Soulless

TWO

Adam Woods

In the past, my health significantly deteriorated. My everyday routine changed from overly active to me laying in a hospital bed with no strength to move. I'd tell myself everyday that it would all be fine, that after a month or two I could get back to training. 

Basketball is life, for some its a sport but for others, it can mean everything. With me in a bed with no voice and movement, you'd expect some form of contact from your teammates but maybe I wasn't worth the effort. If they didn't have the effort, neither did I... I would stare up at that ceiling feeling hopeless, restless and dizzy but what else can you do when your bed ridden. 

Three times, that's how many times my parents had visited me in a space of one year. The visits weren't spread out either, they were all cramped up at the beginning of when it had all begun... it lead me to believe that they didn't care anymore and had forgotten about who and where I was, I guess their right as I'm not the same person as I used to be.

I'm not angry at my mum, she was sick herself so she would struggle to get to me but my dad is another story.. He would drink, smoke and binge all day, he was easy go lucky with the money we had and didn't care about his job at the garage all that much. The only phone call I got was from my closest friend, Tyler. Tyler didn't say much, he asked where I was and how I had been, throughout this conversation I wasn't the one talking, my nurse was. Despite my nurse telling him the visiting times, not once did he come to see me... so much for best friends. 

Gradually over a few weeks, I'd recovered from my illness... I cant seem to remember what I actually had. The hospital discharged me as I was healthy again, finally. 

I visited my mum in the hospital a few hours later and she was close to fine.. Home on the other hand wasn't so great, I had stepped through the front door and it was a dumpsite. Beer bottles and cans, mouldy foods and wrappers, clothes thrown everywhere. That moment when my eyes connected with the intoxicated ones, was when I was filled with rage. My fist connected with my fathers face and he was out for the count, long enough for me to run to my also trashed room and pack what I needed. 

My life around that time would revolve around spending the days with my mum and the nights out on the streets, they wouldn't allow me to stay in the room. I did turn up for school once but I had enough, people questioned me about where I was and how I was doing... funny thing is, turns out Tyler moved without saying goodbye to anyone. Guess you soon find out who cares ad who doesn't give two shits. Apparently me quitting basketball was a shock to everyone, yeah people said I was the best player but my team seemed to think otherwise. They were jealous of what I could do, who cares now anyways? I was no longer interested and that was where my life went downhill.