Up, Up and Away

3 // chocolate

chapter 3: chocolate (the1975)

     Walt's consciousness is being a real pain in the ass. It doesn't smell like home; but like a place he never likes ending up in. He was here when he was ten, when he fell during a ski trip and hit his head on a tree. His head hurt and his leg felt numb, like someone had sat on it for so long that his leg forgot how to feel.

    "Walter? Son, wake up," begs his father, tapping Walter's hand with too much force. For this man, gentle meant rough. He was a wrestler until his fiftieth birthday, but his muscles and gruff voice, that almost challenges you to fight him every time he speaks, never go away.

    Walt makes an effort to open his eyes and look at his dad, "where am I?"

    It's all too bright, he can see his father's eyes too clearly.

    "The hospital," says Kyle Jones. Walter looks ahead and finds his leg up on some machine, in a cast. The memories come back to him and he feels like he can feel every punch and every hit over again.

    He cringes and struggles to push away the idea of Dave's meaty hand, "how long have I been here?"

    "Two days," shrugs Maisie, who is right beside her dad. Her eyes shine down at him with sadness and he wishes he could just get out. He's used to taking care of her and being by her side at moments of weakness, not the other way around.

     Walt's panic settles in; because missing two full days of school before Christmas break meant missing revisions before mid-term exams. He feels his pulse rise but once he looks at the heart monitor, he attempts to slow it down, for he doesn't want his parents to worry more than they already have. His mind races with the names of his classes and the amount of information he would miss.

    "Who brought me here?" he asks. He searches the nightstands beside him for his glasses with instinct and falls back deeper in the bed at the realization that they're broken.

     "We don't know," says Jones Sr, "someone dropped you off and disappeared."

      Walt knows it was a girl. He remembers the silhouette of her leaning over him and trying to save him before he fainted. Even if he had stayed awake, he could've never caught her features. Without his glasses, he's able to recognize people whose features he knows. Hers are a stranger to him, but not for long.

     "I have to find out who she is," he says, determined, "and thank her, for saving my life. For I guess, being my superhero."