Chapter 24: The Prayer
Melanie
For a second, all I see is darkness. Then slowly, my eyes start fluttering open. I’m staring at a plain white ceiling and my head hurts like hell. Like a hangover x100. Painfully, I turn to the side and Jacob is sitting next to me in a cheap looking chair. I realize that I’m in a hospital.
“J- Jake..” I croak. Ow. My throat is dry.
He looks up suddenly from his phone, a look of utter shock on his face. “Mel??” He says and presses a button that’s located somewhere behind my bed. There’s a moment of silence and a voice speaks. “Yes??”
“She’s awake!” He exclaims.
“Shhhhh.” I say. My headache gets worse at the sound of his loud voice.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” He says quieter this time. He has a smile as large as Texas on his face. He gets up and softly gives me an awkward hug. “Welcome back.”
I try to smile but that hurts too. Wait a second. Chresanto. Where’s Chresanto? No offense to Jacob but the first person I would want to see is him.
Out of nowhere his smile disappears. “You would pick this moment to wake up.” He grumbles to himself. What’s that mean?
“Where’s Chris?” I croak again. It actually hurts to talk. “What happened? W-why am I in here?”
“You, Roc, and Mariah were in an accident.” He stands up and starts pacing nervously. “I really shouldn’t- I shouldn’t be the one telling you this.”
“Jacob, where’s Chris?” I try to say a little louder.
“He.. I really shouldn’t be the one talking to you right now. I’m… I promised him I wouldn’t…” He grabs his hair in frustration. Then he leaves the room. I try and yell for him to come back but my voice gives out. I stare at the ceiling again. Where is he? Why isn’t he here? Please don’t let him be hurt. Please. I know he used to always tell me that I was so pessimistic, so I try to stay positive. If we were all in an accident, I’m sure he’s just in the hospital like me. Mariah too. They’re both okay, no severe injuries.
I focus on myself. I can feel that there’s a bandage covering, which means I had a head injury. I can remember my name, my birthday, my address. I remember Chresanto and I remember everyone else. I can remember my childhood and I can remember what my life is like. Memory is intact, so that’s a good thing. I look at my arms and I’ve got a few bruises on them as well as faint scratches. Hm. I wonder what kind of accident we were in. I think the last thing I remember was getting ready to go to some concert for some reason, those details are still kind of fuzzy.
No matter how long I try to distract myself, my mind still keeps going back to Chris. Please let him be okay. The way Jake was acting has me nervous. What did he promise him? Why would he just leave me in here like this and not explain anything? I’m freaking out on the inside.
I continually stare at the ceiling until the door opens. I turn my head, hoping for it to be him. It’s not. It’s the doctor.
“Hello Melanie. Welcome back.” She smiles at me. Jake said the same thing. She gives me a quick checkup. “Your vitals are looking good. Your bandage is as well. It seems like the stitches have healed.” She touches a spot above my eyebrows. Stitches?? Jeez.
“What happened?” I ask her weakly.
“I’m going have a nurse get you some water, I’m sure you need it.” She says while writing on a clipboard. “How is your head feeling?”
