You know those hangovers where it felt like you went through a meat grinder the night before and your head felt like you slammed it into a door about fifty times in a row? Yeah. This was nothing like that.
– This was much, much worse.
I woke up in a hospital, and the first thought to pass through my head was thank God; Thank God the emergency codeword had worked. I had lived.
The second thing that went through me was the immense amount of pain that jolted through my head as I tried to focus my eyes on a fixed point. It felt like I had been knocked out solid with an iron baseball bat.
I groaned lowly and instantly felt the heaviness of my body, like an anvil had taken residence inside my bones. Everything felt sore and ached, like I was a bag mush that had been shaken like dice in a cup.
If only the human body had a Ctrl-Alt-Delete function.
"Caleb?"
Her voice. The prettiest voice in the world made my ears sharpen and had me groaning again as I sensed rapid movement on my right. Someone grasped my hand and squeezed it, and even though I tried to, I failed to squeeze it back.
"Sm... urf," I rasped out. My throat hurt like hell, sore like the rest of my body and drier than a nun's pussy.
"Oh God, Caleb," Smurf sobbed beside me, before suddenly shuffling again. I heard a button being pushed, and I had been in enough hospitals to know she had summoned a nurse. "You're awake. Caleb."
Finally, after what felt like minutes of trying to get my eyes to cooperate, I blinked and managed to find her through a harsh blur. My eyes focused and found a very grunge-looking Smurf standing by my bedside, clutching my hand with tear-stained cheeks. She wasn't wearing any makeup, which allowed me to see the swollen redness around her eyes.
I tried to reply some more, but my throat hurt too much. I decided to close my eyes again, just as I heard a door getting opened. More movement, then voices.
"He woke up. H-he said my name and he looked at me a-and—"
"Alright. I need you to let me come through for a moment. Mr Montrell? Caleb? Are you with us, Caleb?"
I was so tired, but I struggled to open my eyes again. After some more adjusting, I found a blurry nurse checking up on me, checking my pupils with a flashlight that made me wanna close my eyes again.
"He's conscious, alright. He's probably very disoriented and drowsy from the medicine. He might come around again a little later, but he needs more rest. But this is good. He's recovering."
I heard a relieved sigh from my Smurf. A quick thanks was exchanged, following some words I couldn't make out. I was drifting away again and I was too tired to fight it.
I surrendered to sleep and the comfort of knowing I was alive.
Somehow, I had lived.
~~~
A couple of hours later I woke up again, feeling much more lucid, but every bit as in pain as before. I announced my consciousness with another groan, trying to move my head.
A small hand squeezed mine. I knew that hand.
"E... lana," I almost cried out, struggling to find her with my eyes. With God's help, my eyes managed to focus and find a little head peaking up over the edge of the hospital bed, her hand squeezing mine. I almost sobbed in joy when she smiled at me.
"Caleb?"
Smurf's voice reached me again. Coming around the bed, she joined Elana and picked her up from the floor, placing her on her hip, before leaning in closer towards me. I smiled faintly. "Hey."
My voice still sounded like crap, but at least I was coherent. Smurf let out a little sob and very carefully stroked my hair. "You're alive."
I was. I really was. I almost wanted to laugh at that. "Of... course. Gamers... don't die... we just... respawn."
My speech was a little slurred, but I knew she had understood me when a tear and a smile stained her face. She laugh-cried, but then leaned in with Elana, placing a soft kiss on my forehead. "You humongous idiot."
I smiled a little and then closed my eyes again for a moment, trying to get used to everything. My head still pounded with every moment I was awake. But I needed to know what the damage was.
"What happened?" I murmured.
Smurf pulled a little away. Swallowing heavily, she then lowered her eyes to my body. "You were attacked. When we got your signal, we managed to track you to an abandoned parking structure. You were... unconscious. The doctors said you had a concussion. You'd broken several ribs, internal bleeding, a severely bruised kidney. They had to... operate," She swallowed hard again, seeming to struggling through her words. "You had a lot of internal injuries... and your knee was..."
