Cheap Shots

00:35

this is the final chapter of Cheap Shots.

UNEDITED

35.

            It was unnaturally bright.  Not like it is in the summer, when the air smells like pollen and the sun is so lively that you need a pair of glasses to avoid getting your eyes sun burnt, but like there were a million extra-bright bulbs hanging over my head, penetrating my eyes even through the thin cover of my eye lids.

                  It wasn't easy prying them open.

                  A minute later, when my eyes finally did, it seemed as if the room I was in was just different shades of white, while a steady beeping could be heard somewhere in the near distance. 

                  Am I back in the hospital?

I turned my head slightly, trying to ignore the painful shot that trailed up the back of my neck as I did so, and noticed a familiar looking bedside table to my left, with a steadily beeping mechanic machine resting behind it.

                  I had watched enough reality television to recognize that the digital movement was tracking my heart rate, the small red heart icon the only thing giving off any color in the room.

                  "What's going on?" I mumbled to myself, replacing my head back in the position I woke up to it being in, lifting my arm in an attempt to rub out the soreness that remained from turning it.  When the same spark of pain was felt in my arm, I quickly retracted it back to laying flat on the bed, and I didn't even bother trying to lift the other one.

 A dark haired lady suddenly ran into the room, her white doctor coat flailing behind her.  She had a clipboard in hand, and a hopeful expression on her face.  "Orion Smith?"  She questioned as she rushed through the doorway, flipping papers in a hurried manner as she looked at me.

                  "Yes, what-"

                  "Finally!  I'm Doctor Wilde."  Her tone was happy, but the way her blue eyes crinkled sadly didn't reassure my worry as much as it should've.

            I could hear the heart rate monitor's beeping spiking to my left, as my anxiety built for why she looked so disappointed.     "The most important thing for you right now is to stay awake.  Can you do that for me, Orion?"

            I tried to nod my head, but my feeble attempt only sent more waves of pain down my neck.  Why do I keep trying to move?

            "You've been in a coma for the past month, we didn't think you would wake up due to the extent of your injuries.  You took a massive hit, and if your friend didn't swerve in time, the oil truck would've hit you both head on, you're lucky she tried to turn when she did."

            I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.  "This doesn't make any sense, I-I was just here, I don't understand."  A surge of dizziness overcame me and I blinked rapidly a few times to try and fix the nausea.

            "That's perfectly normal," she said slowly, enunciating her words particularly as she moved her full attention on to me, papers folded over the clipboard to keep from flying back onto the page she was at.  "It's extremely common for coma patients to be a little disoriented when they first wake up, even sometimes confused on what's reality and what isn't.  Especially relatively long-term coma patients like yourself, I wouldn't be surprised if you have a few questions on the events of the past four weeks."