Only human

Chapter 12

Where am I? What's happening? I can't see anything, are my eyes open? Where is up? Down? Right, left? I can't move... Am I dead? Is this life after death? Eternal nothingness, complete isolation.

   No. I hear voices, faint, muffled voices, they sound panicked. I strain to hear them, maybe I'm not dead after all.

I can only make out a few words here and there.
"... Might not make it..."
"...Save her..."
"...too much blood..."
Save her? Are they talking about me? A faint light glows ever so dimly in the darkness and the voices grow louder, slowly, I can make out blurry faces looking down at me.
"She's awake!" calls a woman's voice.
Two more faces lean in over me, "Kayla, can you remember what happened to you?
I try to tell them no, but my voice doesn't work, I can't move. My breathing become rapid with panic and the room spins, I don't know what's happening, or where I am. My mind becomes fuzzy and I struggle to move.
"she's in shock, we need to get her under sedative," I'm able to move my left arm but I cry in pain when I do, tears stream down my face and my vision goes black.

I wake staring at the ceiling of a white room. A hospital room, the sinister beeping of my pulse comes from the machine behind me. An IV sits uncomfortably under my skin, and an oxygen mask covers my nose and mouth. I pull off the mask and make a painful attempt to sit up, but a splitting pain in my stomach holds my back. I turn my head and look for a call button, a small box with a red button labeled, "call nurse" sits by my right hand. I weakly press the button and let my hand go slack. How long have I been out? Does my mom know where I am? A flood of questions fill my mind and I squeeze my eyes shut. A moment later a friendly looking woman walks into the room, holding a tray of food. She smiles warmly and sets it down on the table next to me.

"What happened to me?" I ask.
"You don't remember anything?"
I shake my head, "No, do you know?"
"Well," she sits down in a chair next to my bed and begins checking my IV as she speaks, you were shot twice, once in the arm, and once in the stomache, it's a miracle you're still alive. According to witnesses you were being carried, unconscious by two people. You had already been shot once in the arm and some unidentified man came to your rescue. He fought them and called the police, but in the process of disarming them, you were accidentally shot in the stomache. Then he called the ambulance. The paramedics say you were found lying on the sidewalk next unconscious next to the two criminals."

I stay silent for a few minutes, letting it sink in. The fact that I almost died.
"What about my mom does she know I'm here? Where is she?"
"Calm down, we contacted her last night. She came and stayed for a few hours, but she went back home to get some things. She should be back in an hour or so." I nod, and she move the tray over to my bed, "In the meantime, you need to eat."