I jolt awake to the low hums and occasional beeps coming from the machine beside me. I instantly realize that I'm not in my house when I don't smell Easton's burnt breakfast. Instead, it smells as if the room is filled to the brim with false hopes and dreams. All I see is the color white, everything in this room is a shade of white. I realize that I've been placed in a hospital.
I quickly sit up and pain shoots through my head. I whimper in pain and bring my hand up to rub my forehead. I notice an IV line running to my arm but chose to ignore it. I have a massive headache. I have no idea what the hell is going on. I don't understand why no one is here to explain it to me either. I start to think of the worst possible reasons and cause my heart rate to spike. My breathing thickens and eventually leads to a panic attack.
I feel my fingernails scratching my throat for air and let out an ear-splitting scream. I pull my hands away from my throat and start shaking terribly. My whole body is shaking and then finally someone bursts into the hospital room.
It's Easton and closely behind him follow Asher, Sebastian, Kassie, Jeremiah, Brantley, and Miles who wheels in just before the door swings shut. Easton rushes over to me and wraps me in a tight hug trying to hold all my shaking limbs in place. "It's alright Emmy, it's going to be okay." He whispers to me but I can hear the fear in his voice. "No one was here when I woke up and I thought...I thought..." I try to speak but my voice is quivering too much. I see his eyes darken for a moment and he shakes his head "I'm sorry Emmy, the doctors told us to let you sleep so we had to leave." He tells me in a hoarse voice.
My body slowly begins to calm down and I feel much better. "You are going to be fine, don't worry." I hear Easton whisper to me. I'm beginning to think he's reassuring himself that I'm alright and not just me. I start to get the hiccups because of my panic attack earlier.
Brantley chuckles at me, "Why do you have the hiccups Sunshine?" He asks with a slight smile. "Whenever Em has a panic attack she gets the hiccups afterward." I hear Easton tell him for me and Brantley nods his head knowingly. Easton continues to lay on the hospital bed almost as if he's afraid he'll lose me.
I can feel the pain medicine beginning to wear off and an agonizing pain starts to creep across my leg. My legs are currently covered by a pristine white hospital blanket and out of pure curiosity, I uncover my legs. I instantly squeeze my eyes shut after I see my gruesome-looking leg.
There are bandages wrapped around it but they definitely need to be changed as they are redder in color rather than white. The bandages have peeled back in a few places and I can see my own flesh rather than skin. My leg is bruised around the entirety of the injury and there are quite a few stitches.
I scream at the horror and instantly feel very lightheaded. Black dots start to spot my vision just before a nurse bursts through the door with a worried face. She takes one look at my leg says, "Oh dear, you bled through the bandages again, let's get this all patched up and then it won't be so bad okay honey" I nod and look away as she starts to work on my leg. I try to ignore the agonizing pain since she is just trying to help. I wince as she peels off the last piece of old bandage and I feel Easton grasp my hand and squeeze it tightly to ensure that he is here for me.
I open my eyes and take my brother's appearance in. He is wearing the same shirt from when Kassie was preparing me for my date but now has a pair of joggers on most likely lent from one of the guys. His hair is sticking up in every direction and the bags under his eyes are enormous. I'm glad he is here for me but I can tell how exhausted he is even if he is trying his best not to show it.
"You look like shit," I tell him causing a chuckle to escape from his lips. "What can I say, I was worried about my little sister." He says to me and smiles cheekily. "Hey, I'm not little I'm the older one here!" I shout at him. "Oh bullshit, by three minutes!" he mentions and we both burst out laughing.
"Where's mom?" I ask and Easton looks at me with the same look I've been getting for several years. "I called her and she said she couldn't take time off of work but she made me promise her I would call her back as soon as you woke up." I feel my body sag after his response but I plaster a smile on my face, "Well then you better call her back." I say with a half-hearted smile.
"I know that you would rather have her by your side but we both know she won't take off work for anything." He mentions with a frown and I knowingly nod my head. He gives me a reassuring smile before running off to find his phone.
I start to assess how I hurt my leg but realize that I have no idea what exactly happened to my leg. I look up to find my friends staring back at me. They all look worried to death and as if they are about to pass out from exhaustion at the same time.
"Um what exactly happened to my leg because I don't remember anything," I ask whilst scratching my head. They all look at each other trying to sort out who is going to fill me in. "You were bitten by a Shortfin Mako shark" Miles finally tells me with a sigh and my eyes grow wide. I glance down at my leg expecting to see the same blood and gore but instead, clean bandages cover my wound. My heartbeat slowly begins to relax once again. Although, I still don't understand how I got attacked. "How in the hell did I get bit by a fucking shark?" I question, full of wonder and shock.
"We're not sure, the place where we swim has never had a shark before. Sharks aren't very common in this little town. I mean come on it's Niska! We literally live in one of the smallest towns in California so how the fuck can a shark just appear out of thin air in Niska! Also, why did it have to attack Emerson! Like why the hell did it have to..." "Asher you are ranting!" I shout to get his attention. He quickly realizes and looks down at the ground, his cheeks turning pink from embarrassment.
"Oh my god, history has been made! Emmie here is officially the first-ever person to make Ashie here blush!" Brantley shouts with a toothy grin. He dances around the room like a lunatic and pulls me into a hug. "Bitch." I hear Asher mutter but it only causes Brantley to smile more. "Aw Ashie you know you love me!" Brantley coos and waltzes over to Asher. He climbs onto his lap and proceeds to wrap himself around Asher like a koala bear. "Get..off..of..me!" Asher says with a look of pure annoyance plastered on his face. Brantley just chuckles and shouts, "You aren't getting rid of me that easily Ashie!" At the top of his lungs in a girly voice. I laugh harder than I ever think I have before.
Somehow Asher manages to wrangle Brantley off of him which I thought to be impossible. Asher sneaks over to me and lays down next to me on my hospital bed. "Ha! Now you can't bother me, cause we wouldn't want to accidentally hurt poor Emerson now would we?" Asher directs towards Brantley with a smirk on his face. Brantley starts to say something but instead he sits down on an empty chair pretending to suffer defeat. I giggle at his actions.
Sure enough, Brantley gets bored and starts to glance around the room looking for more trouble to cause. He sees Miles looking very innocent and content texting someone on his phone so he immediately heads over to bother Miles.
Asher draws my attention by putting his arm around me so I glance up at him. His facial expression softens under my gaze and I snuggle up close to him. I felt so comfortable lying there in his arms that my eyelids start to droop and eventually I begin to drift off into a soft slumber. "Goodnight sweetheart, sweet dreams darling," Asher whispers into my ear. I feel my cheeks turn pink from his words and eventually drift off into a deep slumber.
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Hey, it's me, I just wanted to let you know that Niska, the town that they live in, is a fictional town that I made up. It's located in California in the story
Random thought: Comment the worst or most interesting thing you ended up in a hospital for. It can be something you did or something someone else did such as a family or friend!
* Place your comments here please!
Till next time,
~ Lily
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Six Boys and One "Nerd"
Teen FictionGrowing up without a father figure has been hard for Emerson Green. She was never taught how to stand up for herself and once high school hit, she became an easy target for Miles Lennox. Before anyone had a chance to discover the true Emerson, she w...
