Hometown Heroes, National Nobodies (All Time Low) TO BE UPDATED NOV 13

Hometown Heroes, National Nobodies - Chapter Two

Chapter 2

Rian’s P.O.V

I sat on one of the uncomfortable chairs beside Jack in the waiting room. I absently rubbed my hand where the blister had been. It got so bad that it eventually popped leaving my skin raw and tender.

“Whoa,” jack said, “What happened to your hand?”

“Must’ve happened in the explosion,” I lied.

I didn’t bother telling him what really happened. I wasn’t in the mood for talking. Doctors and nurse hurried around from bed to bed, jotting things down on their clipboards and asking stupid, pointless questions. I was starting to get frustrated with how they were happy to ask, but not to answer. We found out nothing new on Alex, so we eventually stopped asking.

Crutches clicked on the linoleum floor and I looked up from my blistered hand to see Zack hobbling over us. He propped himself in a chair adjacent to mine and balanced his crutches next to him. He extended his leg out in front of him as if to show off his battle scars.

“You like?” He smirked, raising and eyebrow at us.

“Sure,” I muttered, “What’s not to love about a broken leg?”

“You’re just jealous that my battle wounds are better than yours,” He rolled his eyes.

See?

“C’mon, cheer up Rian.”

I wasn’t going to cheer up. I couldn’t understand why anyone would be cheery in a situation like this.

“How’s Alex?” Zack asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah, you never told me,” Jack backed.

“His vitals are fine, but he’s in a coma. The doctor said he should wake up soon.”

Zack nodded and fidgeted with his leg. Jack started playing with his phone so I went over to get a drink from the bubble fountain that stood a few meters away from where we were sitting. I pulled a plastic cup off the top of the pile and put it under the tap and filled it up. I took a sip before turning around and taking in the scene. It was almost as if it was all moving in fast forward, or like I was moving in slow motion.

My feet started to tingle like I was getting pins and needles so I shook them a little, trying to regain the feeling. Soon my hands started to get the same tingle before my arms and legs felt the same. I started breathing heavily, but as quickly as it came on, the tingling sensation was gone. I stood there for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts before I sighed. It must have been the aftershocks of just falling thousands of feet to the ground.

I took a step toward Zack and Jack before I was almost knocked over by a nurse pushing a hospital bed down the corridor. I took a step back. It was like she hadn’t even seen me. I quickly went and sat down beside Jack again before someone else tried to kill me with a stretcher. After a few minutes of no one talking, Jack looked up from his phone and looked over at the water fountain where I had been moments ago.

“Where’d Rian go?” He asked after staring into space for a while.

“What?” Zack looked up, “He was there two minutes ago.”

“Guys, I’m right here.”

“Maybe he went to the bathroom.”

“Zack, I’m sitting right next to you.”

Zack stared at me, but it didn’t look like he was looking at me at all. It was like he was looking straight through me to Jack. I waved my hand in front of his face. He frowned. Then he looked away. What the?

“Jack?” I said.

Jack was looking at his phone again. I waved my hand in front of his face as well, but it didn’t even flinch.

“Guys, come off it. This isn’t even funny.”

There was no reply. I started at Jack for a while, but nothing. I punched him in the shoulder as hard as I could. The only reaction I got from him was a call to the nurse complaining that his shoulder started hurting. Her response was it was a delayed reaction from the crash. I called out to the nurse. She didn’t look at me either. What the hell was going on?

I stood up and wandered from person to person, waving in their faces, dancing like a monkey, sticking the finger up at them, but nothing. I went and sat back down when the tingling feeling came back. It started in my arms and legs, before decreasing to just my hands and feet, then ceasing all together.

“Whoa, where did you come from?” Jack asked, nearly jumping out of his seat.

“I’ve been sitting here the whole time,” I groaned, this game was starting to irritate me.

“Don’t be stupid,” Zack said.

“I’m not!” I shouted.

Everyone stopped and started at me. I lowered my voice when I spoke again.

“I’ve been here the whole damn time.”

“Sure,” Jack said, nodding his head in mocked agreement, “And pigs fly.”

I didn’t say anything else. Something weird was going on, and whatever I said was going to be laughed at by the other two. How could no one have seen me when I was clearly in plain sight? I wasn’t the smallest of guys, and I didn’t exactly blend in with the crowd. Someone should have seen me, right?

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With Alex still in a coma and the hospital being too over crowded, Jack, Zack and I decided we’d book a hotel room and stay there until Alex woke up. We hailed a taxi and directed the driver to the hotel. When we arrived, I looked out the window to see a rundown motor inn with a broken, fluorescent sign that said VACANCY, but the Y was missing. It wasn’t exactly five stars, but with what little money we had left, it would have to do.

We made our way into the office as the taxi sped away. Inside smelt like stale coffee and cigarette smoke, and behind a small desk sat a large man with pasty skin, a head that was so shiny it looked like a bowling ball, and a white singlet that was too small to cover his large bear belly and looked like it hadn’t been washed for half a century. He puffed a tobacco pipe gleefully, as if it made him and his run down motor inn classy.

Bowling Ball Head gave us a half smile and gladly took our money, before directing us to our room. He unlocked the door before handing Jack the key and heading back to his office. Inside had the same stale smell of coffee and smoke, but mixed with dust and the old people smell thrift stores had. The room, despite its exterior, didn’t come up too shabby. The room was painted mustard yellow and the paint was peeling off where the walls meet; dusty worn out carpet covered the floor.

Two double beds had their heads backed up to the wall on my right. On the left were a dining table and a single bed with a large TV – the kind with a massive box on the back – hung precariously above it. Zack and I both called dibs on the double beds while Jack slunk to the single bed he’d been left with. He lay down on it, and even under his lightweight, the mattress sunk to at lease two inches off the ground.

It was getting late, so we all started to settle in for the night. Zack and Jack climbed into bed while I locked the door. The room was silent until the sound of breaking plaster broke it. I turned around just in time to see the TV fall off the wall and tumble toward where Jack was lying in his bed. It was almost as if everything was happening in slow motion. I started to run for Jack even though I knew I wasn’t going to make it in time, when something miraculous happened. Zack had already leapt out of his bed and crossed the room in time to pull Jack out of the way.

The TV finally hit the bed, making the mattress squeak and squeal under its weight. Jack and Zack were on the floor panting. I couldn’t even fathom what had just happened. Zack had just saved Jack’s life. There was no way possible to explain it. He had just done the impossible. How the hell could he have moved that fast, broken leg or not?