Crossing Worlds (Avatar: A Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: Reflections and Hallucinations

I am awake, but barely. I try to open my eyes, but they weigh a ton and my head is starting to spin from the effort. Everything is so...what's the word again?...so loud.

Sirens... People shouting... Something wet is trickling down my neck... I'm starting to fade again... No, stop! I must stay alive! Must... Stay...

*

Beep...

Beep...

Beep...

Beep...

My head hurts. What's that annoying beeping sound? Stop it, please.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Seriously, what's that sound? It's making my head pound.

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP

Arrrghhh!

I wrench my eyes open, just to find myself in a white room. I groan in dismay, my voice sounding oddly muted in my ears.

I look around, feeling annoyed while trying to find the source of the beeping sound. It's coming from a machine hooked up to me, a heart monitor. I look around, confused. Why is there a heart monitor hooked up to me?

Then I remember.

The accident.

Then I must be in a hospital. But as far as I can tell, this room is empty of people, except for me. Weird. If this place is a hospital, then there should be a few people around my sick bed crying their eyes out because I was involved in a near-death experience. But I seem to be all alone.

Well, that sucks.

I pull out the mask thingy that's covering my nose and mouth and look down, trying to check what damage my body has received. I feel about, but I can't seem to find any cracked bones or deep wounds. I don't have any major injuries, except for the feeling like my head is about to split. But the stabbing pain will fade, I'm sure.

How I managed to escape such an incident with just a few scratches and bruises is beyond me.

Hmm. The accident... I wonder how everyone else is doing.

Then I wince, because I'm not sure I want to know how others are doing.

I decide to go out of the room, to look for someone to ask about what happened. I climb slowly out of bed, just to be stopped by something yanking on my arm. Oh hey, I've forgotten about the monitor still connected to me. And a few other needles poking into my hand.

I sigh, then proceed to pull out the few needles as carefully as I can - which is hard considering how clumsy I am - wincing as I do. There is some blood coming out of those spots but it doesn't matter, they're going to clog up soon enough. After that, I get out of bed gingerly and change into some clean clothes left on it. Then I look around for my belongings. My phone together with my earphones is on my bedside table. A quick inspection tells me that my phone has survived the whole ordeal with just a few scratches. My bag isn't in the room though, so I open the door to head out.

Immediately as I step out of my room, someone blows past me, laughing as he runs along. I jerk back in surprise to avoid being knocked into, a curse on the tip of my tongue. "Watch it, you-"

But the kid is soon out of sight. I blink in owlish surprise, wondering if my brain is tricking me; the kid has just covered a corridor which is fifty metres long in a matter of four seconds. What was that about?

Plus, I recall as I step out of the room, closing the door gingerly, he actually looked like his feet weren't touching the ground. I try to remember if I'd seen this kid anywhere on the news before - probably something with the title "Youngest Person to Overrun a Cheetah" or something - but can't think of any. I picture him running across me again, and figured that he's shorter than me. But that's all I can tell, because, in all honesty, it felt like he was running so fast he was... flying.