Noah

March 5th 2014

Firstly, I became aware of the sweat lining my palms. Then, the force it took to take each breath, as though a heavy weight were pressed down on my chest. Next, the stickiness and uncomfortable mush that was the inside of my mouth. Lastly, I heard a beeping, systematic like an alarm clock, bleeping in time, bleep bleep bleep.

With difficulty, I found the controls for my eyelids and gently pressed them open. Bright lights above me forced me to close them again. I opened them again, slower this time. All I could see was a hazy blur of bright lights. With an undignified grunt, I blinked hard and fast for a few seconds, trying to clear the layer of fog from my vision.

Instinctively, I raised a hand to rub my eyes clear of their burden, but my hand made it just a few centimetres up, before a savage weakness overcame and I dropped it again. With a heavy sigh of over exertion, I tilted my head back, blinking again to try to clear the insistent smog. Eventually, my eyes cleared enough that I could see again.

My neck controls seemed to be stiff and for a moment, I could do nothing but stare up at the patterned white ceiling, tracing the patterns along with my eyes. I followed the lines, making patterns and shapes for a moment, trying to move the aching in my chest whenever I breathed.

Then it hit me that the ceiling of my bedroom wasn't patterned.

With a spurt of fear energy, I sat upright, and was suddenly greeted with a sharp pain in my lower stomach. I groaned, leaning heavily on my arms, and looked around, trying to place where I was.

My eyes fell on my arms, to the needle in the back of my right hand and the weird bundle of wires attached to a piece of plastic on my index finger.

"Fuck." I muttered to myself breathlessly. I felt something irritate my face and reached up with my left hand, weakly clawing at a tube that was attached round my nose. My jelly fingers eventually managed to pry away the tube and I dropped it beside me on the bed I was on.

I glanced around and noticed that there was no one in the room. The room was plain, and the door not too far away. I could vaguely hear talking on the other side. I had to get out of here, right now.

Pain rippled through me again and I was forced to slump back down on the bed. Undefeated, I started tugging at the needle in my hand. It was tapped and secured, and my fingers were as weak as a newborn baby's neck. I pried and tugged at the needle for what felt like forever before finally ripping it out and dropping it too.

The voices outside the door had quietened, and I got the feeling that the people on the other side, whoever they were, were having a hushed argument.

I lifted the covers of the bed off myself and found I was wearing an oversized bed shirt. Fearing what I would see, I lifted the bottom of the top slowly, trying to get my gradually weakening breathing under control.

My lower stomach was hidden beneath big white bandages. Glancing up at the door briefly, I lifted the bandages as carefully as I could and was met with a thick swathe of tapped on gauze. Tipping my head back, I gently tugged the tape off the skin, ignoring the insistent sting, and peered underneath the bandages.

Although I couldn't properly see what was under there due to the lighting and the bandages being in the way, I could see that it was a mess. The stitches seemed hurried, and it was surrounded by blood and harshly coloured bruises.

"Oh shit." I muttered to myself, finding my breathing coming in short gasps. I tried to calm myself down, but my breathing seemed impossible to control. Everything blurred momentarily, and I gripped onto the sheets tightly. "Come on, pull it together." I said, biting my lip and blinking hard to clear my eyes. I scrubbed them with my left hand, taking a deep breath.