Heart's Games

Heart's Games|Chapter 29: So Close

Chapter 29: So Close

I woke up, feeling less lightheaded. If I wouldn't know any better, I'd say I was feeling great. But once I figured out I couldn't feel at all, I realized that I was nowhere near great. The dull white walls told me the exact same thing.

Shit.

I look to my left, just to find the last person I thought I would see here in this very room at this very moment with me. He was holding my hand, his head down. His eyes were closed tightly and I couldn't help but admire how calm he looked at that moment. Even his steady breathing had caught my attention.

My instincts were telling me to squeeze his hand since it was already in mine, but as I tried, I realized that maybe the anesthesia wasn't anywhere near wearing off. At least I thought. Truth was I barely knew anything.

He moved a bit, but didn't wake up. My lips parted open to say his name, but I couldn't talk all that well. But I tried and tried. And I couldn't.

Great, I thought. So if I thought I was useless before I really don't want to know how useless I am right now...

First try. No word. Second try. It sounded more like a groan. Third try. I think I sounded like a dying chipmunk. Fourth try. I was able to say the first syllable of his name. Fifth try. "Tyler?" Hallelujah! Finally! I can speak now!

Tyler blinked a few times before looking up at me. Seeing my eyes wide opened, he jumped in surprise. His mouth was parted open and I was wondering whether he was happy or whether he was hoping I'd die. Not until a small smile was painted on his face.

"Oh gosh! Thank God! You're alright. You're talking. You're fine." He sounded like a crazy person, and that made me smile. At least attempt to, because my face was even more numb than my hand.

"You're here," I pointed out, my voice raspy. "For how long was I gone?"

"You weren't really gone," he laughed. "Just for like...eighteen hours. The doctor said you just needed to rest and it was normal. You would automatically do that."

Oh...well...I don't know about you but eighteen hours sound like a lot to me. Do you know how many meals I could've had in eighteen hours? Well, here's the answer: a lot.

"But...what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I am checking up on you," he simply replied.

I had so many things I wanted to ask him, but at that moment, I was in no mood to think or to argue with him. All I wanted was to feel again.

"Oh," I mumbled, not really knowing what to tell him.

"Aren't you curious about what happened to you?" he asked, his brows creasing in confusion.

Then all the flashbacks came to me. The footsteps. The cabin. The figure. The running. The falling. The shooting.

"I...umm...I wasn't shot, right?"

Tyler's lips twirled up into the smallest smile a human being is capable to pull. But his eyes looked so sad; they couldn't pretend.

"No. You weren't."

I gave it some thought. I began to wonder...and to remember. It's funny how my memory is only useful for things I want to forget. Because the voice that called out Bryan's name- which belongs to Claire- still sounded fresh inside my head. The tall boy who was defending me is...well...a blur. Because that was all I could see.

"Then...what happened?"

"You fell and hit your head against a rock. It made...quite the scar," he said, finishing with small laughs. "But you'll be better. The doctor promised."