They Don't Know (BOOK TWO)

Chapter 53

Corey's lost in between many emotions. A part of him wants to cry because his father left before he could open his eyes. Another part of him is angry with himself for not coming up with enough energy to open his eyes earlier. But most of all he's confused. Why is he in the hospital again? The last thing he remembers is visiting Malcolm and everything else is a blur.

His eyes examine the room he's in. Posters, balloons, flowers and cards are everywhere. A big poster with his soccer jersey attached to it is hanging under the tv. Some of the flowers are wilted and the water is a murky green. He wonders how long he's been out. His eyes land on the bottle shaped balloon in the corner of the room that says It's A Boy. What the hell? He tries to sit up but the medical cords attached to his body hold him back. The whole room tilts to the side and a rapid beeping noise sounds somewhere under his bed as his head swims.

Corey collapse against the pillow. It's like that tiniest movement took all of his energy. He tries to fight the heaviness of his eyes but in the end, tiredness wins out and he drifts back to sleep.

He couldn't have been asleep for more than fifteen minutes before the shuffling of feet makes him open his eyes. A nurse is standing at the end of the bed with her clipboard in hand, tapping a pen against her chin. She's tall and slender with thick brown hair and an bronze skin. Her name tag says Simone.

Corey wants to ask for water but his mouth is so dry that his words are lost in his throat. He moves his foot and taps it against the footboard. Nurse Simone's head snaps upwards at the noise. She looks down at his moving foot then follows it up to his face.

"Mr.Maverson?" She questions hesitantly. He parts his lips and lets out a low murmur. "Mr.Maverson can you hear me?" She asks wide eyed. Corey simply nods his head yes slowly. Obviously he can hear her if he answered when she said his name. Nurse Simone frantically writes something down on her clipboard before walking closer to Corey. She pulls a small flash light out her pocket and gently uses her thumb to stretch his eyelid. She shines the flashlight into his eye making him squint and pull back. She does the same to the other eye and when she's done he sees lights dancing in front of his pupils.

"Nod if you can feel when I touch you." Nurse Simone orders. She gently touches both his shoulders. He nods. She touches his upper and lower arm. He nods. She touches his hands and fingers. He nods. She continues down the length of his body, making sure he has feeling everywhere. "Can you move your arms and legs for me?"

Corey weakly lifts his arms and shuffles his feet under the blankets. He clenches and unclenches his fingers and toes even though it feels weird since he hasn't used them in a while.

Simone jots her observations down on the clipboard. "Tell me your name, age, grade and best friends name."

"Cordell Alexander Maverson, I'm 17 in the twelfth grade and my best friend is Malcolm Harris." He croaks out with a crackly voice.

"Good, you know the basics." Doctor Simone says. "Can you tell me why you're in here?"

Corey shakes his head, "I don't remember what happened. Last thing I know I was visiting my friend Malcolm after he got in a car accident."

"Ah yes, Malcolm Harris. He was released about two weeks ago. It's common for people who had head trauma not to remember things right away." Nurse Simone says. Corey crinkles his eyebrows. Head trauma? What happened to him? Nurse Simome reads the confusion on his face and explains. "Cordell you've been in a coma for two and a half weeks now."

"What?" His voice cracks from lack of moisture and complete surprise. It didn't feel that long when he was unconscious.

"You were found unconscious in your house, bleeding from the mouth. We brought you in and ran an X-ray to find you have three broken ribs and a dislocated jaw. We fixed your jaw and gave you a back brace. We also gave you stitches for the nasty gash in the back of your head." Nurse Simone says sympathetically.