The Comeback

Chapter 1 - Waking Up

Chapter 1 - Waking Up

I hear a constant beep, steady and muffled, but as time passes, the beeping becomes louder and clearer. I can’t open my eyes and I really try, but they are so heavy. I start to take notice of my body and realise how heavy it is, I can’t move it either. It’s like thousands of blokes are above me, trapping me, pinning me against this soft surface. Where am I? What’s happening? I grow desperate by the second but then I stop when I hear something else and this freezes my body.

Sobbing.

Someone is sobbing and this person is close, I know that. Is this person crying over me? Am I dead?

No!

Woah, okay, I’m clearly not dead. I believe you, inner voice. Anyways, there’s someone crying but I still can’t open my eyes nor move my body. I fight, fight harder than I’ve fought before, but nothing happens. I don’t give up. I can’t give up. I need to wake up… or fully wake up. Whatever the case is.

I can finally open my eyes and it hurts so badly. Everything is so bright I have to close them again and open them slowly this time, carefully. My surroundings are so white and immaculate, and unfamiliar. I don’t recognise this place but when I look at my right I see machines, hospital machines. I take another look at the room and it looks like a hospital room, and I’m a patient.

I hear the sobbing again and I remember I heard it before, so I look to my left and I see a girl. She hasn’t noticed I woke up and she is crying. She has this messy and big brown curly hair, with small ringlets. She is pale, I can see that, but she is covering her face so I can’t tell more. She is skinny, almost like a boy before he hits puberty. She is dressed casually, with jeans, a long and comfy cream jumper and trainers.

She is beyond ordinary.

No!

Woah… my inner voice is quite loud now.

I try to recognise her but nothing comes to my mind. Why is she here, crying? I don’t know her. To be honest, I don’t even know why I am here. Wait… what happened? How did I end up in the hospital? What if I lost my memory?

No, I do remember things. I’m Liam Payne, I’m nineteen, I’m studying Aerospace engineering, I’m from Wolverhampton, I came to London for Uni. I have my best mate, Zayn and we go to Queen Mary together. I do remember things, and faces, but I don’t remember this girl. Could it be that I only forgot her? How’s that possible?

My distress affects the machines because the beeps become faster and louder and that alerts the girl. She stops crying and jerks, her hands leaving her face and she looks at me, meeting my eyes that have been examining her all this time. Her eyes are green, so green and framed by long and thick eyelashes. Her skin is covered with freckles and she is really pale. Her eyes are kind of weird, almond-shaped and too intense. I wouldn’t call her pretty.

Shut up, she is beautiful! My inner voice screams, clearly opposed to my other thoughts.

Maybe that’s why I’m in the hospital… maybe it’s not even a hospital and I’m in an asylum because I went mental.

No, but seriously, how did I end up here?

“Blimey, you’re awake!” She exclaims and I blink. Her voice is so soft and warm, like a caress. It surprises me.

Told you! She’s beautiful, like her voice!

Yes, I’m mental.

I try to speak but my throat is horse and it hurts to even open my mouth. The girl hurries as she wipes the tears from her cheeks. She takes a glass from the nightstand next to my bed with a straw and helps me to drink some water as she presses a button. Maybe she is calling someone.