Bear Child (Book 1)

Chapter 30

          30. Hospitalized

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

That was all I could hear.

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

I couldn’t feel anything. I couldn’t move. Everything was black.

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

Where was I? What had happened? Where was Kenai?

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

Kenai . . .

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . .

I felt like if something was pushing me down, pushing me away from reality. I wanted to move, I wanted to see. What had happened? The beeping continued. The damn beeping. It was getting on my last nerves. But as annoying as they were, there was only one place I could be where the continuous beeping could make sense: a hospital. Wait, why was I in a hospital? I tried hard to think. A flood of memories swam in my mind. I remembered the lake, Joshua, the gun, the running, Kenai, and a gun shot. I finally remembered. I had been shot. I had pushed Kenai out of the way so that he wouldn’t die. Whoa, wait! If I was in the hospital, then where was Kenai?! Was he alright?! What happened after I passed out?! Answers. That was what I needed. Answers. And there was only one way to get them. I had to wake up.

I was unconscious, and I knew that. I willed myself to wake up, to face reality again. It was like I was trying to push through a thick wall. Almost impossible. Almost. I tried as hard as I could to find feeling again so that I could open my eyes. How long had I been out? How has Ben been taking it? He had to know, right? Crap. He would want an explanation. He’s going to want to know what had happened. What would I tell him? I couldn’t keep it all a secret forever. I didn’t want to keep telling lies. But first thing’s first, I had to open my eyes. It was hard, but I had finally managed to regain feeling again. The first thing that I felt was a pang of pain in my right side. How lovely. I couldn’t help but wonder how bad the damage was. The beeping grew louder. Damn that annoying beeping! Feeling in my fingers followed, and it spread through the rest of my body.

I tried to move my fingers, but all they had managed to do was twitch. What a fail. But hey, it was something. I squeezed my eyes and kept them closed for a moment before they fluttered open. The first thing I saw was a white tiled ceiling. I tried to pick up my head, but as soon as I raised it from the lumpy pillow, a huge head rush hit followed by a painful headache. My head started pounding. Releasing a sigh, I looked around the room from my uncomfortable hospital bed. There was no color. Everything was either white or grey except for the lights from the machines and the . . . balloons? Beside the bed, there were bouquets of balloons that read “Get Well Soon” as well as flowers that were in every color imaginable. How long had I been out?

I turned my head to look at the seats that were supposed to be for visitors. I smiled. Alex was knocked out on the chairs with Sonia’s head on his lap. “Wake up, sleeping beauties.” I said in a hoarse voice.  Alex’s head shot up while Sonia quickly opened her eyes. “Clair!” She said in a gleeful voice. “Welcome to the land of the living.” Alex said with a smirk on his face. I let out a small laugh. “It’s great to be here.” I told him. I looked around the room once more. “Where’s Ben?”