Sympathy For the Devil

7

I heard a faint buzzing of a monitor as I came to. It was steady and rhythmic. I counted the beats in my head to focus on anything that distracted from the pounding in my head. 

I didn't realize you could pass out from crushed bones, but apparently you can. I didn't think it was something I would need to know someday, but here we are. I felt paralyzed from the neck down. My bones ached. If bones could groan, mine would. Hugging is completely dangerous. It's why I don't make it a point to hug people, so I don't end up in detrimental situations such as this peculiar one.

 I kept my eyes locked shut, but I made it a point to hear everything. The water dripped from a sink keeping a steady rhythmic beat. The air smelled sterile. The smell of a hospital. I didn't want to be here. I haven't been to one of these places in years. A place where you can be both living and dead simultaneously. The tense shuffling of feet beside me. The eerie murmurs floating in and out of my ears with familiar and unfamiliar voices. Some kind and some curt and off putting. The clicking of heels descending and ascending over a long period of time. The constant steady rhythm of a monitor. A tumultuous uproar of sound sent me quivering in the cot. "Code blue. Code blue. Code blue. Code blue. Code blue." Five times those words were spoken in a monotonous tone by a middle-aged female.

Someone is struggling to catch their breath. My mom was a nurse at a hospital before she offed herself. I know all of the fancy codes used in these places. Alarms went off in my head. Someone is dying. I waited for the all clear signal with bated breath, still managing to keep my eyes bolted shut. My bones shook. Each jerky movement sent a shockwave of pain up my spine.

    The all clear never did come. Someone, somewhere was dead. A cold chill remained on my back as I brought the covers to my head and submerged myself in darkness with only a thin blanket to keep me company.

    I felt hands on the blanket. My body tensed up as my bones that still felt useless locked together. I felt on edge and a wave of fear wash over me. I unleashed a yelp and a boisterous plea that I wouldn't be another victim, that is until I realized there wasn't any imminent threat to my well being on the other side of this safety blanket. Whoops.

My cheeks flushed as I opened my eyes for the first time since I woke up. 

    "Thank God. Ellie, you had us all worried sick." Li bounced up from her chair, not startled in the slightest bit by my ghastly screams. She rushed towards me to hug me, but I stopped her in her tracks. Any twisting or movement ached. A hug would probably feel like being scraped with needles over and over again at this point.

    "I feel weird. Fuzzy." My hands looked like how I imagine the flash appeared to civilians when sprinting, blurry. Barely there. I held my head to silence the pounding sensation. I winced and recoiled in pain. 

    "They gave you the good stuff." Li smiled warmly towards me as she played with her long black braided hair. Her voice was like a cloud.

My dad came by with water and Gummy twin snakes, my favorite. His face was riddled with worry, but he masked it with a smile. He didn't have his uniform on. He was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, and a flannel shirt. He almost never wears anything other than his uniform these days. He must have taken a day off finally. 

I rubbed my temple. I made an initial attempt to sit up, but my bones had me crash back down into the bed. I grimaced as my dad tore open the packet of food. He knew what I was after. I ripped two twin snakes open with my teeth and felt at ease again. Sugary goodness get into my mouth pronto. The chewing hurt, but I didn't care. I was starving. 

    "You passed out and hit your head when you went to your dad's office. Bennett's mom, Sally called the emergency dispatchers the moment she found you. Your dad called me and voila, here I am to entertain you while you're stuck here." Li filled in the pieces as I tried to keep up with the onslaught of information on how my clumsiness failed me yet again.

"For the moment." My dad interjected. "You still have school and Ellie needs her rest."

Li rolled her eyes. "But she just woke up. She's had more beauty sleep than I have ever gotten. It's been three days. At this point, she's risen back from the dead like Jesus." Sarcasm was etched in her words. 

Jesus. It's been three days? 

I tried to sit up, but I couldn't. My dad pressed water to my lips, but I shoved the bottle aside. 

    "Li, Ellie needs her rest." Mrs. Cheng spoke from the sidelines, wearing her nurse scrubs. "Hi, Mr. Lucas. Nice to see you again. Hopefully next time will be under better circumstances." I feel drunk, because Mrs. Cheng looks as grainy as my hands. The purple of her uniform was all I could make out of her. "Li, let's not crowd Ellie. She still isn't 100% since she just woke up after sleeping for three days. And you need to be heading to school. Sam's in the lobby ready to go. That means you too, Bennett." Bennett was in a chair slumped over. He wiped at drool on his face as he fell forward from his chair.

"But mom." Li whined. Bennett seemed hesitant to leave as well as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

    "Li, go to school. Bennett, you too. Visiting hours have long been over. Family only. I don't want your grades to slip right before college applications are due. I'll keep an eye on Ellie. She'll be here when you get out if you want to stop in and visit again." Mrs. Cheng spoke in a hard to argue with tone. 

    "But Ama, we have months of not talking to make up for." Li whined, but her mother remained firm in her decision. And Li knew it's best not to argue with her or she'll be stuck working in her NaiNai's shop during the weekends rather than hanging out with her boyfriend, Sam. And NaiNai is strict about promptness and workplace ethics, which means no cellphones or any communication devices while on the eight hour job.

    "This is the good stuff. I feel fantastic." I giggled, feeling the full impact of the painkillers.  My dad's face grew serious and wary. Out of the corner of my eye, I swear I saw Killian lurking in the doorway, but the second my eyes met the doorway again, he was gone as if he had never been there at all.

"Easy, kiddo," dad said, his voice softening. "Don't try to talk too much." He patted the pillow to fluff it and made sure I was comfortable before leaving me to sleep and catch up on my rest.

My head sunk into the pillow as my mind became lost in a labyrinth. And that was when I remembered. The figure. The crushing of bones. The shifting of shapes. The clashing of real and what people perceive as merely fantasy.

A myriad of images collided into my mind, holding me prisoner, and they wouldn't let me go. My mother floated into my mind. Lindy. Death. Death came crashing down until my body broke into a heavy sweat. Pools of sweat streamed down my face.

I held out my hand that was no longer blurry, urging my mother to take it. Urging her to grasp onto my hand and come back to me. But she didn't. She only took me with her and she didn't let go as my arms became imprinted with her finger tips turning a bluish purple hue as pain shot up my arm and my hand numbed and went limp as an inescapable nightmare dwelled on my mind and pushed me further into the clutches of gloom and inevitable doom.