Saving Max

Chapter 35

Everything hurts.

That's the first and only thing that I can think when I wake up. I can't  open my eyes or my mouth, and I can't move a single bone in my stiff body, but at least I know I'm awake.

Or am I?

Is this a dream? It could be. I don't know.

I try to curl my fingers, but I can't will myself to do it quite yet. Even though I know I want to, it's like my brain is forcing me to stay completely still. I try to pick up my arm next, and then try to simply open my eyes, but neither of those tasks are successful, either. I'm stuck.

Then, ever so slowly, I start to make out a few voices around me. I'm unable to tell who they are or what they're saying, but the only thing I care about is that there are other people here with me. I'm not alone.

All of the relief I fell quickly fades away when I realize I can't actually talk to them. I can't open my mouth, so how I can I tell them I'm awake? How will I let them know I'm okay?

I feel completely defeated.

"...she's doing better every day. We hope to have her awake by the end of the week." I hear a voice say, one that is foreign and unrecognizable to my ears.

Their words, however, sound the alarm bells in my mind. How long have I been in here? Where even am I?

I start to panic, unsure of anything that's going around me. I don't know anything except the darkness surrounding me. I'm completely helpless to defend myself. I'm not even sure what happened to me, let alone what's going to happen if I don't start getting some answers soon. I feel my heart beat faster in my chest, and the feeling keeps me holding on to my sanity by a very thin thread. At least I know I'm alive.

"That's good." I hear my mom say, her voice instantly bringing me piece of mind. If she's here, I know everything is going to be okay. I'm not going to hurt anymore. This feeling is strange, yet pleasant at the same time. It makes me feel like a little kid again; relying on my mom to make everything better. I have the same feeling running through me right now that I had when I heard my mom's soothing voice in my ear after I feel off my bike when I was ten, busting open my knee on the rough concrete. I was crying, my tears blurring my vision so that everything was out of focus, but her voice calmed me. She made everything, even the pain, seem bearable. "That's good." she repeats, and I can picture her nodding to herself, biting her thumb nail like she always does when she's anxious or deep in thought. Most of the time she doesn't even realize she's doing it until her nail is almost completely gone, bitten down to a rigid nub.

It feels strange to miss the sight, but I do.

"Will you let us know if anything changes?" I hear my dad's voice fill the room now, the pain and sadness it holds instantly tugging at my heart. My dad never really shows his emotions very often, so hearing his voice so raw and vulnerable makes me feel guilty. He's always been one to cage up his feelings, becoming an expert at keeping them hidden from sight, away from all people, and I know it's my fault for him having to lay them all out in the open right now.

"Of course." the nurse says, and I can hear the faint sound of a door clicking shut as she leaves the room, leaving me alone with my parents.

I try once again to will my eyes to open, but yet again not a muscle moves. I make myself try once more, concentrating as hard as I can, but this doesn't get me anywhere, either. All this gets me is a pounding headache, a dull throb pulsing steadily against my skull.

"Son," my dad says, making me tune in instantly, his words making me acutely aware that there must be another person in the room with us. I try to forget about the headache so I can concentrate, but the tasks proves harder than I'd imagined. If anything, trying to forget about the pain only seems to make it worse."You should get home with your brother, now. You can't stay here like forever. It's not healthy, for you or for him." he continues, and I can hear the strong clap of his hand against what sounds like the back of a chair, or whatever other furniture is in the room.