Unexpected Rendezvous

FORGIVEN

*Alexander Hammond's POV*

My vision was blurry and I could feel my teeth was chattering from the acute cold that I couldn't quite shake off. I blinked a couple of times, trying my best to adjust my eyes to the blinding white lights. Once my sight became clearer, my other senses were trying to familiarize its surroundings. I could smell the distinctive scent of alcohol and disinfectant. I could hear the steady beeping, possibly from a machine nearby.

It took me a while, before I could remember what was happening and where I was. I must be at the hospital after my car accident. My head felt light and I was feeling a bit nauseous. My vision were much clearer now. I was lying in a hospital bed. The window was tightly shut - so I had no idea what time it was. What day it was. It was quite a spacious room. I felt something heavy shifted on one of my hand. I moved my head slightly to see what it was - who it was. And I winced as soon as I moved my body. The nausea was bad enough, but all of my body felt so sore, it felt like I was hit by a truck.

"Love?" I said hoarsely. My voice sounded odd. It was small and hoarse. Even to get out that one simple word took a lot of strength. My throat was dry and it was hurting badly. Then a rush of endorphins hit me like a surging wave. I could feel none of the pain I felt earlier, when I saw those beautiful mesmerizing green eyes.

"ALEX? ALEX IS THIS REALLY YOU?!" Rowena jolted from her seat.

"Yes..." I grinned.

Her eyes began to swell and her voice cracked, "Welcome back, my love... I... I thought... you're gone... p... ple... please don't ever scare me like that... EVER!"

I grimaced and took a shallow breath. Even breathing hurts.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked genuinely. I had lost track of dates or even days.

"It has been a week since you got here," she replied. Her eyes were still teary, but I could see a sense of relief washed over her.

"Oh..." was the only response I could give her.

I spent the next hour or so catching up with Rowena. She was filling me up regarding what had happened during the time I was in a coma. "No wonder I felt like shit", I thought to myself. With all the injuries I had sustained, I was even lucky to be brought back to life.

After we finished our conversation, I told Rowena that she should go home to take a rest and freshen up. I could tell that she had been losing sleep, because she seemed paler and the bags under her eyes couldn't even be concealed anymore. Rowena didn't have a choice but to reluctantly agree to my request. And then she left.

I took a deep excruciating long breath and finally let it out heavily. Every time I tried to just inhale the oxygen into my lungs felt excruciating. Now that Rowena had left me all by myself, the endorphins I felt earlier had run out, and all the pain came back. I stared at the hospital room's ceilings. And I remembered about the dream I had earlier - when I was in a coma. When I met my mum. I could still remember the feeling of her hands wrapped around me, her contagious smile, moreover... her every exact words.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I must have dozed off for a couple of hours, because the last thing I remembered was staring at the ceilings and replaying the rendezvous scene in my mine - and then everything went blank.

I heard footsteps outside of my room and thought it must be the nurse or doctor, coming in to check on me. But that footstep stopped in front of the door and I was confused at first. It never even crossed my mind that the man behind that door was my father, before he decided to push the door opened.