To love you | Malum

Ch. 15 - Bright Lights + Saddened Eyes

Michael + Ch. 15 - Bright Lights + Saddened Eyes

Hospital rooms were the epitome of danger, the opposite of aesthetic, they were something that people perceived as the end of life, when in reality, it's the place to get better. I was out like a light, the crinkled white bed sheets contaminating my skin as I glanced around the empty room, the chair in the opposite corner not fulfilling with a body, but of a note, a balloon, a bear, and some flowers. Ah, pity, my favorite. I couldn't recall what had happened last, or if I was just in some sort of wheelchair accident again, but once the doctor walked in with his trench coat and a burning number of questions, I knew I'd be defeated with integrity and confusion.

"Good to see you're awake. How are you feeling?" The name on his tag read Jones, and I could only answer him in an appropriate manner, despite wanting to be sarcastic. Oh you know, I have a broken leg, an injured spine, and now I'm even more fucked up. I'm feeling fantastic! "I'm alright, a little thirsty, though. Is there any apple juice?"

"We ran out this morning. Little Jacqueline couldn't get her hands off the beverage," Jones chuckled, marking something down on his clipboard as he took a seat beside me. "So far, you aren't dealing with anything too serious, such as a concussion or a coma, but we do need to run a couple of health tests."

"But why?" I groaned, just wanting to see Calum's face again, because it somehow lit up the room like the sun on a dark, hazy day, and I knew he meant well, but what is it that happened last night that made me end up here? It had to have been something major. "According to Daryl Clifford, your father, you haven't taken your health into consideration for the past two years, and your last check-in was when you injured yourself."

"I've been to other hospitals," I reiterated with an eye roll, knowing that he wasn't giving up easily, "I may not be into the whole health coordination thing and applying it to reality, but that doesn't mean I'm not okay."

"On the contrary, Michael," Jones sighed, flipping his clipboard onto the empty medicine tray and replacing it with a cold cup of water that the nurse just brought in, "I've been alerted that you've passed out a couple of times?"

"Only from panic attacks," I bit down on my lip. He probably wouldn't understand. I'm perfectly fine – just a little crippled. "Okay, maybe I've passed out from more than just that but it's nothing! And I'm just an anxious teenager who's waiting to be eighteen."

"Ah, yes, eighteen, the exciting part of your life," Jones added in as he jotted a couple of other things down, "I'm setting up an appointment to run through some tests at one, four hours from now. Would you like to see any of your visitors to pass time?"

"Sure," I shrugged, wondering who could possibly be downstairs in the waiting room, but also wondering if they were the people involved in this situation. Surely enough, up came by father, Ashley from music class – which confused me because we don't talk, and the most important of all, Calum. He had a sympathetic smile on his face, his brown eyes peering away from the sight every second he had the opportunity to look in another direction. Anywhere but at me. "Hey guys."

"Feeling any better?" Calum immediately questioned, being the first to walk over to my bed, and I hated knowing that he could see me like this. I didn't miss the way he shakily dipped his fingers into the side of the bed. I didn't miss the way his chest started rising and falling faster than usual. I didn't miss the way his eyes locked on mine, just before they started willing with tears. I didn't miss the way he brought his left hand up to his lips to start kissing his knuckles, but I stopped him. I did miss the way he tapped his foot against the ground to calm his nerves because he didn't know what to say to me, and quite frankly, I was okay with that. I didn't want him to say anything.