Reawakening Eve--WATTPAD PRIZE 2014

Chapter 2: A Chance

  Ash woke up in a cold sweat with his heart racing uncontrollably, threatening to rip out of his chest and collapse onto the polished wooden floor. The sun shone through the room, oblivious to the despair Ash was in. He knew he was in a hospital, judging from the crisp white sheets, the  sharp smell of sanitizer, and the rapid beeping the monitor made as his heart began to panick.

  His hand rolled around clumsily as he tried to grasp the white railing of the bed and sit up. Once he did however, a sharp pain erupted from the left side of his body. The pain was excruciating and he almost flopped back down onto the bed, but instead crunched his teeth together and pulled himself up to a sitting position. Gingerly, he touched his bandaged side, knowing that there were a few broken ribs mending in there.

  He took in a few deep breaths, and steadied himself.

  That couldn't have been a dream right?

  It wasn't right. He chuckled lightly to himself. It was only a dream, just a dream.

  Nothing more and nothing less right?

  His hands took sporadically as the weight of everything dawned on him. A shiver of a scream slipped past his lips and crescendoed into a bawling noise. He couldn't control himself and felt so weak because of that, especially when he heard the thundering of footsteps and  his mother's warm arms around his shoulders, careful as to not hit his broken arm, and brought him close to her chest. He could smell cinnamon and cherry blossoms on her, her favorite perfume.

 "Sssssh...Ssssssh...It's alright sweetie. It isn't your fault at all, so don't even sob like that. It was an idiot drunk truck driver's fault. Stay strong Ash. I'm not promising you that everything is alright, but I command you to be strong for Eve." She stroked his thick brown hair. She always seemed to know what to say to make sure her son clearly felt her words.

 "Your mom is right Ash. Eve isn't angry at you." A deep, rumbling voice echoed next to him. Ash looked up blearily and met up with the weary face of Jack Winters. His once clear blue eyes were now bloodshot from hours of crying and his face was unshaven. He looked miserable, but Ash noticed that he still stood tall and straight.

  Ash pulled away from his mom, wincing a bit from a sudden flash of pain in his head. He nodded, but that made the pain worse and eventually one of the nurses, a dirty blonde haired one, pushed him gently back down on the bed, and the other one, who was older, pressed a button and raised his bed so that he was slightly sitting up.

  He stared at Jack. "Thank you. I thought you would have killed me...because your sister..." He couldn't finish his sentence.

  Jack shook his head.  "It's not your fault at all. You've always been a brother to me Ash and you still are." Ash smiled faintly and yawned, then touched his mom's hand. "Mom. How is Eve doing? I had this dream where she---" His mom stopped him by covering his mouth with her hand. He looked up at her, now annoyed.

  "First. You're going to freshen up and eat something. You need the energy now if you're going to stay strong. Afterwards, we will tell you everything." Then, with a kiss on his forehead, his mom stood up and left with Jack. The nurses shut the door and then began helping Ash out of the bed. That was when Ash realized that he was letting two women give him a shower.

  "Wait a minute...Can't I bathe myself?" He asked, leaning onto the older one for support. His legs felt like jelly and ached when he took a step.

  The older nurse laughed, she sounded like a hyena from the Lion King. "Sure. You can try lifting that heavy hose in your fragile condition, especially with one hand." She replied and went into the large bathroom, setting Ash down onto a blue chair.