Dauntless High

Chapter 52: I'll Never Be the Same

Deathly bright lights shine intrusively through my eyelids, a harsh awaking to the stark, white hospital around me. It takes many moments to get a real feeling, but when it finally comes to me, it presents itself as comfort. The feeling is a sharp difference from the deep, excruciating pain etched into my memory. I take an overwhelmingly refreshing breath, the oxygen filling my weak limbs with life. With the air filling my lungs, I feel an awkwardly placd piece of plastic blowing ice cold air into my chilled nose. For a split second, the thought of sitting up to observe my surroundings passes through my mind, but something tells me that my body wouldn't even allow me to. 

"Miss. Prior? How are you feeling?" A grinning nurse walks in, immediately checking my vitals through multiple monitors, tubes and attachment. Her expression seems to be extra sweet, ensuring me that everything will be alright if I just think happy thoughts. She has on familiar blue scrubs with relaxing designs running throughout the weave of the fabric. 

I squint my eyes, looking around at my unfamiliar surroundings. For some reason there's just a feeling of longing, longing for Tobias to be here for comfort. For what seems like forever, his image is burned into my head, refusing to simmer down."I-I'm okay," I whisper, taking another huge breath of clean air. 

She smiles at me, turning on a blood pressure cuff that squeezes my arm, "That's excellent! I'll have the doctor in soon to explain to you the current situation." 

I give a weak smile, what I can manage, then let my head fall to the side against the rather uncomfortable pillow. Time seems to fly by when you're stuck with nothing to do, especially when the only image your eyes can find has you staring at a boring, bright white wall, it's only detail a monotone painting of some generic flowers in a dull blue vase. Before anything can quite form into thoughts, a new doctor walks in, much unlike the one that I remember. This man looks nothing like the one who examined me when we were rescued from that hell hole.  

"Beatrice? How are you feeling?" He asks, almost an exact copy of what the what the nurse just had just inquired moments before. 

"I'm quite alive." I joke, trying to make some light of the grim days before me. It ends up just sounding rather demented, having been in the situation I was in. 

Despite the failing try at a humorous moment, a minuscule smile gently curves at the end of his flat lips, noticing my attempt to make something interesting of such a dark situation. "I'm glad your sense of humor is still intact, that's a good sign," He declares, pulling over a small, rolling stool from the corner of the room. 

I nod, smirking a bit, "It's better than wallowing in self pity." 

He holds out a large, welcoming hand, which I carefully shake, "I'm Dr. Wilson, I've taken over your care for now." 

"Well, I would introduce myself, but you already know everything about me." I chuckle, snuggling under the rather uncomfortable blanket. 

Dr. Wilson nods, "Of course. Now, your mother has already been informed, but would you like to know all of your current medical diagnoses?" 

"Absolutely." My response is immediate, every part of me waiting eagerly to hear how I fared through this tragedy. 

He bites his lip, flipping quickly through many pages on a clipboard. "So you know, you've been out for four days, enough time for necessary procedures, blood tests, and care to be administered to keep you stable. That's just the basics. We can start with the minor issues, although none of them were quite small." 

I look down, most definitely not taking that as a good sign, "And, those are?" 

"We can start with your upper body. There were some deep lesions along your back and stomach, a result of the metal crushing your small body. There were also multiple bruises and lesions on your face and neck area, in total adding up to eighty stitches just  through the entire upper body."

"That's pretty rough." I admit, trying to see what I can around my body. 

Before he can continue once more, my mother creaks open the door quietly, "Is she awake?" 

"Hello Mama." I whisper, offering a welcoming smile and wide open arms. 

She let's out a ginormous sigh of relief, letting stresses melt from her previously strained and concerned expression. Mom rushes over, pulling me into a perfectly gentle hug, "How are you doing? Is there any pai-"

"Mom, I'm probably fine. The doctor here was just reading me my results." I interrupt, trying to contain the laughter from her sudden outburst.

She looks down, "Already? I've heard, but has he told you yet?" 

"No, thank you ma'am, I was getting to that next." Dr. Wilson explains. 

Mom grabs my hand, and kisses my cheek, "When he says this, darling, just know that I-I love you." 

"Mom, you don't have to be so worried." I sigh, squeezing her thin, shaking hands. 

"About that," Dr. Wilson begins, "We will now move on to the state of your left leg. As you should remember, your bone was completely shattered, and the tissue was cut through." 

"That looked so nasty." I admit, flashing images of the dead tissue coming back to mind.

"Yes, in fact, there was infection in the wound," Dr. Wilson begins to dodge my eyes, "Which we have been treating aggressively with antibiotics and medication." 

I glance at Mom, who stares a the rough textured ceiling. A single tear drips from her glossed-over, normally loving blue eyes. 

"Unfortunately, it's not having enough of an effect. With the bone already shattered and virtually irreparable, adding on to the fast moving infection, we've come to a conclusion, we as in your entire team of doctors." 

"And that is?" I squeak, overwhelming anxiety taking over my mind.

"With the extremely remote possibility of full, or even partial recovery, the best option is... amputation."