A Hole of Lies

Chapter 11

Bright light.

That's all I saw. Just bright light. I opened my eyes, which were heavy and swollen, and right away they were filled with an insanely bright, white, light.

Was I in heaven?

I heard a voice ring inside my head, hitting my skull, trying to escape, "Julie? Are you awake?"

Was it me? Was I dreaming?

All of a sudden the light disappeared and about three blurry faces appeared right in front of mine. My eyes were swirling and my brain was unrelaxed.

All of a sudden a wave of scent hit me. Sweat, tears, medicine, and that particular smell of the hospital that I get whenever I manage to hurt myself and swing by.

The noise was incredible. It was like an everlasting-bomb going off. People scurrying about their business in the hall, doctors yelling at innocent nurses to do things, these two men in front of me whispering to each other.

"Is she awake?" One man asked. He was wearing a Texas Rangers cap. His clothes were worn out.

"I don't know, let's see." The other answered. He was more formal. He was wearing a blue plaid shirt with a tie and jeans.

"Hey, are you okay?" Said the tie-man.

"Don't be so soft!" The Ranger's fan insulted. "Go like this: Wake up, kid!" He yelled at me.

"Stop it! Don't yell at her. What's wrong with you? She's been through enough stress!" The other one explained.

As if on cue, my vision regained itself. Three men, one doctor to my left, the two other arguing men to my right.

"Mr. Haresburg, may I speak with you in the hall?" The doctor unexpectantly but politely asked, leaving the other man looking relieved. I was relieved too; I got to stay with the nicer looking guy.

Once the two men left, the other man sat on the bed next to me. I was eyeing him suspiciously, so he turned away. Then he said,"I'm so sorry, Jules. How are you feeling?"

"I guess I'm, I'm OK." I squeaked. It felt like I haven't spoken for ages.

"Really? That's great. You'll be out of her in no time, don't worry!" He said happily.

"I'm sorry, but may I ask you a question?" I asked shyly. I was always shy. Sure, I was the most the smartest girl in my school, and sure, I helped the teachers out a bunch when they got confused, and sure, my brain was like a filing box, but I was still shy around people I just meet, like this strange man.

"Sure, go ahead! What is it?"

"I'm sorry, but, who are you?" I asked.

"You? I? Wait." His smile faded and was replaced by a deep frown. "You don't remember me??" He asked, almost begging that I do.

"I am really sorry, sir.  But if you could maybe explain to me what's going on I'd be very grateful." I apologetically said.

"Sir? You've got a lot of catching up to do." He added sadly, laughing at what I called him.

"Like what, Mr.....??" I asked, trying to ask his name kindly.

"Call me Marty." He gulped, not believing what he just said.

"Like what, Marty?" I repeated. "I would take notes so I can piece it together later but I don't have any paper....." I added, searching around for paper.

"Notes? Jeez, Jules. What's happened?" He asked. "I'm sorry." He added.

"Wait!"

"What? You found paper?" He said jokily, laughing at his own joke.

"No. Marty?"

"Julie?"

"MARTY!!! I remember!!!" I said reaching over to give him a hug. I was trying to pull away, though, when I noticed his smell."Marty? When was the last time you took a shower?"

"Uhhh, since you passed out. Why? Do I smell?"

"No, not at all." I giggled.

"Well, thanks."

"Please tell me what happened." I asked, getting serious.

"Well, let's see. Where to start? Oh yes!" And so he told me. But the beginning I already knew. I came home from school early, still pretending like I was sick, looking like a beast. And Dad was there but I was mad at him. Then Marty made that big dinner and Dad made that toast and I added onto it but said the wrong thing and Paul got mad so he talked with me in the office. I wasn't really listening. I only started listening when he came to the interesting part.

"Then, when I saw your Dad- uh, Paul," He corrected himself, "When I saw Paul come out of the office, I waited a few minutes. Then I went in and you were all dizzy and light-headed. You couldn't remember anything. Then, one second you were in the chair with your head hanging my way, the next you were on the floor, head smashed into the soft carpet." My face reddened at that thought. "And at first I thought you were just tired, and you know, joking. So I started yelling at you for being so lazy. But when I came over to you, you were-" He bit back a sob."Unconscious." He burst into tears. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry. For everything, Jules. Please, will you ever forgive me!!" He cried.

"I do, Marty." I said simply.

"What?" He said, lifting his head in surprise.

"I forgive you. Then what happened?"

"Oh, um, OK. Well, of course, I was frightened. I thought you were dead. So I started screaming."

"At what?" I interrupted, deeply interesting.

"Myself, Paul, God, food. Just for giving you the horrid life that you had, and now it ended. But it wasn't over yet. Actually, you weren't breathing for a few minutes. I checked your pulse, and that's when I really thought you were done for. If you died, I would too. But then you started coughing and breathing again, but oddly enough, you were still unconscious."

"Then, I called the ambulance, because Paul had wandered back home. I guess he hadn't seen all the flashing lights and hadn't heard all the sirens, because he didn't find out anything about what happened late the next day. He's still mad at me for not telling him, but I was still so shell-shocked, I just couldn't."

"No doctor's could figure out what happened. They experimented and even made you stay asleep one week longer. So, technically, you were only asleep for a week, but they wanted you to be longer so they could still experiment on you. They thought you had some kind of brain damage." I sucked in my breath."But obviously not, since your fine." And I let it out."They also thought that.. well... nothing. They were as surprised as I was!" He spat. "Nothing like this has ever happened before."

"Wait, they're talking about me." I announced randomly.

"Who? Wait, what?" Marty said, confused.

"The doctor and Paul. They're talking about what has happened. Wait- I can go home today! Yippee!" I let out a silent cheer. "But wait, Paul is saying he is not my guardian. Wait- shhhhh. They're coming."

Marty turned to look at the door. He was so surprised.

"How can you? But I don't- what?!" He blabbered.

"Mr.- um- Sir. I would like to speak with you please." The doctor announced.

The doctor had to pull Marty by the wrist to get him out in the hall. It was kind of funny. The way Marty was so surprised that I could hear them. I forgot Paul  was standing there, looking down at me with an evil glare.

"Hello, Julie." He said darkly and quietly. "Let's..... talk."