Afterlife || irwin

[ 22 ] 2014

[ 22 ] 2014 

-

"I know I've been a shitty boyfriend these past few days and I'm sorry. I didn't want to leave you all alone, I just--" 

-

With all of Arthur's money and influence, Calum was released from the hospital almost immediately and put into private care rehabilitation at home. For days, he still refused to see anyone who wasn't either Arthur, Niall or Andrea. He refused to have Harley see him in the state he was in, less than he was with his missing limb. And with a slight depression sinking in, he thought it would just grow more pity in her heart towards him. 

It was only a week after he had gotten his arm amputated that Arthur showed up with a black briefcase. He greeted Calum with a nod and set the briefcase down on the nightstand without explaining anything. But Calum knew that Arthur was a man of few words and that his questions would be answered in a moment. Calum was curious to know what was inside, but he soon found out. 

As Arthur opened it up, Calum found there was a prosthetic arm of a mechanic silver color and it was like something out of a movie. Inside the brief case was also a skin tight black glove that would go above it, were he choose to wear it like that, to seem as though it was his normal arm. Removing both items from their place in the box, Arthur started to explain while he motioned to set everything up. "This is what my contact at the prosthetic lab came up with. He says its made from light weight yet durable metals and hooks to your nerves in order to transmit orders from your brain to your new limb just like it were part of you. He also mentioned its water resistant, so you can shower with it if you so wish."

Calum only sat silently in his bed, raven hair disheveled and eyes tired. There were circles beneath them from the times he could not sleep at night. Those were the nights he thought of Harley and how much he missed her, but he did not want her to see him that way. 

Looking to Calum for permission first and finding his nephew agreed with a nod of his head, he began to attach the limb to his arm after first removing the white bandages. Underneath was still tender from his healing wound which was not exactly closed yet. Sometimes Calum would forget that he no longer had his right hand and would try to reach for something, re-opening the wound by accident and causing some bleeding. 

Calum felt the cool metal touch his skin at first, before he felt the painful prickling of a thousand hair thin needles piercing his skin. Those were probably the prosthetic hooking up to his nerves as Arthur explained to him. But he couldn't deny it hurt like hell anyway. Calum winced in pain, his left hand shooting towards his right one on instinct, and he fell back into his bed. But not once did he ask his uncle to stop with the procedure. If there was a way that he could at least look normal again, Calum would try it. Anything to feel like his life was back to normal. Now he needed help for even simple things like getting dressed and eating. 

Niall and Andrea were very helpful as well. But he saw the pity on their faces as well, and he figured it would be a matter of time before they'd get tired of him and throw him away like he was nothing.

It was that determination that kept him going until the pain ceased moments later. The limb felt cold, different than he remembered his real arm feeling. and he looked down at it in awe, wondering if it really worked. He lifted his arm, looking down at the metallic palm of his right hand. "Just think of it." Arthur encouraged him. "Think a command for it to ball up into a fist, and it will happen."

Calum closed his eyes and visualized it. He thought about closing his right hand into a fist, something that had been simple for him to do. He never had to think about it before. A gasp escaped his lips when he felt the metal fingers twitching at first, before slowly starting to close into a fist. Calum couldn't help but feel a smile form on his lips at his little accomplishment. Even Arthur was proud of him, as he patted him on the shoulder with encouragement.