ISN'T SHE LOVELY | hs

29 | SOLAR ECLIPSE

French translations in comments x

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| HARRY |
Sunday 11th June, 2023

"I know this is a lot for you to take in. Please take your time to sit with it all."

Dr. Longfellow's voice was as soft as her smile, the wise words she offered me a little while ago now something I'm currently living by.

It's only making me feel more devastated the more I digest it all, though. I missed the birth of my baby girl after being in a coma for the last two weeks, and Mickayla went through that, along with everything else as well, without me.

Waking up was a blurry affair, one that saw me freaking out alone. My eyes fluttered open only to be attacked by harsh bright yellow lighting overhead. That made me wince and screw them shut fast; two motions that caused my head to throb in absolute agony.

My mouth was as dry as sin. I tried to gather saliva to rid that feeling but nothing came aside from more discomfort, my throat so tight that even the attempt of swallowing was excruciating.

I couldn't move, either. Every part of me ached and felt stiff; the hospital bed I quickly came to realise I was lying on beyond uncomfortable. That, along with the drip hooked up to my arm and the cast on my leg, all created panic.

Thankfully, Dr. Longfellow and a nurse by the name of Ryan arrived only moments later. She sat down on a chair by the side of my bed while Ryan checked my vitals, and got to work on filling in the blanks my brain was missing.

"You got into a car accident near your home in Hampstead a little over two weeks ago. While the details that caused it are still unknown, you had collided into a vacant building. No one else was injured, but paramedics found you unconscious on the scene and intubated you to keep you stabilised before bringing you here to St Johns & St Elizabeth."

She had only just started the story, but my mind was already going a million miles an hour trying to process it all. Trying to picture what happened was hard. I couldn't remember a thing.

"Aside from the expected cuts and bruises from a crash, you'd also sustained whiplash and a few broken bones. Three ribs and your left leg to be exact, all of which are healing well. Your blood pressure at the time, however, was somewhat soft, so we ran a CAT scan. That's where we found a small brain bleed. Your injuries and unconscious state suggest that you must have hit your head pretty hard during the collision."

Nausea was already a symptom I felt, but it worsened hearing that. I couldn't wrap my head around it, ironically enough. I still can't.

"We rushed you into emergency surgery the same day." Dr Longfellow continued, "It went well, although I feel I must tell you you're now sporting a new haircut."

Her smile was kind and gentle as she watched me slowly lift my arm up. I powered through the stiffness, too determined to feel what she was referring to.

My palm found no curls, but a buzzcut. I felt more unlike myself than I already did upon that; my hand running over the prickles an odd sensation.

"There's a scar on the back of your head near your nape." She furthered. My fingers itched to reach it but my head felt too heavy to lift, so I dropped my hand and let her go on, "You won't be able to see it once your hair grows out, but that part might now grow a little funny."

I simply nodded then, or at least as best as I could with a rigid neck. I didn't care about my hair or a scar, but I knew everything else would take a lot of getting used to.