New Blood

Chapter One

Rattling and bright lights woke Terrace with a start. As he tried to open his eyes, bright lights flashed overhead in some sort of pattern. They were ceiling lights. He was in some sort of hallway. Whatever he was laying on was shaking pretty hard. Suddenly, he turned a corner and was forced to close his eyes again as nausea overcame him. "Hurry! He's losing too much blood!" A voice sounded urgent, but oddly distant. What happened? The last thing he remembered was riding in a car with his brother and mom, and than...his head pounded and he gave up on the thought.

The bed halted, and he dared to open his eyes. This room was no dimmer then the hallway, and it had more people rushing about. People stood over him talking in hurried voices. "Of course we can't take tests first, you dolt. There's no time, we have to transfer the blood now!" There was more bustling until a friendly face peered over Terrace just as he felt a needle pierce his arm. "Its alright kid," the man's voice started to fade. "You'll be okay.

***

Beep. Beep. Beep. Terrace woke for a second time, but now much more groggy. The sense of urgency had vanished, and all was quiet except for a lady dressed in blue nurse's clothes that was typing on a computer. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and her fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard. A name tag on her chest read, "Emily." Terrace blinked a few times then squinted down at his hand. An IV was stuck through his skin, and he winced as he flexed his fingers. Emily noticed the movement and glanced over with a playful smile. "You're alive." It was obviously meant as a joke, but there was a sign of relief in her expression. "How are you feeling?"

Terrace groaned. "Terrible and confused."

Emily smiled sympathetically. "The doctor will be in soon to check on you. He'll explain everything." She turned back to her computer and began typing furiously again. After about a minute or so, she picked up a stack of papers and left the room, giving a friendly wave as she did so.

Glancing around the room without moving, Terrace noticed a curtain was pulled around the perimeter of the area. This must be a sectioned off portion of a larger room. A monitor was still beeping beside his bed, keeping safe track of his heart rate. Other then that, nothing else was really too interesting, except for maybe the office chair near the computer desk. Terrace always had fun with those at the doctor. They were loads of fun to spin around in. He and Morgan took turns when the doctor wasn't in the room. Speaking of which, where was his little brother? His mind flashed back to his last memory of driving in the car. There must have been an accident. His heart rate began to pick up as anxiety filled his chest. Where was his family? Were they okay?

These thoughts dispelled when a tall, dark-haired man in a white coat entered the room. A stethoscope hung around his neck and he held a clipboard in his hands. "Hello, Terrace," he said pleasantly. The voice soothed him and he began to calm down.

"Hi." Tarrace's voice came out in a sort of croak, like when you don't speak for a while and then have a dry throat.

"I'm Dr. Jensen, but you can call me Harley. I'm just going to ask you a few questions, okay?" Terrace nodded and Harley sat down in the office chair and continued speaking. "How are you feeling right now? Are you in any pain?"

Terrace almost laughed at the question. Of course he was. "Yeah, pretty cruddy. My whole body aches and I've got a killer migraine," he added, anticipating the next question.

Harley nodded and jotted down something on his clipboard. "What do you last remember before coming here?"

"I was riding in our car with my mom and little brother." He paused, wondering if he should ask about them, but the doctor moved on.

"I bet you're wondering what happened." He nodded and the man lowered his clipboard and looked at him. "You and your family got in an accident. It was pretty nasty, and you lost a lot of blood. We had to give you a blood transfusion, meaning we gave you someone else's blood."

Terrace gulped. He'd seen stuff like this happen in movies, but never imagined it could happen to him. Then again, no one ever does. "What about my family? Are they okay?"

Harley suddenly looked nervous, and he clasped his hands together in his lap. "Your brother is in another room. He hasn't woken up yet, but he'll be alright. Your mother..." He swallowed and continued very slowly. "She didn't survive the trip back to the hospital. I'm...I'm so sorry Terrace."

Suddenly, everything seemed to be spinning again. Terrace got very dizzy very fast. He heard the monitor beeps increase in speed and Dr. Jensen bounced up from his chair and called the nurse in. Everything went black.

***

For the third time in a row, Terrace woke up confused and disoriented. He was in the same room as before, and at the first sign of his awakening, the nurse, Emily, rushed to his side, a worried look on her face. "Are you alright?" He didn't answer. Mom was gone. She was all Morgan and he had left, after dad abandoned them all. All Terrace wanted to do was sink back into the darkness and never wake up...but he couldn't. Morgan needed him.

"Morgan," he said softly. "Where is he?"

"He's in a separate room," the young woman replied.

"Is he awake? I need to see him." Terrace tried to push himself up, only to wince in pain and fall back on the pillows.

The nurse shook her head. "Yes, but you are in no condition to get out of bed yet. You're still healing."

His eyes began to water and the room blurred. Emily's gaze softened and she grasped his hand, squeezing it. Her eyes shine with sorrow. "I'm so sorry for what happened, but it'll be okay. I promise you that your brother is alright. He's in good hands, as are you."

If they were so great at taking care of people, then why did his mother die? He almost snapped at the nurse, but it wasn't her fault. Instead, Terrace closed his eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks. What was going to happen to them now?

(Don't forget to vote if you like this so far c:)