Sweetest Pain || Hawk Moskowitz

104 Breakable Glass

When KT woke up, she was confused. The light overheard hurt her eyes and she groaned, turning her head toward the pillows. They weren't very soft and the blanket was a little scratchy. It was obviously not her bed and she didn't like that very much, but her head was a little fuzzy and she couldn't remember where she'd fallen asleep at.

She used her hand to cover her eyes and slowly open them, easing herself into the bright and harsh light. The walls were blue and tacky, a large painting hanging on the wall opposite of her under a TV close to the ceiling. She sat up on her elbows and looked around, seeing an uncomfortable couch and chair that were an ugly puke color. Yasmine's purse and jacket were sitting on the chair, thrown about, and there was a vase of lavenders on the table beside her.

The memories came flooding back and she almost wished she had amnesia. The fall, the fear, the dirt, and Eli; the paramedics and the ambulance, the ride to the hospital where they fussed over her, then arriving at the hospital where they fussed over her. She remembered the vigorous way her body shook and the panic, how every time she closed her eyes, she saw the second story railing above her. She remembered crying and the doctor giving her something to calm her down.

As she felt the rush of panic make her heart jump, she noticed the door was wide open and she saw a few people outside. She shuffled, sitting up more.

"Hey!" she called out to them, but immediately started coughing. Her throat was dry and the force of her hacking caused her to fall back into the not-so-soft pillows. She turned on her side, still coughing violently.

A nurse hurried into the room and came to her side, helping her sit up and rubbing her back. Another nurse came in not long after her with a cup of water and held it out to KT, but she struggled to take it. So, they brought it to her lips and helped her drink it. Once she'd finally stopped coughing and calmed down, she heard the fast beeps of the heart monitor by her bed.

She looked at it strangely, her eyebrows scrunching up. When she spoke, it was with a rough croak and she didn't like it at all. "Is that mine?"

The nurse nodded to her. "We have to monitor your heart activity. You took a fall from-"

"I know," she choked up, reaching for the cup of water. It was put in her hand and she sipped it as if she'd been abandoned in the desert for days on end. The soreness in her throat was soothed at least a little bit, but it wasn't nearly enough water for her liking. She held the empty cup out to the nurse and asked, "Can I have some more?"

"Of course," the second nurse said, smiling at her. Her deep red hair was pulled back in a pretty bun, a braid leading into it on either side of her head. She left the room with the promise of coming back with bottled water instead of a cup.

The first nurse, with her big kind eyes and gentle hands, eased her back into a lying position, but KT didn't want to lay there. She wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. She wanted to get up and run, her body aching for it - at least that's what she told herself. It felt like she'd been in bed for too long and needed to stretch her body.

"Can I sit up?" she asked, knowing she likely wasn't getting out of there any time soon.

The nurse nodded and pressed a button on the side of the bed, putting the upper half of the bed up at a slant. Then she started checking KT's vitals and noted that her heart rate was a little fast.

"Can you take some deep breaths for me?" she asked, holding her stethoscope up to KT's chest, under her hospital gown.

KT did as asked, taking a deep breath through her nose and letting it out through her mouth. She was instructed to do that a few more times before the nurse put the tool back around her neck and smiled.