Not the Same

Chapter twenty

"Listen, I don't care if I'm not immediate family, I'm going in that room and you can't stop me!"

The sound of a door slamming open causes me to flinch.

Slowly, I open my eyes to see Hailie standing over me with a worried expression on her face.

"Hey Av, how are you feeling?" she asks me while taking a seat in a chair near my bed.

I try to respond to her, but the lack of moisture in my mouth causes me to start violently coughing to the point where the searing pain I've already been experiencing in my head begins to feel unbearable.

Hailie hands me a small paper cup filled with water and I graciously drink it. After a few moments, I respond.

"Awful. Where am I? Am I in a hospital?"

She looks at me with a concerned expression. "You mean, you don't remember what happened? I mean it was three days ago"

I try to think back to what I was doing before I ended up here. I remember going to the aquarium and exploring the exhibits.

And then it hits me.

Adam pushed me into the tank. It must be evident that I remember because she responds. "Adam called me and told me what happened, but by that point I already knew. Everyone is talking about it."

"I fell in the tank thee days ago?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yeah, you've been out since then," Hailie responds.

"Where's Adam?" I ask.

"Not sure," Hailie replies. "I didn't see him when I walked in."

I'm about to ask her another question when there's a knock at the door. The door is slowly pushed open and Cameron walks into the room. The second his eyes land on me, a look of concern flushes to his face.

"Oh man. Avery, you look terrible."

"What a gentlemen, thank you! Every girl loves to be told she looks like crap" I retort, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm gonna go get some coffee? Want any, Cameron?" Hailie asks, while walking over to the door.

He shakes his head no and thanks Hailie as she leaves the room.

Cameron walks up to my bed and takes a seat in the chair Hailie was previously sitting in.

We're both silent for a few minutes, neither of us really knowing what to say.

Eventually, not being able to stand the awkward tension between us, I break the ice.

"Did you know that most sharks have to keep swimming at all times or they'll drown and die? Could you imagine? Just think about how terrible it would be if humans had to keep walking in their sleep. I would hate that. I mean some humans do sleep walk, I'm not here to judge sleepwalkers. I'm just saying I would not enjoy having to walk while sleeping in order to stay alive."

Cameron stares at me, not saying anything. After what feels like a lifetime, but really was only about thirty seconds, Cameron says "you literally fell into a shark tank - no not fell, you were pushed into a shark tank and could have died or been severely injured, but yet you're here, lying in a hospital bed telling me fun facts about sharks, the animals that almost just killed you?"

I just stare at him, not knowing how to respond.

"You're something else Avery," Cameron sighs with a small smile forming on his face.

"So I've been told," I respond with a similar smile.

"But in all honesty, how are you feeling?" he asks me, his seriously tone returning.