Foreign Love

XXIV - Wake Up

Chapter 24: Wake Up

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. White tiles and light bulbs. I blinked several times, trying to get a clearer view. I thought I was maybe seeing something wrong, but no: they were only white tiles and light bulbs. I looked around, trying to recognize the place I was in; the walls were of a peaceful tone of light blue and there were two armchairs; one next to the wall and the other next to where I was lying.

When I looked to the other side, I saw one of those big machines that measure my heart rate and I quickly recognized the place as a hospital room and everything hit me like a car, which was exactly what happened.

My immediate reaction was to see if I could still move my legs. I took a deep breath, scared of what I could find out. I moved both legs up and down and sighed in relief at the result.

Great, at least I'm not paraplegic.

The door opened and a nurse came in. She didn't notice I was awake until she approached the bed.

"Hey," I said, but my voice came out as a whisper.

Her mouth opened and she arched both eyebrows. "Oh, my God, you're awake! I'll call the doctor right away."

"Sure," I said as she rushed out of the room.

"It's a miracle!" The hot doctor said, walking into the bedroom at a faster pace than I expected and getting closer to the bed. He took a small flashlight out of the pocket of his coat and switched it, aiming the light beam at my eyes. I narrowed them but followed the light.

I've watched Grey's Anatomy; I knew what I had to do. "Reacting well to light, I see." He poked my thigh with a pen. "Can you feel it? Blink twice if you..."

"Yes."

"And you're talking as well!" He added. "It's impressive, really. Boy, you're a rare case in every sense of the word!"

"I suppose," I said, sarcastically.

"Thomas, you've been in a coma for twenty-five days."

"What?" He nodded.

"We honestly thought you were dead. Three more days and we were gonna tell your parents that you would most likely not be able to make it. But now you wake up with this much energy! it's not even like you were in a coma just an hour ago. May science forgive me, but I was not joking when I called it a miracle."

"So are you telling me I missed my graduation day?" He nodded.

"Among other things, I suppose," he said. "Well, I'll go see if there's an available CAT scan for you. We gotta check if everything's alright with your brain now that you're awake." He stopped at the door and looked at me, shaking the pen in his right hand towards the corridor. "By the way, there's a blonde boy in the reception waiting for you. Do you want me to call him?"

I shook my head, remembering our last meeting, "No, thanks. And I would appreciate it if you didn't tell him I am awake. At least for now."

"Okay." He nodded and left.

"You know, " the nurse said. I had forgotten she was even there. "I think he should at least know that you're awake. He's been here ever since you arrived. In the beginning, there was another boy with him; a brunette one with a British accent." Andrew. "But apparently they don't get along very well."

I chuckled.

"They have their reasons," I added, as though trying to excuse their behavior as a mother does when her son does something wrong. "Me being one of them."