Drown

Chapter 5

It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the light when I opened them.  I must have been unconscious for a while.   I was laying on my back, staring up at a white ceiling.  An oxygen mask was clamped over my nose and mouth, making the sharp breaths I was taking just a little easier.  I was basically naked besides my underwear and the wrap around my abdomen.  After I felt like I'd fully come back down to earth, I turned my head to look to my side. 

"Mom?" I groaned

She looked up at me and smiled her comforting smile.  She set down the book she was reading, pushed her black curls behind one ear, and spoke.

"Hey, baby, how'd you sleep?"  She asked.

I almost told her I slept fine, out of instinct, but I caught that she was joking.  

"How long was I out?"  I asked.

"Three days."  She told me, then added.  "Scariest three days of my entire life."

"How did you find out?"  I asked. 

It occurred to me then that I was nineteen.  I wasn't a child anymore, so would the hospital have called my parents?  

"Your boyfriend called me."  

I sat up quickly, feeling like my stomach was ripping open, and layed back down. 

"Where's Greyson?"  I gasped.

He wasn't my boyfriend. (Not yet at least)  But I didn't realize until then that he wasn't in the room.

"Calm down, Luca.  He just went to the bathroom.  He's coming right back."  she smiled.  "And when he does you'd better not sit up.  Those stitches could come right out of you."

I took a deep breath and tried to relax.  While my mom talked, I removed the oxygen mask from my face and tried to breathe properly.  

"He called me,"  she continued from her previous story. "And he was freaking out, crying.  I thought it was you at first since he was using your phone.  But I got him to calm down, and he told me that you were in the hospital, and that I needed to come up here because he didn't know if you were going to live or not.  So I bought tickets for your father and I, and we took the next flight out."

"Where is dad?" I asked.

"He went to your place to take a shower."

It didn't take me long to move on to what I really needed to know.

"You helped Greyson, right?  Did you make him feel better?"  I asked, caring more about how he felt than how I did.

"Don't worry. That boy has basically been in my lap for the last three days.  We've talked, and he's okay.  He's still really upset, but he's okay."  

"Thank you, mom."  I sighed. "You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Well from the way he talked about you, I can tell that he loves you.  I love anyone who loves my baby."

Mom smiled at me, then we both turned to the footsteps coming towards the room.  Greyson walked in, wearing the same clothes he had been three days ago.  His hair was a mess and his eyes looked tired, but he was still beautiful.  When he saw that I was awake, I watched his eyes light up.  He came to the side of the bed opposite to my mom and sat on the edge.  He leaned over and layed his head on my shoulder, keeping the pressure on my chest light.  He had one hand on my left bicep, and the other in my hair.  He was shaking slightly, trying not to cry.  

My mom smiled at me, then got up and walked out of the room.  

After that, Greyson broke down, he picked his head up to kiss me a few times, but mostly kept his face buried in my neck.  He kept apologizing to me and crying, saying that I was stupid for taking the pain for him.