Floating in the Abyss ✔️

Chapter 10

"Time for an injury check." Nurse Charlotte told me, as she walked in with another doctor. Apparently, he was the one who performed the surgery on my shoulder.

After about half an hour, she told me that my concussion should definitely be gone by now and that my ribs were healing well. She also told me that my pain medication dose could be lowered since everything was starting to heal.

"Can I try on the pants?" I asked, motioning to the pyjama shorts Laura had brought me. She was at the cafeteria getting coffee and a surprise for me, apparently.

"I think we can probably do that." She nodded. She pulled back the sheets and gently helped me up. We did this about three times a day, but usually I would be moved straight into a wheelchair. She thought that today I would have the strength.

It felt weird to be standing, but nice at the same time. I hadn't stretched out properly in ages.

"Okay, which ones?" Asked Nurse Charlotte, making me hold on to the railing which ran around the room whilst she grabbed a pair of pants and some underwear that Laura had bought me. I had just been wearing hospital pyjamas.

"The white with flowers please."

She rushed back over to me and held the underwear for me to step into. It felt childish and embarrassing, but the brace didn't allow me to bend down and do it myself, so I had to let her do it. The underwear were soft and actually fitted me well. Then we put on the pants, which were equally as comfortable and well fitting.

"They look great!" Laura smiled, walking back into the room. She held a cup which I assumed was full of coffee and a small brown paper bag.

Charlotte helped me back into the bed, but I stayed on top of the covers. I figured it would feel less like I should be sleeping all the time.

"This is for you." Laura handed me the brown paper bag and I took a look inside.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Chocolate chip cookie from the bakery downstairs. Ryan loves them, and I've seen you eat the chocolate mousse here, so I know you like chocolate." She laughed, not at all fazed by the fact I didn't know what it was. It looked good, so I picked it up and took a bite. "What do you think?"

"So good." I replied, sounding funny with a mouth full of cookie. She laughed as I continued to eat. "What are they like?" I asked, continuing a thought chain from my head. I realised instantly afterwards that she would have no idea what I was talking about.

"Pardon?"

"What are your boys like?" I clarified.

"Oh!" She smiled. "Well, Austin looks a lot like you. He has brown hair and the same eyes, and it seems he's a bit taller than you which probably comes from his diet. He eats a lot more than you do." She smiled, assuring me she didn't mean anything by it other than a simple observation. If only she knew that I had never eaten a full meal until the hospital. "He loves sport a lot, especially soccer. He is almost never without a soccer ball, but Chris doesn't allow him to have one outside of his room, which drives him insane, but rules are rules. Ryan is 18 now, in year 12, so he's often at parties and with his friends, but he studies a lot too. He does well and likes reading, just like you, but that is kind of the only 'gentle' thing he does. He loves footy and basketball, any sport really, so he's kind of an all-rounder." I nodded but was internally thinking how boring I sounded compared to my brothers. It was strange to think I actually had brothers who were talented an outgoing, but then there was me, with no achievements or description to my name. "There's Jonah. He's 16 and is really close with Austin since they're close in age. They're in the same year level because he was held back, and he's in Austin's soccer team. They do pretty much everything together." It almost sounded like Jonah should be Austin's twin, not me. "Then there's River. He plays a bit of basketball, because he needs to be outdoors and doing exercise, but he loves screens. He loves gaming and programming and designing. He's designed a few games which we let him put on the app store and he has made a bit of money off it, but he spends it straight away on more devices." I imagined him to be kind of nerdy and be your stereotypical Brainiac with braces and glasses, but another part of my brain told me that with brothers like the ones he has, he would be very out of place, and Laura didn't seem to have a single thing out of place in her life, except for me. "He's 18 by the way, a few months younger than Ryan. They hang out and play on the Xbox a bit," I had no idea what an Xbox was, "but at school they have completely different friends. Nick's the oldest. He's in his second year at university and he is 20. Chris didn't want to let him stay living at home, but his university is so close, so I let him stay. He can walk and he can save more money for a while. He isn't home all the time, but he stays with the other boys if Chris and I ever have to go away for a few days."

"They sound great." I said, not overly happily, but enough for her not to question me. I knew already I was going to be so out of place with them.

"They are. And they are going to absolutely love you...once they find out." She smiled then sighed.

"They don't know?" I whispered. Why wouldn't she have told them?

"When I was first called, I was told that you were in a really bad condition. They said nothing extremely awful had showed up on the scans, but in cases like yours, the patients' health is often so bad that they don't recover. I was so emotional and desperate to see you, so Chris and I booked the next flight available and I left. None of the boys were home and Chris said everything was under control. I also don't want to risk Ryan, or any of the others actually, making crazy decisions." By that I knew she meant coming to see me. "I just want to know when we can go home, and then I promise I will tell them. I'm sorry, Ash." She explained and apologised. Ash. I liked that.