Deadline≫hemmings a.u

3.6

When I woke, it was not to the sound of a hospital monitor like I expected it to be. In all honesty, I didn't expect to wake up at all.

When I finally got my bearings and remembered how, I opened my eyes. The light was so bright in comparison to the back of my eyelids, I shut them again almost immediately. After a few more moments, I gathered myself up enough to open them again, this time not by much more than a millimeter. It took a little while, but eventually my eyes adjusted and I opened them all the way. I blinked a few times to clear my vision before focusing on the single fan on the ceiling that spun lazily around,

around,

and around.

I took some time to the scan the white walls of this room, and then a little more time to realize that these were not the sterile white walls of an ordinary hospital room. They were familiar. To the left of me was a window, with soft grayish blue curtains that fluttered with the soft wind that blew gently into the room along with the pure warm light that I bathed in. To the right I was able to identify that the little squares of color my mind couldn't originally put into clarity when it was muddled were actually pictures.

Squinting, I sat up. I blinked a few times, noticing the absence of the pain I expected to feel in my middle. Dumbfounded, I pulled up the hem of my clean white cotton tank top. The skin underneath was smooth and flawless, without any of the yellow and purple bruising that should have been there before. I opened my mouth, a question on my tongue, but when I realized I was alone, I kept my silence.

With a sigh, I leaned forward, taking a closer look at the pictures on the wall. Many of them were of me. Me with Sam, me with Natalie, me with Calum, me with Michael, and me with Luke.

Michael and Luke?

I blinked at the pictures in surprise and leaned in even closer. I even brought my hand up to touch the glossy surface, and sure enough, their smiling faces were still there. There was even a group picture of us all together on what had to be New Years Eve, judging by the streamers and banners.

"How?" I whispered, shaking my head in confusion and disbelief as I fell back against the pillows, lacing my hands together over my stomach as I looked up at the ceiling.

"You're awake," a voice across the room noted and I propped myself up on my elbows to connect the voice with a face.

"Calum?" My eyes widened and I swung my legs over the side of the bed, preparing to get up and run to him. Was he really here? After all this time, was he actually in the same room as me? Was I really here in New York? What was happening? All these questions flooded my mind, but I knew for sure I had to be back in the arms of my best friend.

"Woah, woah, slow down there," Calum chuckled, rushing from his spot by the door to the side of the bed. He put both hands on my shoulders and gently pushed back until I yielded and laid back down. "After what happened last night, I'm surprised you aren't screaming at me to cover the windows and get out of your room."

Dumbfounded, I looked down at where his hands met my shoulders, feeling his warmth radiate from his skin to mine. This couldn't be fake. Then my eyes rose to his and I gave him a skeptical look. "Last night? What happened last night?"

"Do you really not remember?" Calum grinned and scratched the back of his neck as he sat down on the bed by my hip. He looked healthy again, no bags under his eyes or any cracks in his voice. He looked okay. Great, even.

"No, not really," I admitted, looking down at my hands. What I remembered didn't seem to belong to this world at all. I was breaking into a house, and then fighting Aileen, and then... then there was nothing. Was all that a dream? Had I really never left New York? But the pictures...