Gabriel

32. Vulnerability

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Enjoy!!!

xoxo,

Caroline

~~~

MAEVE

The first thing I know is how the oxygen leaves my lips; slowly, then all at once. It comes in waves, and flashes, and there's blurs everywhere even though I'm not actually sure where everywhere is. A touch here, a touch there, all while time stands still.

It seems like hours and it seems like seconds.

But throughout it all, the only thing I can think is how the oxygen leaves my lips.

      One

     Two

     Three

      Four

     One

     Two

     Three

     Four

I repeat until the sound of my own voice fades again, blurring with the rest of the noise around me that creates the world. Suddenly, I feel. Or maybe it wasn't sudden. But it wasn't there, and then it was.

First, I can feel my chest as it rises and falls, then my toes, and my fingers. Slowly, the rest of my body begins to tingle, and I become painstakingly aware that my forehead aches. Not a dull ache, but one where someone decided it would be a good idea to drill a hole into my skull and leave the drill inside. Some sort of noise comes uncontrollably from my lips as I can feel my face contort in pain.

"She's awake. Go get the nurse", I hear from beside me. My fingers twitched as I become fully aware of my movements and am achingly able to open my eyes. I regret it the minute I do so as blinding light causes my already aching head to throb. Once my eyes adjust to the light, I notice a familiar face. I can't quite remember why but her motherly and similar features cause me to narrow my eyes in confusion.

"Maeve, it's me, Lucia. You're in the hospital", she says gently. I'm grateful for her low voice as not to hurt my tender head further. Everything comes flooding back, and the first thought that surfaces in my mind is Gabriel.

"Where's Gabriel?" I ask more alertly, looking around in hopes that he's lurking in the corner or something like that; or maybe that he'll walk in any second and tell me everything's okay, and that I'm not dying like I thought I was. To my disappointment, I don't find him. The quick movements of my neck cause a sharp, stabbing pain to shoot through my head. I hiss and slowly bring my hand up to touch the stinging area on my forehead and am surprised to feel fabric attached to my head that wraps all the way around my ears and the base of my neck, covering most of my forehead.

"I'm sorry Maeve, his brother's reached him in time, but he still hasn't woken up", she says, her eyes downcast sorrowfully.

"W-what do you mean. I don't understand. Why-what happened to him?" My voice rises, and the heart monitor picks up my heart's change in beat as my breathing becomes frantic. I'm so disoriented, and I just want Gabriel but I don't know where he is.

"Please, I just want to see Gabriel. I just want him to–", I start, but before I can finish, Lucia cuts me off.

"Maeve, calm down. He's going to be fine. But you won't be if you don't calm yourself down. You don't want to black out again. Please, just let me explain everything", she says as I go to wrap my arms around myself, but am stopped by the IV poking uncomfortably into my left arm, so I settle for folding them in my lap after I've scooted up a bit so I can actually sit. I feel woozy for a second as my head spins, but it passes quickly.