Elisabeth

Chapter 22

Chapter 22




Boomboom. Boomboom. Boomboom.

What was up with the noise? Will turned around, trying to ignore the loud noise and pulling a pillow over his head. The pillow smelled weird, not at all like his moms usual detergent. Where was the smell of daisies? This smelled like lemon. Cheap, chemical lemon.

Boomboom. Boomboom. Boomboom.

Why didn't the noise go away?

He pushed the pillow against his ears, wanting to sleep. He was so tired, did he have a hangover? He sure didn't hope so, his father wouldn't be happy with that. But it sure felt like a hangover. He'd better show up downstairs before his dad would suspect something. He forced his eyelids open and frowned at the brightness of the room. Why hadn't he closed the curtains last night? Had he been too drunk to do even do something as simple as closing the curtains? But if he had been drunk last night, he should have made out with some random girl and he wouldn't be alone right now. He blinked, trying to adjust to the light.

Wait. This was not his room. And... hadn't he died? Because if he did, heaven was quite disappointing. He thought heaven was made of clouds, angels, gold decorations and light, white beautiful and bright everywhere. And Elisa was not in his arms. He sat up in the bed, or tried to because his arms couldn't support him and he fell down again.

Boomboom. Boomboom.

He rubbed his face with his hands frowned. He tilted his head to the side, seeing nothing but a white wall and two doors. He turned his head to watch the other side, seeing three chairs lined up against another white wall, with a window above them. With glass. This was not the island. This was not the raft. This was not heaven. Where was he?

'Elisa?' He suddenly whispered hoarsely. His heart started beating faster. Where was Elisa? Why was he somewhere Elisa wasn't? Elisa was his, he needed her. More than anything. 'Elisa?' He tried again, louder now. Anxiety crept over him. He realized the noise became louder too. He pushed his hands against his ears, trying to escape the sound. 'Elisa!' He yelled. He threw away the covers and stood up, ready to run for the door and search for her. But he fell down to the ground.

Boomboom. Boomboom. Boomboom.

His head felt like it was going to explode, the noise was becoming louder and quicker. He lay on the ground next to the bed, not realizing his legs were weak as well until the moment he crashed down. Several things fell down with him and on him, and he felt a sharp pain in his lower left arm. He had to get away from there. He had to. He pushed the pillow that had fallen on his head away and pulled at something that was hurting his arm. Rolling, crawling and wiggling he managed to move away from the bed towards the door. He panted, taking deep breaths in and out after a few seconds.

'Oh god, what did he do? What happened? Why is he on the ground? Help me doctor, we have to get him back in bed.' The door was swung open and a woman and an older man came rushing in. The woman that had been talking took his legs, the man took his shoulders and they lifted him back in bed. She put the equipment back up and attached his arm to a small, long, flexible tube.

'No! No! I have to find Elisa! Let me find Elisabeth!' Will cried, trying to fight himself out of their hands. Tears started to form in his eyes and he tried to pull away the covers that the woman had put so carefully back onto him. 'Let me go! Let me go!' His voice was still hoarse. He tried to scream but it was not much more than a loud whisper. How could they stop him from finding Elisa? His whole body trembled, Elisa had become everything to him in the weeks before. 'Please. Please let me go.' He begged, tears rolling down his cheeks.

The woman gave the doctor a look of pity, but Will was sure the pity was for him. She tucked the covers between the mattress and the bed and forced his legs to stop moving by putting a strong hand on them. 'Listen, young man.' She said to him, 'You need to rest, okay? You nearly died two days ago and now you already want to go walk around like Miss Sunshine and act like nothing happened?'

Will would have become friends with this woman, he liked her sense of humor. If only she would let him go. She must surely understand Elisa was everything to him?

'No! No I can't rest! I have to find Elisa! Please let me find her!' He begged, new tears being formed. His headache got worse by the loud noise every second. 'And can someone get rid of that noise?' He demanded rudely, not really in the mood for polite conversations. His head could explode, or implode for that matter, any second now.

'There is no noise.' The doctor said, frowning at Will's comment. 'You must be hearing your heartbeat. Does your head feel heavy? Is it pounding?'

