The Path to Love

Chapter 23

I opened my eyes and instantly closed them again. The lights were way to bright for my liking. Was I hungover from the party? Once I was ready to try again, I slowly started to open my eyes, to let them adjust to the light. When I had my eyes fully opened, I looked around. My mom was asleep on a chair in the corner of the room. The walls were white. There was a crappy looking TV in another corner and I was in a bed. "Mom? What are you doing here?" I mumbled.

She continued to sleep. There was a button wrapped around my bedside, so I pressed the button and waited. Nothing. I pressed the button again and waited. Finally, someone graced me with their presence. "Hunter! You're awake." The girl said to me.

"Where am I?" I asked the girl. "Can I have some water please?"

"You are in the hospital. You were in an accident; do you remember that?"

I shook my head, which instantly made my head hurt. "Why does my head hurt? Am I suffering from alcohol poisoning? And can I please have some water?" I asked again. My throat was dry, it was hurting me to talk. I needed to get my throat wet.

She grabbed a pitcher of what I assume water, poured some in a glass, placed a straw in it and walked over to me. She held the cup close to my lips so I could drink out of it. I felt better already. "You hit your head on your steering wheel and the window. You have a level 3 concussion and you brain swelled. You're lucky to be alive."

"I was in an accident? How?" I thought I was at the party. Did I drink and drive? No. Sam usually drives me home.

"You ran into the car in front of you. Everyone is safe though. I'm going run and get the doctor." She replied, turning towards the door.

"Can you wake my mother up first?" I mumbled, stopping her. "And, did I drink and drive?"

The girl did what I asked her to do and left to get the doctor. Once my mother saw me awake, she raced over to my bedside. "Hunter! You're finally awake!" She reached over to hug me and ended up hitting my head with hers.

"Mom, you're hurting me." I whispered, feeling sleepy again.

"I'm sorry, my baby. I was just so worried about you."

"How bad was the accident?"

"Bad enough to put you into a coma for a week," my mom explained.

"A whole week?"

"Yes honey. You were unconscious for a while."

"Was I drinking and driving?" I mumbled.

"Mister Thomas! It's great to see you awake." He walked in before my mother could answer my question. He dimmed the lights, thank god, they were killing me. "It was iffy if you were going to make it or not." The, doctor I'm assuming, walked in and said to me.

"My name is Hunter." I mumbled. "Mom, can you get me some more water? My throat is dry again. And can someone answer my question about if I was driving home drunk from a party." I snapped.

"Of course, sweetie." My mother then proceeded to pour me some more water and then held the glass for me while I drank some more.

"You did not have any alcohol in your system at the time of the accident," the doctor assured me.

"Was I coming home from a party?" I asked confused.

"You were driving in the middle of the day, so I do not believe so, no." The doctor said.

"Okay," I responded confused.

"Okay, Hunter. I'm going to ask you some questions to see what you remember. Okay?"

"Sure," I mumbled.

"Great. Why are you in the hospital?"

"The girl said I was in an accident." I said, pointing to the girl beside him.

"Do you remember the accident?"

"No."

"Okay, what year is it?"

"2019."

"Good, what day is it?"

"Well, I was supposed to go to a party on the nineteenth, but mom said I was in a coma for a week. So, I think it's the twenty-sixth."

"Of what month?"

"January." I told him. My mother looked at me in shock. "What is it?" I asked her.

"Hunter, it's April nineteenth."

"No, mom. You're wrong. It's only January."

"Hunter, your mother is right. It is April nineteenth."

"I missed three months of my life?"

"No," the doctor replied. "You lived those three months. You are suffering from retrograde amnesia which is the condition of forgetting past experiences. It is hard to tell if you will ever recover those memories. Everyone is different, some recover their memories and others don't. it depends on the person."

I looked at my mom. "What was I doing during the last three months of my life?" I asked her. "I can't remember mom. Where's Sam? She'll know what I've been up to. What happened to me?"

"You were in a car accident, honey." My mom replied. "The traffic was stopped because of another accident and you hit the car in front of you."

"Did I hurt anyone?"

"The opposite actually," the doctor replied. "You protected the passenger in your vehicle from getting harmed worse."

"Who was the passenger?"

"Samantha Dawson." The doctor replied,

"And she's one hundred percent okay?" I asked the doctor and looked at my mom.

She gave me a reassuring smile. "Yes, sir," the doctor said. "A few bumps and bruises, but other than that she is okay."

"Where is she? Why isn't she here?"

"I'm not sure honey. She wasn't admitted into the hospital. She was coming here everyday as well to check on you until a couple days ago. She then stopped coming. Maybe it was to hard for her."

Sam will be here any minute now, she wouldn't leave me like this, without seeing me. "When can I get out of here?"

"Well, I'd like your concussion to lessen to at least a level two and I'd say that'll take another three days at least. So, within the next few days, hopefully, you should be well enough to go home. Until then, no cellphones, dim the light as much as possible, don't have screens on in the dark, and if the pain gets worse use your button and a nurse will bring in some pain medication."

"Thank you doctor," my mother replied.

"I'll be in in a few days to check up on you. Rest lots Hunter."

"Thank you," I replied, sleepily.

I got as comfortable as I could in the hospital bed and closed my eyes. I drifted into unconsciousness just trying to find any memories from the last three months of my life.