Unraveling Eden ✔ [ONC 2021]

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Light pierced through my eyelids and slowly, my whole body felt like it had spiders crawling over my skin. The pins and needles quickly turned into a consistent pain that forced my eyes to open. The light invaded my eyes, causing me to squint until I adjusted to the fluorescence. When the ringing in my ears faded, I became aware of the low beeping that echoed through the room and the quiet voices that hummed in the distance.

    Where was I? I went to pull my hand to my cheek, only to be restricted by a wire that was attached to my finger. The potent smell of disinfectant hit my nose and suddenly, my brain put all of the clues together. This was the hospital, though I still wasn't sure why I was here. The last thing I remembered was being with Ethan in the town archives and we had discovered that my dreams weren't dreams at all. No, they were memories.

    Was Ethan okay? Did we get into an accident?

    My eyes followed the voices and through the glass, I saw my mother and father speaking with a doctor. He gestured toward me and their expressions lightened. They both burst in through the door, grabbing for my hands.

    "Oh sweetheart, you're awake. We were so worried," my mother cooed. Years ago I would have given anything to receive this kind of attention from my parents. I thought their affection had died with my sister, though now, it felt like a punch to the gut. They weren't there when I needed them the most. Why now?

    My stomach churned at the thought. Something was wrong. I sat up, searching frantically for Ethan, though he was nowhere to be seen. He hadn't been waiting with my parents. Was he hurt? "W-what happened? Where's Ethan?"

    "Who's Ethan?" my father asked.

    "Honey, you're in the hospital. You had a seizure and you were brought to the hospital by ambulance. Do you not remember?" She didn't give me a chance to reply, instead, she turned to the doctor. "Does she not remember, doctor?"

    "No, she wouldn't remember. We had to give her medication to stop the seizure." He placed a hand on my mother's shoulder and offered her a smile. I furrowed my brows, the supposedly kind gesture rubbed me the wrong way. What a creep.

    "A seizure? Why did I have a seizure? What's going on?" I asked, looking between my mother and the doctor.

    "The cause of your seizure is still unknown, we believe it was due to low blood sugar or lack of blood flow to the brain. We want to monitor you because if you have another seizure we could be looking at an epilepsy diagnosis. Although our biggest concern right now, is your kidneys. You are in what's called renal failure. Both of your kidneys are shutting down. Without your kidneys functioning properly, your other organs will follow. I have scheduled you for dialysis in the morning, however, this will not return your kidney function to normal. It will only give us time," he explained.

    I had watched enough medical dramas to know where this was going. Kidney failure was bad. I'd probably need a transplant, although I wanted to hear him say it. He needed to seal my fate. "Time? Time for what?"

    "You will need a transplant. We are testing both your mother and father to see if they are a match for you, Miss Rutledge. I have also put you on the transplant list and given your age and condition, you are near the top of the list. Hopefully, soon we will have a kidney for you, we just need to be patient." I nodded, but I found his calm tone infuriating. His words didn't match the panic that I felt. It was as if there were no risks, no chance of me dying, and I knew that wasn't the case. "I want you to get some rest. Mr. and Mrs. Rutledge, you should go home and take care of yourselves. Our staff will take great care of your daughter."