She stopped and pressed a hand over her mouth to silence a sob. I wanted more than anything to reach out and hold her, but not a bone in my body wanted to cooperate. Instead I was forced to lay still while she collected herself.
With a deep breath, she finally continued and hugged Elana closer to her body. "The doctor said you'll make a good recovery, but your leg... the damage was so bad to some of the nerves that they couldn't save them. They're... they're not sure how well you'll be able to walk, or in best case scenario, if you'll ever fully regain feeling back in your lower left leg."
I breathed out slowly, trying to absorb this news. I closed my eyes again.
I had survived. Above everything else, that was the miracle. If I was a leg down, that was something I could live with. There were always options.
The only option I couldn't have taken was never being able to see my family again.
"I'll be fine," I therefore rasped out, giving a tired smile back when Smurf watched me with blurry eyes. "Maybe... my new name could be... Limpy."
Smurf let out something like a burst of air which sounded like a stunted laugh. She covered her mouth again and cried some more, before shaking her head and wiping some snot away from her nose in her sleeve. "You're such a fucking idiot."
I grinned tiredly, but then groaned as the pain came roaring back. I had momentarily forgotten it while absorbing the news of my new walking conditions.
A knock on the door disturbed my groaning-symphony, and as my eyes managed to focus, I saw a tall figure come in.
Him.
"How's my favorite hacker doing?"
I gave a tired smile, but then nodded faintly. "He might need a raise."
The big boss chuckled, but then turned towards Smurf. "I think he's going to be fine."
She nodded back, still trying to stop herself from sniffling. "Yeah, I think so, too."
"Anything he needs, don't hesitate to call me. Rehabilitation, hospital bills, I'll cover everything."
"Thank you so much."
"No, it's the least I can do." He solemnly spoke, lowering his gaze with a clenched jaw.
"Hey, I told you, none of us saw this coming," Smurf replied, reaching out and clenching his arm. I frowned a little, trying to understand what was going on.
"Exactly. I should've seen it coming. I'll do better in the future, I promise."
"You can't—"
"There was a guy," I broke through their arguing, just as a brick seemed to slam into me in the form of a memory. The ache in my head intensified as I suddenly recalled how I had managed to escape.
Both heads turned towards me, brows furrowing. Then, coming closer, they both approached me with confused faces. "What do you mean?" Smurf spoke.
"I was gone for," I rasped out, struggling to keep my eyes open. "They had me pinned... until someone saved me."
"Someone saved you?" He echoed. His deep voiced deepened even more. "Who?"
I faintly shook my head. The memory in my head was blurry. "I... don't know... but he was... amazing."
"Caleb, what do you mean?" Smurf pressed on. I felt her take my hand and squeeze it as I started to drift off again. "When we found you, you were alone with the dead Russians, holding a gun in your hand. We thought you—"
I shook my head again, wincing when the pain pounded in my head. "No. There was a guy... came out of nowhere... he saved me..."
"You mean to say a stranger happened upon the scene and managed to kill five Russian gangmembers?" Mr Stone recapped, harshly. His brows furrowed even deeper as he glanced down at Smurf who looked just as surprised. "Did he say anything? Give any reason?"
I shook my head a last time. "Nothing."
Without this mystery savior, I would've surely died. I owed my life to him and I didn't even know his name.
"You need to find him," I pushed out with my last energy. I managed to keep his gaze and look at him firmly enough to hopefully solidify the message. "Trench coat... that's all I remember..."
Mr Stone nodded firmly before leaning down and squeezing my arm. "I'll find him. Don't worry. You just rest up, kid."
I closed my eyes after that, unable to keep them open any longer. I sensed hushed words being exchanged between my girlfriend and the big boss, but I didn't hear any of it. Then, the sound of a door being opened and closed, and finally, the feeling of Smurf's hand curling around mine again.
