Her

Part Nineteen:

Beep. 

Beep. 

Beep.

 I feel my eyes move under my eyelids. And, you guessed it, panic rises in my throat for the umpteenth time this week. Am I back? Oh Lord I thought I was out! Was it all a dream?  I realize that the steady beeping matches with my heartbeat. I will myself to open my eyes, but hesitate. What if I really am back at the 'Hospital'? I don't think I can take it. I keep them shut. I try to register how my body feels. I feel so bruised and sore, like I can't move anything. Every time I draw in a shallow breath, a slow, excruciating pain swarms me, like a knife gradually being dragged across my lungs. I cannot force my legs of lead to be moved even a millimeter, it seems. I know that one, or more of my ribs are broken. Probably my legs, too. Oh Lord.

Maddy?! Is he okay?! He tried to block me... Oh gosh what if he died?! I force my eyes open, and try to talk. It comes out as a barely audible whisper.

"Maddox?" I attempt to bring by body up in a sitting position, but the bandaging around my torso is preventing me from doing so. Well, that, or is it the unbearable agony of my torn apart limbs and skin? Gee I just don't know. My main priority right now is finding Maddox. I try to glance at the bed next to mine, but there is a curtain separating them. 

"Maddox?" My voice is a little louder this time, and I take in my surroundings. This definitely isn't the 'Hospital'. There were no pictures, colored tile, actual paint, or armchairs. Let alone windows, like the huge one streaming bright sunlight through, that spills over everything. I can tell by the type of light that the sun is setting. The curtain and the sheets on the (actual) bed (Not just a metal table!) are the same periwinkle blue color. The floor tile is white and beige, the walls a creamy biscotti tan, and there is a arm chair in the corner facing me. On the side table text to the chair, and on the smaller table next to me, there are actual plants, fresh and green in fancy crystal-looking vases. The beauty of something so small but contained in a room, almost makes me gasp. I'm pretty sure the plant next to the chair is a rose. The light shining on it from the setting sun is leaving a perfect silhouette, marked against the floor tile. I shift out of my daze and realize that there is another steady beeping noise. Could that be Maddy's heartbeat or just some random patient?

"Maddox!" I call this time with more force. I hear the door open and the lights flick on, and rushed footsteps pass the curtain and come into my view. A nurse with a periwinkle uniform stands before me. She has dark hair pulled back into a tight bun, with only a few frizzy curls escaping and framing her chocolate cacao skin. She has a smile on her face, but it is warm and genuine, not like the forced and fake ones the Torturers would use when talking to one another.

"Honey! You are awake! That was quite a nasty crash! I am just going to check your vitals, okay?" She moves towards my bed and grasps a clipboard hanging on a hook on the wall. 

"Uh.. uhm.. okay.." I whisper.

"You can call me Bear, sugar. Don't bother with all that Ma'am and Mrs. nonsense. Now you just relax." She walks up to the IV drip that is attached to my arm, and writes some numbers down from the bag. 

"Um.. Who is the person behind the curtain?"

"The young man who was in the crash with you." She replies. I gasp and try to sit up, despite the pain. I need to see him. We are just friends, but I care about him so much. He has changed my life in just a few short days and helped me out with so much. I need to know that he is okay.

"Relax, relax, honey. You will see him!" She pushes me gently down and walks over to the curtain. Her hand hesitates on the fabric.

"Well... it is probably not good for you to see him right now." At this, I practically jump out of the bed, but cry out in a fit of agonizing bursts of pain. "Sugar, sit down!" She commands me. Her voice is just as chocolatey as her beautiful skin, but she sounds like a mother and it makes me pause and lay back down. Hot tears spring to my eyes because I hurt so much. Bear walks over and presses some button and after a few seconds weird, gooey fuzziness makes me swim. My pain is numbed and I feel joy. I'm in a sky with diamonds.

"Whassin that IV?" I slur. 

"Happiness. Now lets look at your boyfriend."

"Sstaahhpp... he iz... not mye... boiyfrieend" Is the room spinning? I never knew life could feel this good! Where has this stuff been all my life!

"Mhmm." I am waiting for her to snap a 'z' in the air. She looks kinda like Octavia Spencer.

"Are youu Octtaviaa Spencerrhhh??" 

"No, sugar. I am a nurse. You can call me Bear." She chuckles, and pulls back the curtain.

Maddox looks worse than me, and it makes me gasp and immediately burst into tears. Loud, sopping wet, and blubbering tears.

"NOOoooOOooOoOOo MaDdoX! DOn't DiE!!!" I sob. He kinda shifts, and his eyes flutter open.

"MADdoX NO I LovE YoUUu!! I LOVe YoUU sO MuCh!!!" I have now completely broken down. He looks at me with a strange look, and winces when he moves his leg.

"Shshh Sleeping Beauty it's okay. I'm okay. Shhshhh." His voice is calming, but I can't stop.

"MADddY NooOoo!! I love youuuu! Hold my hand!! Maddy! Hollddd my haaahnnnd! I love youyuu." I reach out my non-IV arm to him. Bear is just watching me, pursing her lips together to keep from laughing.

"Okay Belle, Its fine." He holds his arm out to me, pain briefly flashing across his face. I grab his hand and hold on like I am holding on to life.

"Maddy I LOve Youuu!"

"Okay, Belle."

"Maddy!!! I lovvvve youu!!"

"I love you, too, Belle." He gently squeezes my hand. 

"You shoudldd khiss mee." I say, the world fading around me. "Phleezee."

He just gently shakes his head and laughs a little. And I see Nurse Bear put the clipboard back before the world completely goes dark. She says, "You are one strange character."