The Shadow Prospect {ONC}

1

Beeping.

Beeping and lights were what bore into his senses the moment he came to. A big mess of sight and sound digging into his ears and crushing against his sleep-riddled brain, his head wanting nothing more than to sink back down into the blissful darkness that had claimed him only minutes ago.

White bore into closed eyelids, turning everything behind them a clear and unmistakable red.

The lights were bright.

Did he leave his bedroom lamp on?

He didn't think so.

He was pretty sure he turned it off before he went to bed-

And even then, he was sure the thing was never this bright.

Why-

The beeping continued to drone insistently into tired ears and with a huffed breath of annoyance and the beginning throbbing of a headache echoing in his skull, he shoved a lazy hand where his makeshift nightstand should be. Limbs stretched the further he pushed for some solid surface, fingers continuing to ghost against empty air. A frown met his lips when he couldn't find what he was sure had to be there.

Another possibility hit, but-

He would've known if he decided to crash at someone else's place for the night, right?

But the fact that- now that he thought about it- this insistent beeping droning on in his ears was a lot slower than his alarm, more high-pitched too-

Two minutes was the time it took for him to realize the beeping was in time with his heartbeat-

Beep, beep, beep, beep-

What-

Struggling against protesting muscles, he forced an eye open, dull, grey framed ceiling tiles fell into focus above him, the sight so far from the familiar slate of white he was used to seeing every morning before he got out of bed.

Green eyes widened in confusion.

Where-

The unfamiliar tightness of bandages wrapped around his arm then registered to his disheveled brain. He could feel them brushing against the skin of his stomach and leg, wrapped tight around his knee and he strained to look down in confusion at what it could be-

That- that was a bad idea. His skin stretched at the action, fire igniting across his abdomen and he hissed in pain, eyes squinting shut, and fists clenching, stealing the breath from his lungs for a second time.

He forced himself to stop moving, breaths heaving to finally gain control, the continuous beeping rising and falling with every beat of his heart growing on his nerves, but a little more bearable now he at least knew what it was.

(Not an alarm clock.)

He could piece together where he was if the glimpse of medical monitors sitting by his bed and the IV inserted into his hand was anything to go by.

But why-

Why the heck was he in a hospital?

Why was he here?

Casting his memory back, it was obvious of the thick black screen clouding his memories from the night before. He remembered walking out of his apartment, down to the familiar cafe just down the street to quench a craving, hand reaching for the door, and then-

Nothing.

Attempting to force the memories back, a dull throb began to build up behind his eyelids and he quickly gave up on that idea with a quiet huff.