Children of Fire (Complete)

seventy

Emerson

Fuck, I hated hospitals. I don't even know how I ended up here, what had convinced Gideon to bring me here. I knew he hated hospitals, it was why they had their own personal doctor on retainer. So they could avoid hospitals altogether. Hospitals asked questions, the answers to those questions would bring cops, and we didn't talk to cops. It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that you didn't talk to the cops when there were gangs involved, and I would never do anything to bring heat like that on Gideon or his club-- I loved them both for different reasons.

The first thing I did when my eyes snapped open was look around the room for Gideon. I knew he had to be somewhere nearby, there was no way he would bring me to a fucking hospital and abandon me. But, he was nowhere in sight. I tried to sit up, to call out to him, to reach out for him, but realized that I was attached to machines and I had tubes everywhere. How fucking uncomfortable. I tried to call out his name, but could barely make a sound. My throat was killing me. This was awful, and I'm honestly surprised I even survived the beating that my father and Greyson had bestowed upon me.

"Oh, thank God you're awake. Let me get the doctor, I'll be right back." Gideon's mom, Aggie, said after she had rushed to my side. She patted my forehead gently and offered me a reassuring smile before disappearing out of the room again. I looked to my right and saw Kya standing there with a weird look on her face. I lifted an eyebrow to keep myself from speaking, my throat felt like it was on fire. My eyes were darting around the room so fast I was starting to feel nauseous.

"You look like shit, man." Kya finally said, a small smile dancing across her face. I couldn't help but smile back at her. "How do you feel?" She asked, grabbing a cup of water and setting it down on the tray in front of me.

"About how I look." I managed to croak out, grabbing the water and gulping it down like it was my last lifeline. I set the cup back on the table and leaned back against the bed again, damn that had taken a lot of my energy.

"Take it easy, it's honestly amazing that you're even awake right now. Lindsay said she didn't expect you to wake up until tomorrow or maybe even the next day. She said your body had shut down because it was the only way you could cope with the trauma." Kya said, taking a seat next to me on the bed. I reached out for the water again, but she beat me to it. She put the cup in front of me and I lifted my head enough to wrap my lips around the straw and drink the last remaining sips of the cool water.

"She also said she recommend you see a therapist. That you'd probably suffer from PTSD. Hell, I know I'd need some major therapy after the shit you went through." Kya said, setting the water down on the tray again. Suddenly, the nausea hit me like a ton of bricks and I started frantically looking around for something to puke in.

"Ky, I'm gonna be sick..." I managed to choke out. She immediately took action and reached down onto the floor, finding a burgundy colored plastic bowl. She placed it in front of me and I allowed the water I just drank and all of the contents of my stomach spill out of me into the plastic bin. Eventually, nothing but bile came up and I found myself feeling even worse than before. My stomach muscles were sore already, and I knew if I kept this up I would never be able to leave the hospital. I could only assume that the nausea was brought on by anxiety, stress, and the physical trauma my body had endured. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, the nausea slowly subsiding.

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna go get you some crackers and a Sprite, see if that won't settle your stomach some." Kya said, sliding off the hospital bed. I nodded at her and kept my eyes closed, listening for the door to open again. After a few moments, I heard two sets of footsteps and opened my eyes to see Aggie and Lindsay entering the room.

"Emerson, I have to say. I'm impressed you're awake already. Your body went through... some serious stuff last night." Lindsay said, examining the papers attached to the clipboard in front of her. "You suffered broken ribs, another broken nose, there's a crack in your jaw that should heal on its own, and you had a severe concussion. I'm still waiting on your blood results to come in, but they should be here within the next hour or so. I'm going to take your vitals and make sure everything is running okay." I nodded at her as she approached me slowly, her hands raised and her gestures slow and determined. I could tell she didn't want to startle me, and I was grateful for that.