'Yeah.' Will strechted the word and groaned. He just wanted to smash his head into something to make it stop. The doctor gave him some pills and a glass of water while the woman, who was probably a nurse, held his torso up. He took the pills, but didn't put them in his mouth before asking something.

'Will you let me go  if I eat those? I really have to see Elisa. She's my everything. I can't live without her.' He pleaded, looking in the nurse's eyes. He knew she had the weakest heart and would give in easier than the doctor. She glanced at the doctor and then nodded.

'Yeah, we'll see what we can do. Now eat those so your head won't burst.' She pushed the pills in Will's mouth and handed him the water. Will looked shocked, but the nurse laughed. 'Your head won't burst, but I bet I feels like it.' She said.

'Was Elisa that girl in your arms?' The doctor asked after Will swallowed the pills. The doctor was an old man, already grey and a lot of wrinkles in the face. He had on a long, white coat and a pair of round glasses. He looked like a serious and wise man.

'Yeah, I guess. Is she here? Did she... did she make it?' Will asked. His bottom lip was trembling at the last question. Was she dead? Could she leave him behind? 'Please bring me to her.' He pleaded, this time begging the doctor.

'Come on, let's put him in this wheelchair.' The nurse said, pointing at a wheelchair standing against the wall.

'It's not good for him, his condition might worsen if we remove him from some of those machines.'

'And this racing heart is healthy?' The nurse questioned, grinning because she knew she won the argument. The doctor gave in. She lifted Will in the wheelchair and made sure all tubes and wires were or not attached to him or following him.

'Make it quick, okay? We are still not sure of her condition.' The doctor walked away, probably just going to the next patient.

She pushed him through the hallway into a room down the corridor. 502. Was she in room 502?

'Oh my god, Elisa.' Will said when the nurse opened the door. She pushed his wheelchair next to her bed. Elisa was quiet. Her eyes closed. Her golden curls were braided neatly to her left side and there were several blankets laying on top of her. Thin, cream-colored arms were laid over the blankets to her sides. He grabbed her hand. Feeling her cold, soft fingers in his hand made him shiver. He held them as long as needed to make them warm. 'Is she... Will she... ehm.' He bit his lip.

'We don't know. Her heart is beating, but she hasn't moved, talked, anything. She's in a coma, and we don't know if she'll get out of it anytime soon.' The nurse said, understanding what he was trying to say. Will's heart stopped for a second. She could still die?

'I'm so sorry, Elisa. I'm so, so sorry.' Will spoke to her in a soft, calm voice. He kissed the back of her hand and put some loose curls behind her ear. 'I should've been the one still in coma. I'm so sorry Elisa. Why are you the one here?' He asked, whispering to Elisa's peaceful face. 'Why did you meet me? You deserve way better, you shouldn't have met me.' Will rambled on, staring at her thin, bony body and squeezing her hand a bit. 'You can't leave, Elisa. You can't. You have to go find your father, you have to tell everyone you're home. We are here, Elisabeth. This is what you wanted, what you needed. You don't have to do it for me, do it for your father, do it for your cousin. Don't leave, Elisa.' He brought her hand to his face and felt her fingers touch his cheek. He got goosebumps all over his body. He touched her cheek gently, hoping she would feel his touch. Hoping she would hear him, hoping she was thinking about what he said right now.

'I'm sure it's not your fault, young man.' The nurse said. Will turned his head to look at her, she was crying. Her hands tried to wipe away her tears, and she tried to smile at him.'The way you touch her is just... it can't be your fault. You would never hurt her.' Will gazed out of the window, not really looking at anything.

'Intentionally. I would never hurt her intentionally. But if I had walked on, if I had kept rubbing her back, if I had rowed faster, if I we wouldn't have shared the last piece of fruit, if I would have given everything more thou...'

'Stop. Stop it, now. You're upsetting yourself and I don't know what it is you did to her, but it's was not your intention to ever hurt her. So stop thinking so much and forgive yourself.' The nurse, whose name was Karen according to a name tag, smiled at Will with compassion.

'I won't forgive myself if she dies. I can't let her die. Will you promise to not let her die?'

'I can't promise anything, but we'll try everything we can.'

____

Woah, nearly 1500 reads. It's going the right way :D. It'll always go the right way though, because you can't lose reads. But that doesn't matter, because it's still going the right way.

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xxx Suzanne