The Calm Before The Storm

Awake

~Max~

Everything is... dark, and cold and blurry. I have no idea where I am or why I'm in so much pain all the time. I'm aware of voices around me, but other than that, I'm completely numb to the world. I can't move or speak or... anything really. I try to focus on the voices, none of them sounding familiar except one. It's a female's voice, I can tell that much, and it's much softer and kinder than all the others. She's just... talking to me, telling me about the weather and what the sunset looks like and how much she wishes I could see it.

It's really sweet.

My head starts throbbing as I try to remember... something. All my memories are mixed and fuzzy. But the last, clear thing I remember is driving...with... with... Chloe.

Chloe... oh, god, Chloe! We were in the car, and we were driving and... oh god.

My eyes shoot open and pain shoots through my chest as I take in a large gulp of air. I look around me, features around me starting to come into focus. There's... a loud beeping followed by a whirring sound that nearly gives me a heart attack.

A heartbeat monitor... a- and...

I pause mid-thought, immediately feeling an I.V in my arm and the cold rush of drugs through my veins. I shiver and weakly flex my hand, all my muscles feeling stiff like I haven't moved in a week. Everything is sore, especially my head, leg, and chest. As I shift around a little in the bed I'm in, I grunt in pain, my voice sounding weak and garbled. I reach up and brush my hand against my face, suddenly aware of something covering my mouth.

A ventilator.

I let out a distressed sound but... yeah, it's no use with this fucking thing in my mouth. Yeah, this is not helping my anxiety in the least. I have no idea why I'm here, or where Chloe is. I scan the room again, seeing nothing of significance.

Fuck... I don't... w-what the hell happened to me? How long have I been out?

I can tell it's been a few days because of how stiff my muscles feel. I once again reach out and brush my hand over my face, this time letting my hands trail up to my head, where I feel gauze taped down on what I'm assuming is a cut of some sort.

Aww, god... did they have cut my hair?

I think, feeling a soft, fuzzy patch of thin hair, shit. I run my hand down to my chest, feeling a good amount of gauze there too. I press down on said gauze a bit too hard and grunt in pain.

Wait...

I feel around my shoulders and... of course, I don't have a fucking shirt on. I blush self consciously and try to cover my chest but to no avail. I close my eyes and desperately try to remember what the hell happened. I mean... I- I think... I think we crashed. I crashed and... Chloe and I got hurt. I grab my head and shut my eyes tightly, small flashes of the crash coursing through my mind...fuck.

I take a few slow breaths to try and calm myself down, but I'll I end up is making my panic and anxiety worse. I start absently rubbing at my wrist, the gauze, tape, and I.V beginning to feel hypersensitive against my skin.

I need to get out of here, goddammit! I need to find Chlo-

"Max?".

I freeze, dropping my hands and looking up to the door, seeing a certain blue-haired punk standing there.

She looks tired and worn out, her hair is shaggy and unkempt. There are dark circles under her eyes, making them look dull and sunken in. Since I can't really say anything, I just stare at her, taking in every single detail of her beautiful face.