Truthful, Beating Heart

Chapter One

I awoke to beeping machines. Beep...beep....beep.. I tried to look around to see where I was but my eyelids didn't seem to be opening. Beep...beep....beep.. Panic spiked my veins like ice water. My heart thudded along with the machine. Beep...beep...beep.. I started to move my head around looking into the darkness. Oh god, I'm dead. I'm dead, I'm a goner. I thought miserably. I moaned and slapped my hands over my face. Then, I heard my mom's voice,

"Erin!? Oh God, Tom! She's awake." I heard her take a deep breath and whisper, "Thank God. Thank God." I suddenly became aware of the pillow beneath my head and the soft sheets clenched in my shaking fists. I was in a bed. I could hear my mom and stepdad breathing next to me, presumably kneeling next to the bed. I swallowed to steady myself and asked,

"Where am I?"

"The hospital." My stepfather said. I turned my head toward the sound of his voice but I still was unable to see anything. My mom's voice came from the same direction and she said,

"You were in an accident, honey. Do you remember?" I shook my head no. I tried to focus, searched my brain, but there was no memory of an accident that I could find. "It was dark and a car ran a stop sign. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time and the car hit the driver side door." I crinkled my eyebrows trying harder to remember. I didn't believe it. It couldn't be true. There was a strong pounding in my head and it got worse as I tried to remember. Then I asked,

"Why is it so dark in here? I can't see anything." My mom sucked in a sharp breath and I heard her let out a sob. Butterflies swirled in my stomach and my heart was in my throat as my mom said,

"You hit your head in the accident. We're lucky you woke up at all, the doctors weren't sure how extensive the damage was." Damage? What was she talking about. She continued, "The doctors don't know if it's temporary or if its permanent, but when you hit your head," I heard her take a steadying breath, "you lost your vision." She let out another sob and the information hit me. I was blind. My stomach settled like a chunk of ice in my gut, and, though it felt like my heart was about to stop, the machine kept it's steady rhythm. My heart was still beating strong beneath my rib cage.

Beep...beep...beep...