"Go back to sleep," She urged, caressing my hand. I sensed Elana clasp my hand as well, holding on to my pinky finger.
And with that, I followed marching orders.
~~~
Time passed in the hospital wherein I regained my strength. Stuff like this was so much smoother in movies. After the hero got a beating, sometimes even hours after being beaten to a pulp, he was ready to fight another villain.
This was not like that.
Every wakening moment for the following two weeks was painful in every aspect. The first week I was on a catheter and had to get enemas and sponge baths by sweet nurses – all the non-glamorous stuff they didn't show in movies.
The second week I started to slowly sit up and test out my new battered body. With a kidney down and a fairly limp leg, things were going to change. The doctors assured me I could live a completely normal lifestyle with just one kidney—that the body actually didn't need two at all. It was just one of those things that God stuffed two of into your body, just for good measure. That part was good news at least.
But my leg... well, that was another story.
It took almost a full month before the doctors allowed me to put any weight on it. I still had no feeling in my foot, but the doctors told me there was still a change it could come back. Nerve damage took a longer time to heal than muscle. It could return in a few weeks... or it might not.
Either way, I wasn't going to just sit around for the rest of my life.
"Take it easy," The doctor advised as I gripped onto the bars on either side of me, resting on my good leg. "Don't put too much weight on it. Try a single step."
Smurf watched me from the corner with her piercings caught between her teeth as she bit her lip. I sent her a little reassuring smile before returning to the task at hand.
If Forrest Gump could do it, so could I.
Taking a deep breath, I dragged my bad foot forward, wincing when the movement caused stress on the ligaments in my knee that certainly did have feeling. I cursed out blasphemously and then apologized to God.
"Fuck," I cried out, shaking already as I quickly turned my weight over to my good leg.
"Rehabilitation will take time," The doctor said, looking sympathetically at me. He watched me pant and sweat as I nodded. "It will be painful and hard, but eventually it will feel better."
"Son of a fucking whore," I hissed out, forcing myself to take another small step. My foot dragged limply across the mattress below me, looking like a limp willy. "How long?"
"It's different for everyone, but it mostly depends on your effort and motivation. If you quit, then it definitely won't be better."
I blew out another breath and nodded again. "Quitting is not in my vocabulary, doc."
He smiled firmly back. "Good. Then you should get along quite well with your new program for the following weeks."
"Motherfucker!" I shouted when I took another step, then shook my head and tapped out. The nurse behind me quickly helped me into my wheelchair and let me catch my breath as I leaned back.
My only consolation in all this was that the bastards who had done this to me were currently burning in hell in flames hotter than a hot pocket.
"When can I go home?" I breathlessly asked as the doctor noted something down in my chart. I looked towards Smurf who sent me a little smile from the corner and then slowly came towards me.
"We're gonna keep you for another day or two, just to make sure your knee doesn't mess up here in the first few days of walking on it. After that, you should be fine to go home."
"Thank you," I said gratefully, giving the doctor a smile.
He smiled back, but then finished up with my chart and handed it to the nurse. "I'll come back and check on you a little later. Get some rest too. No overdoing it."
"Promise."
The doc left my room, the nurse following after him, leaving me and Smurf to peace. I was still catching my second wind in my wheelchair, but I felt as she came towards me.
"You might have to pull some of the weight in the bedroom in the future, Smurf," I confessed, seeing her roll her eyes with a little smile. "If doggy is permanently out of the picture, then I at least want some cowgirl or maybe even some reverse."
"Because I never ride you," Smurf scoffed, running her hand over my sweaty hair, pushing it out of my face. She bent down and leaned on my chair. "You're going to be fine, Caleb. The doctor said your prognosis is looking good."
"You're looking good," I countered, lifting my hand to grip her chin. "Just in case you forgot. Matter of fact, come down closer and let me remind you."
"And if I don't?"
