Even Now

Chapter 58: '867-5309'

Hey guys!! It's been a while 😅
And I'm finally updating again 😎

(Btw, pictured above is Layne with his nephew, I think, and his sister Liz)

I hope you guys like this chapter! Or two chapters 😅 it was so long I had to split it in two, so here we have two different chapters talking about the same occasion I guess :') I'll be uploading chapter 59 either tomorrow or the day after, depends on when I can find the time to finish editing :')

Love you guys!! Thank you so much for all your support the past few months, it means everything to me :') ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

And without further ado...

...on to the story!

***

1994: Bremerton, WA, USA

The sky outside was dark. Clouds wiped out any possible trace of starlight, and through the smudged and dusty window, there wasn't exactly a chance of seeing stars anyway.

All she could smell around her was something akin to hand sanitizer mixed with Lysol, light on the air yet sickeningly pungent.
All she could feel was exhaustion; the only thing keeping her from being lulled into sleep by all the drugs in her system was the horrendous tube that had been stuck down her throat two days earlier, muting her and causing endless discomfort and feelings of helplessness.
All she could hear was her mother snoring in the chair beside her, and the night-shift nurses walking the hallways. And there was one patient, apparently a child, that seemed to be screaming about something...

This was the second time Demri had been here, to receive treatment for the same goddamn thing.
She'd already had two surgeries, one minor, one major. Currently, she was recovering from the major one.

The minor surgery had been to remove a blood clot from her lung.
The major surgery had been a heart valve replacement. She was disgusted with the fact that she now had a fucking pig's heart in her chest- er, part of one.

She was told that it was very likely a pacemaker would be required, which was a whole other surgery- albeit, pacemaker surgeries were apparently 'relatively' minor.

Her mother wanted her to stay in the hospital until she was well enough to have that third surgery. Demri just wanted to go home.

The IV in her hand starts to itch. She lazily starts to scratch the skin around the tape; the noise of her uncomfortable shuffling seems to wake her mother.

"Honey, don't do that. Please," Kathleen pleads, yawning as she reaches to grab Demri's hands.

Demri weakly yanks them away, glaring at her mother. She tries to say something, but can't sound her voice around the tube pressed against her voice box.

Kathleen frowns at her. "I don't want you ripping that IV out. Not again."

Demri rolls her eyes.

A sudden burst of frustration builds up in her chest, like a ton of bricks had just been dropped on her rib cage.
She kicks the sheets, hands forming fists as her eyes screw shut.

Kathleen tilts her head, crossing her arms, hands over her elbows.

"What can I do?" Kathleen asks pleadingly.

Demri stills herself, despite her entire body coursing with restlessness. She looks up at her mother and starts gesturing with her hands: one pretends to hold a pad of paper, while the other mimics writing.