INSTA-Daddy

60

[GAB]

I woke up, nearly blinding my eyes by a bright white light for briefly five seconds.

"Am I in heaven?" I unconsciously mumbled as I tried to blink the blinding beacon away from my eyeballs.

I forced my body to get up, my elbows pulling my torso from the bed. Unfortunately, even my elbows were feeling numb, and I plopped my back down to the bed again.

When I fully regained my consciousness, I noticed I was in a different place. The walls were painted in white, there was a table beside the bed, there was a couch somewhere to the left side of the bed, and I was wearing a white robe. My forearm was pinned with tubes that led all the way from the IVF bag. It's official. I'm not in heaven. I'm in the hospital.

My head started to hurt. So did my stomach. I pressed my palm against my stomach, and immediately felt something different. My body was basically throbbing, but I somehow felt lighter. You know that feeling when you've finished a huge huge meal, then you withdrew everything you ate down the toilet bowl? That's exactly what I'm feeling.

As if something snapped in my mind, my eyes widened and tears were forming from my eyes. My mouth agape. A scream wanted to escape from my mouth but all that came out was a wheezing muted cry.

I remembered the red room. I remembered the weird guy crawling on top of me. I remember being punched in the stomach. Punched in the stomach.

No. No. No.

I shook my head, trying to deny the sole thing that came into my mind. I pressed my palm harder on my belly, my fingers digging deeper.

"Oh god please no. Please no," this time my tears exploded. I did another attempt to get up, and luckily I succeeded. I tried to wipe the thought away and forced a smile. My heart was in denial, even though my brain was saying otherwise.

On cue, the door opened, and my brother Gustin came in, followed by Gray. Gray was the one who got beside my bed first after dashing quickly upon seeing me.

"You're awake!" He hugged me, and nuzzled his face through my neck. I could sense he was crying, but in silent mode. I hugged him back with a raised eyebrow and patted his back. My eyes glanced at Gustin who was staring at us sincerely with half a smile.

Gray pulled back, and I beamed at him. Gustin, on the other hand, hurried towards the door. I could hear him yelling from outside the room since he forgot to close the door.

Seconds later, the hospital room that I was in became jump-packed with people I loved. My mother, my best friends Wes and Liz, and to my surprise, my father was present too.

They each gave me a hug. My mother said something in Spanish, in which I presume was a prayer of thanks. Her face was filled with tears.

"We were so worried you weren't going to wake up anytime soon," Wes muttered.

"Huh? How long was I asleep then?" I asked.

"Since you've been brought here three days ago."

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. "Three days??" I reiterated, with disbelief in my voice. Wes nodded.

"We're just glad you're awake," my mother sat on the edge of the bed, near my feet.

I scanned the room. There was someone missing. Tom.

Their facial expressions began to change, then I realized I said his name out loud. I noticed they each tried averting their eyes at me, except my father. His brows were furrowing but his eyes were pinning directly at me.