Matt

Chapter 29- The Farewell

Concussions are a relatively common injury. The cause can be a lot of things, from a simple fall to a car accident. However, they all have one thing in common. A concussion is a brain injury caused by a blow to the head. Shortly afterwards, the brain swells a bit. This swelling is where most of the damage comes from. The symptoms of a concussion range from mild (such as a nasty headache) to relatively severe (such as short-term memory loss).

Unfortunately for me, the concussion I received was relatively severe.

When I first awoke, I found myself in the hospital, lying in bed while the lights in the room were off. I felt a bandage around my head and my side, as well as a brace around my wrist. When I turned my head a bit, I noticed that Serena was laying her head next to my bed, fast asleep. My head was killing me, and I felt a sharp pain stabbing my back every time I tried to move. In other words, I felt like a wreck.

I passed back out shortly after that to get some more rest. By the time I woke up again, the lights were back on, and I realized that I wasn't the only one awake in my room. I noticed that the whole club was sitting nearby, waiting for me to recover. When they noticed me waking up, I could see the obvious relief on their faces.

Clara was the first to say something. "Matt!"

"Hey," I said gently as I looked at each of their faces. Clara appeared to nearly be in tears, while Alexis appeared unfazed, although I could see a small trace of relief on her face as well. Alex still had his ever annoying expression, and last of all, Serena's face showed a great deal of joy, as if all the great burdens she had felt in the last week were finally lifted.

I tried to sit up, but I was soon reminded of the nasty pain in my back again and had to give up.

"Careful," said Alex. "You've still got some recovering to do."

"What happened?" I asked, my brain still completely muddled over what had happened.

I noticed the three looking at one another, as if trying to figure out what to say. Serena, on the other hand, appeared confused by my statement. "You don't remember?"

I placed my good hand on my head and rubbed it lightly. "Not really. The last thing I remember was..." I thought hard about what I could remember last. "...running to find you."

Serena began to slowly frown when she heard this. "Are you sure?"

I tried my hardest to think about it. For some reason, I could feel that something big had happened. I was sure of it. Yet, I couldn't put a finger on it.

Serena's eyes began to slowly move towards the floor as she sighed deeply in what appeared to be disappointment. "Don't worry about it."

"I believe it's best if I explain," said Alex. "Yesterday, while we were looking for Serena, the city was hit with a massive storm."

Wait, I remember the storm in the other dimension. Did that really happen in the real world, too?

"Shortly after that," said Alex, "there was a large earthquake that shook the city." He then leaned forward a bit before explaining the last part. "Apparently, you were both standing near the edge of the stage during the earthquake and were thrown off the side of it as a result."

Whoa! You mean that Serena and I...fell of the edge of that thing? No wonder why I was hurt so bad. And yet, for some reason, the earthquake reminded me of something. Did something like an earthquake occur in that alternate space as well? Dammit, I wish I could remember.

Serena decided to stand up. "Well, we should all be glad that you're okay." She then began to walk towards the door. "I'm going to go out and grab something to drink." A second later, she was out the door. I got the feeling for some reason that she was looking for an excuse to leave the room.