Caleb

Chapter Three - In The Hospital

CIERA'S POV       

        I felt nothing. All I knew was I opened my eyes and saw Caleb. His face was strained, and there was blood all over his chest and parts of his face.

“Wh-” I tried to ask why he was caked with blood, but I blacked out again before I could. When I next regained consciousness, I was in a car. I tried to move my head, but it hurt too much. My eyes flickered open and once again I saw Caleb. His face was still strained but I couldn’t stay awake long enough to wonder why. The next time I woke up, I stayed awake. I heard a little beeping noise and tried to look to the right, but something around my neck wouldn’t let me. Too disorientated to freak out, I looked around to see what I could notice. I saw a little television in a corner, and a chair in the opposite corner facing it. There was a whiteboard, but I couldn’t read what was written on it. I closed my eyes and attempted to take a deep breath, but I realized I couldn’t because there were tubes in my way. Curious, I stretched out my hands and grasped at the sheet covering me. It was pure white, like freshly fallen snow, and extremely soft but somehow scratchy at the same time. Suddenly I wasn’t in the room anymore, I was on a bike. My vision showed a street, and I looked both ways before moving into it. Something crashed into me, and I was flying. I felt nothing. I snapped out of my flash back and jolted up, my heart and the little beeping noise racing. A door opened and a really pretty lady with bobbed blonde hair hustled in.

“Ciera? Are you alright?” I had to think for a second. ‘That’s right.’ I thought. ‘My name is Ciera. I’m Ciera Johnson and I just turned fifteen.’

“I-I think so…” I stuttered out. “What happened to me?” She seemed to smile for a second before an uncomfortable look settled on her face.

“Well, Ciera, that’s what we’re trying to figure out. It seems that the information the school had for your parents was incorrect. We tried to call them, but we got no answer. Is there a number you would know?” She asked. I tried to think. ‘No, I had no parents. I lived with my grandmother. She died last month. I thought… I lived in a girl’s home.’

“Saint Michelle’s Home for Girls.” I mumbled, then realized something. “Wait, no. That’s a movie I saw. I’ll give you my mother’s number. The pretty lady’s face dropped and she bit her lip.

“We’ll call her. Ciera, dear? You have a visitor. He hasn’t left since he dropped you off here. I’ll send him in, maybe he can clear up what happened.” After saying this, she left. I scooted and struggled to sit myself up. When I had gotten comfortable, the door slowly swung open again.

I saw a peachy hand and a bloodstained shirt. Blonde hair and worried blue eyes followed. I recognized him. It was Caleb.

“They said I could leave, but I didn’t want to. Not until I knew you were okay. Are you okay?” I nodded, and winced. He winced too, and sat in the chair in the corner.

“I-is that mine?” I asked, motioning weakly at the blood on his shirt. He chuckled a little, quietly, sadly.

“Yeah… it is. I washed most of it off of my skin, but I think the shirt is done for. What about you? Do you feel anything? Can you feel?” I smiled weakly and whispered a ‘yes.’ He smiled a little, and I could tell he hadn’t slept in a while.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“It’s about three A.M. Why?” he yawned, and his braces glistened.

“Go home, Caleb. Get some rest… I’ll be fine.” I said, not too convincingly.

“I will. After you fall asleep. I want to make sure you’re taken care of.” I yawned when he had finished talking. He chuckled tiredly.

“I guess it won’t take long.” The last thing I saw before drifting out of consciousness was his soft smile.

Morning came and my eyes opened to flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals.

“She’s awake!” I heard somebody say, and turned my head—slowly—in the direction I heard it from. I saw my classmates smiling anxious smiles standing around the room, sitting in chairs, and standing in the doorway. Marcy stepped toward me.

 “It was the most amazing thing, the way Caleb reacted. Do you remember any of it?” She asked, sitting on the edge of my hospital bed. Honestly, I had the little images of Caleb, but I wanted to keep those to myself.

“No, not really.” As soon as I said it, the room burst into voices. I heard things like ‘he picked a car up off of you!’ and ‘he ran you all the way to the hospital!’ and ‘Are you guys, like, a thing now?’ which all confused me.

“Wait, wait, wait! Does anybody know what really happened?” I looked from face to face, and they all fell.

“No… nobody knows the entire story but Caleb. But he keeps saying that he just did what he should have done.”