Iridescent | Wesley Johnson [completed]

The Boyfriend

The beeping is the first thing I hear. A simple monotone signal, singing in pace with my heartbeat. I count to twenty-seven beats, then I close my eyes again. Something hurts, though it's difficult to tell where. I don't feel sad, nor do I feel happy. Reality is beyond the misty blanket I'm embedded in, warm and comforting. I'm relieved, free even, and I don't ever want to leave. Is this infinity?

I pry my eyes open again to see something move, but I can't concentrate on it. The contours are blurry and melt into each other before I can see what they are. It gives me a headache. A muffled voice speaks the first sounds I hear except for the beeping, and even though I can't tell what it's saying, it makes me want to smile. A language has never sounded so beautiful to me, every articulation and rest sounding like a complicated song. If only I could move. Someone strokes my hair, their hand warm and heavy, soothing my aching head. Another grasps my limp hand, enveloping it.

"Em?" I perk up at the sound of my name. My name. I heard my name!

"Em-bot. Come on, I didn't travel all this way for you to not wake up." A familiar woman's voice speaks, and I open my eyes again. My vision is unclear and dizzying, but I can see her in front of me, my sister holding my hand. I try to hold hers back but my fingers are numb and I can't move them. Instead I attempt a smile, though it probably ends up looking more like a grimace than anything.

"Hi sis." My voice is gruff but it's there, echoing in my ears. Aspen laughs contagiously and I want to join her, but my chest suddenly hurts. Now that I think about it, everything does, except for my arms. I still can't move them, no matter how hard I try. I look around the room as best I can without turning my head. White, white, and white. A hospital room.

"What happened?" I whisper, coughing on my words. God, my throat is dry. Aspen frowns, patting my hand.

"A car hit you this morning. It's not super serious but the crash messed up your ankle and a spinal disc in your neck. They already fixed your ankle but they couldn't perform surgery until you're blood pressure is higher. Does it hurt?" As per usual, Aspen rambles on, not aware that I got lost somewhere in the middle of it. I nod, not quite knowing what part of my body she's referring to. She looks over my head at something, suddenly speaking again.

"Is she supposed to be hurting now? Isn't she on painkillers? Can you call someone?"

"I don't know, I'm not a doctor. And I already pressed the button." The male that answers sounds stressed as he strokes my hair again. Was he there all along? I didn't even notice. He moves into my vision, smiling sadly at me through messy silver bangs. My chest aches again.

"I was so worried." He breathes, taking my other hand. I can't feel it.

After a glass of water and numerous nurses asking me questions, they finally diagnose the numbness in my arms as a symptom of my messed up spine, assuring me that it will be fixed during tomorrow's surgery. Until then, I just have to pretend that I don't have arms. As Wes leaves the room to get some coffee, my sister looks me hard in the eye. She'd be intimidating if it wasn't for the dried tears on her cheeks, and the relieved twinkle behind her eyes.

"Do you want me to kill him?" Aspen asks in a deadly serious tone, causing me to burst into a wheezing laughter. I shake my head smiling.

"We're fine, he just asked to only be friends, and I can accept that. I've thought about it and I trust that he knows what's better for him." I mumble and my sister scoffs, mumbling 'bullshit' under her breath.

"He clearly doesn't know what's best for him if he broke it off with you." I smile at her in disbelief. My sister, everybody. Mean half the time, an angel the other half. We sit in silence for a while, peacefully stumbling in and out of slumber. It isn't until I try to once again look around the room that I realise that someone is missing.