"Then I'm gonna hurl you over my shattered knee and make that ass redder than your pussy's gonna be when I get out of this chair."
Smurf bit her lip, and just like that, I got the pink flush back in her cheeks that I hadn't seen for weeks. Her eyes had been heavy with worry and I could tell she had had trouble sleeping. She was scared, I knew.
Because I was scared shitless, too.
Wrapping my hand around her neck, I pulled her lips down to mine and kissed her slowly. Smurf moaned quietly and responded, her hands clasping on to my shoulders. If it wasn't for the insane amount of painkillers I was on, I probably would've gotten a boner right there and then.
A knock on the door pulled us out of our bubble. Smurf broke away and quickly stood up as the door opened. I groaned annoyed as I laid eyes on who was disturbing us. "Major cockblock, boss."
With a deep chuckle, he slowly came inside anyway and closed the door behind him. "Sorry. I figured I would stop by and look in on the patient. I can come back later if you want."
"Did you bring chocolate? Don't patients usually get sweets and flowers and shit like that?" I pointed out when he chuckled again, clearly chocolate-less. "If not, then what's even the point of this?"
"Caleb," Smurf snapped at me when I was being rude.
"No chocolates. I brought something else instead, though," He voiced, his eyes sobering up. From the look on his face, I knew what was up.
"You found him?" I urged, sitting up straighter in my chair.
He gave a single nod.
"Well, who is he?!" I burst out loudly, practically jumping up if could. "Why'd he do it? When can I meet him and thank him for saving my ass?"
"Caleb." He cut me off with a serious tone. Pursing his lips, his eyes then shifted to the floor. Something was wrong. "There's... something you need to understand. He's not what we expected."
I frowned ever so slightly. "What do you mean?"
Based on what I remembered from that day, we had assumed he had to have been some sort of secret assassin or highly trained covert-OP agent with some serious combat skills. I assumed that's how he found him.
But I guess that wasn't the case.
"He's homeless," He stated.
My eyes widened at his words, because what the actual fuck? "What do you mean homeless?" I questioned. I mean, I understood what homeless meant, I just didn't understand what he meant with it in this context.
"It's complicated," He finally sighed, flattening his lips into a thin line and crossing his arms. "When I found him and made contact with him, he was... difficult to talk to. He didn't give me any answers when I tried to question him. From what I gathered, he wants to be left alone. I gave him my card if he ever needed anything."
"But... you told him about... about what he did, right?" I pressed on, confusion filling me. Who the heck was this homeless savior-guy? "You told him who he killed, didn't you?"
"I warned him that the guys he killed were dangerous and that there might be more of them," He voiced. "And that if he ever found himself in a predicament again, he could contact me."
I closed my mouth.
This man, whoever he was, had saved a complete stranger and thus put a bullseye on his own back if the Russians ever discovered who did this. And he wanted nothing in return but to be left alone?
"Did you at least thank him?" I finally spoke up.
He gave a curt nod with a hint of a smile. "I did."
I nodded back, once. I still wished I could've thanked him in person, but if this was what he wanted... I would respect his wishes. Even if it hurt. "Thank you, I guess, then... For everything."
"It's the least I could do."
"Stop saying that," Smurf broke in. She sent a firm glare at him, to which he merely smiled faintly again.
"I have to get back to the office," He then said, unfolding his arms and straightening out. "If you need anything else, just call me."
"Thank you," Smurf offered, me nodding in agreement. "Take care of yourself, please."
With a last smile, he then left the room as well, once again leaving me and Smurf to peace.
And just like that, I felt something inside me drop off my chest like a rock.
Exhaling what felt like a toxic cloud of air, I grasped Zoe's hand firmly and closed my eyes, feeling it all collide inside me.
Because right then, as silence finally fell over us and as the dust seemed to settle for what felt like the first time in weeks, I realized what I wanted more than anything.
Peace.
• • •
- World peace.