The Atonement

XV

Light.

Brightness.

Throbbing pain.

Craig woke up in a hospital room, it being very bright and pristine. It was so unlike what he had experienced only moments before. He whimpered and groaned, still feeling that tingling sensation of the flames even though all of his nerves became toast. Literally. His body was throbbing and twitching, and boy did he hate it. He was unable to speak, his face pale and body red. Or at least, that was what he expected.

The pastor opened his eyes up, the brightness of the sun stabbing him, or so it seemed like it was. He was not very welcoming of that serene element quite yet. The last memory that he had was a giant ball of sun, he obviously did not want to look at some more flames if he had the choice. He turned over his body so that he was not being forced to look at it. He brought his hands up to his face to help block out some more of the brightness, pausing as he looked at his hands. They were....untouched. He rose a brow at them, scanning his fingertips which he thought were the most burned. They were perfectly fine, no blisters or cracks on his skin. He immediately looked at his arms. They were perfect, too.

Was that all just a dream?

He rubbed his eyes, looking around the room, his eyesight pretty bad at the moment. He had been asleep for a few days, so this was plausible. He blinked a few times until finally, his vision went normal. The room that he was in looked perfect as if he was in a traditional hospital. Which, he was. He glanced about, seeing the figures of three people...no, four. He shook his head, sitting up in his bed. Somehow all of the tinging sensations that he had felt washed away, and there was no pain, no burns or blisters. He looked great, and his vital sign showed that he was perfect in terms of health. He did not even have an IV in, or something similar.

He looked back up at the group of four people, his eyes widening at what he saw. It was his family, looking just like how they did in his teen years, and a brat little sister that was on her DS playing Nintendogs and sitting on his mom's lap. He rose a brow, turning to look at Kevin...Kevin was just a short little Asian kid, which really nice cheekbones. He was a lot younger looking than what he could recall from before he was 'burned alive'. He was beginning to get very confused with this all. Why was he alive? He knew that he died.

And yes, for those who may wonder, dying did hurt, but he was not afraid of it. He thought that his time had come and thus he accepted it. He wanted to die. Perhaps that explained why everyone looked younger, as this was the happiest time in his life- a young teen boy. All of his family saw him rise, and he was shocked at how everyone in his family carried. He whimpered as his father stood up and pulled him into a tight embrace, patting his back. "Craig, you scared us....dumbass."

He smiled at his dad saying that, his face awkwardly resting on his chest. "I missed you too, Dad."

The door to the room swung open, making a delicate sound as a petite nurse walked into the room, smiling at Craig, then to the people gathered around him. She ventured up to the bed, standing near its foot. She had hair that went to her shoulders, and it was a curly golden shade. She had a sweet button nose, oddly pointy ear tips and a recognizable face. He could not put his finger on it. Hesitantly she lifted her paper and begun to converse a little bit, her voice a bit hoarse. He rose a brow, watching her mouth. She had white teeth.

"We couldn't find anything. Must have passed out from stress." She walked over, past Craig's father, and bent down to his side, looking Craig in the eyes. Or at least, he tried to. She wore a mask to hide her face. Still, he did not think much of it, his thoughts turning to thank her for being his nurse. He opened his mouth to speak, no words coming out. He was mute, his heart racing. The nurses hands moved to her mask, yanking it down. What was revealed to him would be life changing. A pair of bright pink eyes stared. The pupils were a red, maybe black, shade. He swallowed.

It was Tweek.

End.