Eclipse

24.

Recover

 I woke up to the steady beep of a heart monitor and the sound of my own raspy breathing through an oxygen mask that was strapped over my mouth. My skin prickles painfully, and breathing felt like a chore. My neck was held stiff in a brace, and when I tried to move my right arm, I found that it was bandaged and too sore to move. A faint groan escaped my lips as my free arm scrabbled to find the nurse's button, jamming the red button frantically, just as a kindly looking nurse entered with a clipboard in hand. Perfect timing.

"You poor dear," she said with a small smile. "Do you remember anything of the accident?"

I frowned as I tried to recollect those elusive memories, and vaguely remembered the searing heat of fire, the car crash, and Kieran—

I extinguished the thought before it could take a corporeal form. "There was a car crash?" I enquired, my voice harsh and crackly from lack of hydration. My eyebrows raised for confirmation, but the skin felt stiff, as though it was cracked and would crack and bleed at any moment.

"Here, have a little drink." The nurse gently removed the mask and helped me sip the water. "Better?"

"Better," I replied softly.

"Did you need anything else? You seemed rather urgent with the button."

"No thanks. You've done plenty."

The nurse smiled again sympathetically. I was getting a lot of that lately. "I'll let you have some rest."

"Thank you," I said, trying the sound as grateful and sincere as I could, but sympathy was something I could get a little less of.

"Press the button if you need me for anything, and the television remote's on the table beside you."

The nurse smiled her sympathetic little smile again before leaving the room, drawing the curtains to hide me from any other wandering patients. My eyes darted to the TV mounted up in he corner of the room, and managed to stretch enough to turn up the volume.

"... an oddity to be sure, Kent. A flash of light was allegedly seen near a privately owner mansion ten miles out of San Caido, and witnesses say that they saw none other than a glimpse of God himself. The owner was not available to be interviewed. Whether this is yet another hoax amongst hundreds or a true sign from above will remain mystery, but the fact remains that this is something spectacular if not divine. Back to you, Kent."

The newscaster's voice dulled to silence as I mulled over the journalist's words.

They did it. I should have felt relieved, happy, but I just felt... drained.

I slumped back into the sheets and shut my eyes. So he was dead and I was human... not exactly what I'd expected to happen after so much.

A soft knock at the door opened my eyes again. "Come in," I called. The door opened silently, and to my surprise, Emory walked in timidly with the good grace to keep his eyes focused down at his feet.

"Oh. It's you," I mumbled, choosing to stare up pointedly up at the ceiling.

"I heard what happened between..." Emory said quietly, sitting in the chair beside me. "I didn't know that he... I didn't know until it was too late."

"Well, that's actually really comforting. What a relief, eh?" I snapped, shooting him a spiteful glare. "Really, I find it hard to believe that he made this choice. Did you make him sacrifice himself for this?"

"Of course not!" Emory exclaimed indignantly, and the anger and hurt in his eyes at my presumption was real. "I wouldn't kill him for this! I would never kill him—period!"