Raegan sat in the hospital room for three days before, finally, the doctors pulled him into the hallway. They pitied him, it was obvious, the way they looked at his unchanged clothes, his sullen, darkened eyes, his hollowed in face. He would pity himself too.
"When is he going to wake up?" he questioned the second they left the comatose boy's room. A look was shared between the small gathering before one spoke.
"At this moment, his chances are, from what we can tell, 70 to 30. We just, we cannot say for certain..." the head physician trailed off and Raegan understood. He nodded slowly, the words soaking into him like a dying man in the desert. "Please, Sir, don't be discouraged. There is still a chance," the nurse reached out to touch the catatonic boy. He shied away, his arms crossed and his eyes glued to the floor.
"Thanks," he mumbled, his gaze burning holes through the fading tile. Slowly, after the doctors left with the nurses, he began to walk to the door. Getting into his car, he put his head on the steering wheel. Tears carve rivers down his face and fell precariously onto his jeans, transforming the already dark fabric into a deeper puddle of midnight black. He sat up, staring blindly out of his windshield as the rest of the world moved on around him while he remained stuck in his own, alone and forgotten. The car started with a low growl, the tiger in the engine aggravated and distraught. He pulled out of the parking lot and sped down the road, flying on clouds of steam and smoke until his own house came into view. The garage opened as if it hadn't been opened in years and he rushed in, fire igniting and growing in his stomach, the need to put it out too much for him to handle. he needed this, he wanted this, this was all his fault and he knew it. The rest of the world continued and he was trapped, wanting out of his one dimensional state, to break free from the prison that he had created for himself. A twelve pack, then another bottle of Hendricks crashed into the back of his car, the bottles twinkling and sparkling in the dying sunlight. He walked inside the house now, the uncomfortable silence that had never plagued his household was there, infesting the place like the Black Plague. A large bottle of vodka celebrating his Mom's birthday felt cold in his hand. The drive away was silent, too quiet until he reached the peak of the hills he had run on once upon a time. The cliff overlooked the city and a raging river flowed precariously and with reckless abandon below him. One by one, the beverages disappeared over the edge, drowning in the flooded waters hanging shallowly over the rocks that lined it. Raegan screamed into the abyss, crying out like a wounded animal. His face was wet as he threw the rest of the Hendricks against a tree, watching the glass fall in shimmering shards onto the greenery. He ran towards the edge and stopped, staring up at the stars then down the steep drop at the shallow river. He watched the rapids, slowly leaning forward to fuel them faster before the shining stars wrapped silvery tendrils and pulled him away from the ledge. He retreated to the safety of his car and sprawled over the back seat. For the first time in weeks, Raegen slept a dreamless sleep.
