Neon Afterlife

19

Alex woke in the sterile white room of Mercy hospital. An IV provided fluids and pain killers while a large brace immobilized her left leg. She tried to shift her body and winced as the sensation of thousands of electric needles shot through her knee.

Jason knocked on the doorframe as he entered the room. He carried her bag loaded with her personal items. She smiled as he approached and passed her things to her.

"Thanks."

Jason sat in a chair next to the bed.

"I'm glad to see you're more with it," he said. "You were loopy on pain killers when they brought you in. I thought you'd lost your mind."

"I appreciate you getting my stuff."

"What'd the doctor say?"

Alex struggled to control her voice, "She said I dislocated my knee and tore some ligaments."

"What does that mean?"

"It means... with surgery I should be able to walk again in a few months."

Jason smiled, "That's good." He seemed genuinely excited and Alex started to get annoyed at his joy over her pain. She broke down in tears then. Tears that had been a long time coming.

Jason moved to comfort her and slipped his arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"She said I'll never dance again." Alex sobbed. Her life was over. Dancing was all she knew. It was who she was and now it was gone too. But worst of all, she'd let her mother down.

"Look," said Jason, "if you can walk then you can dance. We'll get through this together."

Alex shook her head, "If I put any stress on it then it could dislocate again. And that's if it heals right. They're going to do the surgery first thing tomorrow."

"That soon? Do you want me to stay with you tonight?"

Alex shook her head, "I'll be fine."

"I'm going to stay."

"No, you need to find another partner."

Jason was stubborn in his refusal, "You can't make me go. You can't even get up." He backed away from the bed and put his hands in the air. "See. Come get me."

Alex chucked a pillow at him which he caught. He returned to her side, "I'm not leaving you."

"You won't be able to graduate."

"I'm going to tell you a secret," he said as he leaned forward towards her ear. "I don't care," he whispered as he kissed her cheek.

Alex choked back a new round of tears as she wrapped her arms around him in a desperate hug. Her injury wasn't life threatening, but she was fighting for her life in that moment and Jason was her anchor.

Lidia sat in the chair in Alex's room. A small light illuminated the book that she was reading while Alex slept. A nurse entered to check on Alex and as she did so, Alex stirred awake. She groggily looked around the room for Jason, but instead found Lidia sitting in the chair.

"Lidia?' she asked.

Lidia moved closer to Alex and whispered, "Hey, sweetie."

"What are you doing here? Where's Jason?"

"Jason didn't want to tell me what was going on, but I could tell something was wrong. So, I made him."

"Where'd he go?"