
“El,” he sobbed, “what have I done? How can I live with myself now?” He chocked as sobs kept escaping his chapped lips. He cried, screamed in pain. He felt his heart shriveling up. Was that possible? For him it was. He could feel something burning deeper and deeper into him where his heart was supposed to be. He screamed one last time before his vision became blurred and everything blacked out.
-
“El, what are you doing?” Luke giggled as he chased after her around her backyard.
“Running away from you, you goofball!” She chuckled, running around in crazy circles and beginning to feel dizzy. “Okay, peace, peace, time out,” she breathed out as she sat down on the grass.
“Water?” Luke asked, handing her a bottle of water which she accepted gratefully.
And then they were in Ellie’s room, laying there close to each other talking about anything and everything. Luke’s head was resting on Ellie’s stomach, his legs dangling off the side, as she played with his blonde tufts of hair.
“Who do you want to be when you grow up, El?” He asked.
“I don’t know, Luke,” she sighed as she thought. “I mean we are grown up, we’re almost done with our IB exams. We should be thinking of the colleges we want to head off to.” She shrugged. “Who do you want to be?”
“Someone who helps people. I don’t want anyone to ever feel the way I felt for the past ten years. I don’t want them to feel as if they’re in a dark hole with no way out and with no one to save them. It hurts being that way, I know. I want everyone to be happy, which I know isn’t always possible but it’s worth a shot. Being helpless and lost isn’t something I would wish on my worst enemy.” He said and turned sideways, his head still resting on Ellie’s stomach.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done without you, El. You’re the light that guided me out of the darkness I cast myself to. I love you so, so much.” He said in a soft voice as he raised his head, leaning towards her as he kissed her softly before resting his head back where it was.
“Stop shaking your head around so much,” she giggled as she was being tickled without Luke’s knowledge. “And I love you too Luke, so very much.” She sighed happily.
Luke shook his head some more making Ellie push his head off of her. He chuckled before turning towards her and saying with his hands up, “Okay, okay I won’t do it again, so can I please have my Ellie pillow back?” He asked and she gave in, nodding in response making him smile widely.
He brought his head down again but stopped midway, placing a kiss on her stomach. “Someday my little baby girl will be in there,” he said before turning around and placing his head back down.
-
“El!” Luke said hopefully as he woke up, a smile on his face as he looked around and dropped his head back down to the pillow, his smile disappearing, once the only thing he saw was the dull hospital walls and beds of patients. It was just a flashback from last week. He thought as he shook his head, tears flowing down his cheeks.
“Luke?” He heard a concerned voice speak up and he lifted his head, looking around for the source of the voice. His eyes landed on Ashton, whose worried expression softened when their eyes met.
He smiled softly and asked, “How are you feeling buddy?”
Luke sighed sadly, looking at his hands on his lap momentarily before responding. “They won’t let me go see her, Ashton.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Ashton reached over and took Luke’s hand in both of his. “They don’t want you to pass out again, Luke. Don’t you think it’d be better for you to recover completely so you could stay strong for the both of you? When you’re feeling better I promise you I’ll take you to see Ellie myself.”
Luke nodded as he bit down on his lip. His eyes shifted someone sitting at a distance, watching the two of them intently. “Hey, isn’t that the girl who was with you at the party?” Luke asked, nodding his head in the direction of the red headed girl.
“Oh, yeah that’s Marissa.” He said, letting go of Luke’s hand to wave her over and she walked over hesitantly as if she didn’t want to intrude.
“Hi, Marissa,” Luke said, smiling politely. “I would shake your hand but I don’t have the strength to lift mine.”
“Hey,” She smiled back. “Hope you’re doing well,” she said kindly before turning to Ashton and saying, “I have to head home now. I have to drop my sister off for dance class.”
“Oh, alright,” Ashton said as he stood up to hug her before kissing her cheek.
“Goodbye, Luke,” She said softly, “I really hope Ellie gets better. I’ll keep her in my prayers.” She said before smiling ever so slightly and walking away.
“What have I done, Ash?” Luke groaned as he leaned his head back on the pillow. “What if she never wakes up?” He choked out.
“Don’t,” Ashton said sharply but instantly regretted it once he saw Luke’s hunched posture. “Don’t think like that,” he said in a much softer tone this time, “We can’t give up on her.”
A/N: Hope you guys like this chapter :) If you did please comment what you think! Your comments make me happy really :) your votes mean a lot! xx
I also started a new book called 'Apartment 121B'. It's a Michael Clifford a.u so hope you guys check it out :) I'll be updating it tomorrow.
- Pooji