THE THINGS THAT HOLD US DOWN

- C H A P T E R 12 -

"She has just been knocked unconscious. It isn't serious, just a mild concussion, no need to worry." A voice pierced through the hazy depths of my mind. I wanted to shush whoever it was that was talking, I was too warm and thoughtless to be awakened.

"Shouldn't she be awake by now then, if it is just a mild concussion." Another voice joined the conversation sounding very familiar and anxious. I felt interest, in the current happenings, spark somewhere inside of me, wondering what had happened to who. I tried to drag myself awake but everything felt heavy. My limbs felt like they have been chained down and my eyelids attached to weights. I pushed through the sleepy fog that had occupied my mind. I could feel my eyelids twitch and mentally cheered. A few more tries and my eyes blinked open. Then they closed, very suddenly as blinding light speared my vision.

"Here, you can stop your pacing, she is waking up now." Footsteps moved quickly towards me as I groaned from the unexpected attack from the bright light. A face blocked out the light causing the vision behind my eyelids to go from orange to black. I felt that it was probably safe to open my eyes again. I stared at the face that was really close to my own, taking a couple minutes to focus on who had decided to invade my personal space. Grey eyes searched my own, for I had no idea but even as he moved his face further from mine his gaze was still relentless and focused on me. I blinked again searching the face in front of me.

"Are you okay?" I looked at Ace curiously, wondering why he of all people was with me right here at... wherever that was. I looked away from him to peruse the space around me. Off-white walls with no decoration save for some machines and wires. To one side of me, the right side was an empty bed- much like the one I was lying in, and past that was a window with an absolutely pleasant view of buildings and sky. I let my eyes linger on the scene outside. To be honest, it was more like my brain was slowly stopping its normal routine of functioning. A cough drew my attention back to the left of me were in front of a curtain divide stood two people.

"Rowan?" He was standing further back, still close but he wasn't invading the normal boundaries of what was considered personal space. He was frowning and I tried to remember if he had asked me something but my mind and my focus flew far away from my grasp.

"Rowan? Are you okay?" He started asking. I was pretty sure that he had asked me that before. I trying to think of an acceptable answer that would appease the worry that I was pretty sure he was feeling. If he wasn't feeling worried then it would be slightly awkward if I told him not to be. A person came to stand next to Ace, completely ruining my thought process. She had brown eyes, laughter lines crinkled around them, and hair that matched. She was smiling, a very nice smile that made me smile back at her. She looked a little familiar but I couldn't recall ever meeting her before.

She strayed speaking, turning her head slightly in Ace's direction, eyes still smiling at me, giving me the impression that what she was saying was mainly for his benefit. "She's just a little out of it but that's from the medication we used, nothing to worry about." She was saying that a lot. I think. Maybe just one time before. I saw Ace nodding in a silent reply to what the woman said but I don't think he was really listening to what the lady was saying because he was staring into nothing like I was doing. She turned away from him and bent down closer to me.

"Hello, Rowan." It didn't seem like she ever stopped smiling, "I'm Myra, your nurse, but you can just call me Myra."

"Okay." I wasn't sure if I was supposed to say anything else but that seemed to be fine as Myra nodded and continued speaking.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Um..." My voice came out dry and a little creaky. Myra smiled and handed me a plastic cup. I took, feeling a little confused as it seemed like she had conjured it up out of nowhere.