Stuck In The Box: Remains Of Awareness

Chapter 3: Crying In The Rain

After the Wild Boys had dinner, they decided to see Michael. So they're now in the hallways on the way to the intensive care unit. "Ich muss Ihnen also eine Frage stellen: Warum müssen Sie Sauerstoffflaschen mitbringen?" Nena asked. "Yeah, I was wondering too," Morten said. "Same," Terry said. "My lungs become damaged and scarred after suffering from pneumonia, John's lungs become scarred as a result of an autoimmune response as well as asthma and heart defects, Roger has a mitochondrial disorder and his lungs were taking too long to recover, Nicky has tachycardia and severe asthma, Simon lost a lot of blood but the oxygen will be temporary, Tony's lungs scarred, Bono lacks oxygen due to POTS but he only needs it at night though he is on it now because he just had an episode and Larry was born with cystic fibrosis," Curt explained.

"Soso," Nena said. The Wild Boys then reached Michael's room which freaked both Nena and Morten out. "What the?" Morten asked. "Was ist passiert?" Nena asked. "How do you say suicide in German?" Simon asked. "Der Selbstmord," Curt said. "She knows what you mean," Morten said. "Aber wie kommt es, dass er Beatmungsgeräte und andere Dinge benötigt? Ich dachte, dass tatsächlich Menschen daran sterben," Nena asked. "Es war ein Selbstmordversuch, man hat den Puls festgestellt, aber seinem Gehirn fehlt es an viel Sauerstoff, deshalb," John (Taylor) said, explaining in German why Michael was intubated and connected to a ventilator. "He looks horrible, I can't believe this is all the school talked about now," Morten said.

"That's what everyone could talk about now, Simon and I visited him frequently but his occasional seizures freaked him out," Kim said. "Yeah, that's why I made a mad gash on my arm but because of my bipolar disorder and the hypomania I get, I forgot I was haemophiliac," Simon said. "Meine Güte, das ist nicht gut," Nena said. "I know," Curt said. "I hope he wakes up now," Simon said. "Same," Kim said. After that, the Wild Boys went back to Martin's room and settled down before they could sleep. "So, where do we sleep?" Nik asked. "Either the floor or the mattresses on the floor or the other surrounding beds which are limited in number," Paul said. "I think it's best for me to sleep on the floor," Mart said. "As always," Dave said. "Laz, do you want to sleep on the beds or on the floor?" Bono asked.

"The floor," Larry said. "I think Edge and I can sleep on the floor as well," Adam said. "I just want to be next to Martin," Andy said, going up to Martin and sitting next to him on the bed. "I guess some of us would fit in the beds," Nick said. "Good night y'all," Susanna said before everyone settled down on either the beds, the walls or the floors and fell asleep. It was around 3 am when Larry woke up from a nightmare and heard a banshee crying, wailing, screaming and then keening. Because he was traumatised by the banshee back in Ireland looking like his mum. He then cried with his head on Bono's chest, tears landing on his jumper. "Hey, Larry, what happened?" Bono asked, trying to comfort his boyfriend. "Ba é an banshee céanna a chonaic muid in Éirinn, bhí cuma mo mhamaí uirthi agus bhí sí i mo thromluí," Larry said, panicking.

Bono wasn't able to understand him but he knew that Larry was panicking because he tends to switch back to his mother tongue. Bono then planted a kiss on Larry's bangs and hugged his small figure, placing his head on his chest and playing with his hair knowing that it calms him. "It was only a bad dream, bub, you're okay and you're here with us," Bono said. Larry then got a coughing fit so Bono patted his back to try to move the mucus so that he could spit it out. Bono went to the bathroom to get some tissue and gave it to Larry where he spat out the mucus. He threw it away as he and Larry tried to go back to sleep but were abruptly woken up by Andy falling off Martin's bed. "Andy!" Bono exclaimed, running up to Andy. "You alright?" Larry asked.

"I'm alright," Andy said before he stumbled again as soon as he stood up. "Woah, easy kid," Larry said, helping Andy keep steady. "He has dyspraxia, he tends to be clumsy," Bono said. "What the?" Gary exclaimed, waking up to Martin having another seizure. "Holy mother of Jesus," Bono said, pressing the emergency call button. The other Wild Boys soon woke up as Dr Hayley and her team raided the hospital room. They all stood back because Martin was having another seizure. Nicky tried to have Simon look away so that he won't gash his other arm. "I'm scared, Nicky," Simon said. "I know, we all are," Nicky said. After that episode, Martin's seizure stopped and is now awake. "What happened?" Martin asked. "Kiddo, you had a nocturnal seizure," Dr Mills said.