The sound of a gun, the feeling of pain, and the weight of loss filled the heavy air. It was over, a day that should have never started.
Nine years after the stand off in the hallway Beth awakens from a coma and is shocked to find out she is still...
The dropped ceiling above was dusty, cob webs hung low and matted together. The large window let a small stream of air in to circulate in the room. The sound of a monitor, constant and loud. Beth felt her body all at once, how heavy it felt in the hospital bed. There was a need to speak, to call out and scream, but nothing rose from her throat. With her aching neck she turned to try and see the door. There was a vase on her night stand housing dry, brittle, dead flowers. A thin layer of dust sprinkled over the dry petals. Beth began to wonder if everything was a dream, if she had really been so close to escaping and seeing her friends again. Was any of that real?
There was no noise in the hallway, no foot steps to listen for. Beth looked down at her bed, wires stuck out of her arm. Confused, she reached over and pulled the wires out, this made the beeping stop only for a new sound to replace it. As the alarm was going off, Beth reached down through the blankets to find another tube coming out of her, she shook her head. Why would I need a catheter? Slowly she pulled the tube out of her and tossed it to the ground before pushing the blankets down off of her. I have to get out of here.
Suddenly the sound of footsteps made her freeze, it wasn't like she didn't expect for someone to hear the alarm and come, but everything just seemed so...off. It was now that she realized the door was closed and as the footsteps approached, the sound of a key turning made her even more confused. Why would they lock me in?
When the door slowly opens Beth watched as a gun pokes in, this was certainly not the same Grady Memorial Hospital she had left behind. As moments passed, the door crept open further and Beth sat up in her bed, anxious. The door swung open and a man stepped in, the gun held high ready to attack, until their eyes met.
"Beth..." Dr. Steven Edwards starred at the girl, his eyes wide, his hair speckled with more grey than she had remembered. Beth was speechless, she starred at him with her mouth gaped and her hands clenched. "Oh my God...you're...you're alive...I mean, I knew you were alive...I just didn't think you would ever...wake up."
"Wake up?" Beth was even more confused now, "Wake up..." Slowly her eyes trailed back over to the man.
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"Beth, you are very confused and I am sure there are more questions that arise by the second. Please let me examine you and I'll answer everything." He took a step forward, but Beth tensed up.
"Why did you lock me in here? Why aim the gun at me?" She wasn't so sure she was amongst friends.
Dr. Edwards shook his head, a look of pity on his face, "Because...I thought the alarm was your wires coming out...because you were dead... thought I would open this door and see your corpse walking the room..."
"But..." Beth paused, her hand had touched the back of her head to smooth her hair but she felt something else. There was bareness behind her right ear, the air wasn't grown there. Beth's breathing became heavy as she let her fingers trail over the bumpy skin. It all came back to her, she was shot, she was dead, she should be dead. Tears welled in her blue eyes, "What happened to me?"
As Dr. Edwards checked Beth's vitals and health, he explained as much as he could. "After Dawn shot you...one of your own shot her in the head. Eye for an eye I suppose." Beth imagine who it could be, Rick...Daryl? "They were so upset...we were...relieved. Please don't take offense, but with Dawn gone...a weight seemed to lift off the hospital." Beth shook her head, remembering stabbing Dawn and how much she regretted it now.
"My friends..." She breathed out.
"Well...we all thought you were dead. There was so much blood...she shot you under your chin..." As he spoke Beth's hand touched the spot, feeling another scar she swallowed hard, imagining how she must look. "The one who shot Dawn, he was very...distraught." Beth wondered what it must have felt like, to watch someone you care for just...die. "He carried you out, it was hard to watch. After we made peace with one another, your group wanted to take your body and bury you outside. That man...he knelt down to pick you up, Carol had to comfort him." Daryl, he had to be. Beth felt her stomach turn with guilt. "After they left the hospital and went outside...I had to follow them. I offered to cremate you, so your body wouldn't rot in the ground. They were reluctant at first, said they bury their dead. But this place, it wasn't a meaningful place for you to be laid to rest. So they accepted. As I was preparing to cremate you, Percy claimed to have felt a pulse. I told him to let go, but he was sure. And...it was there, so weak, but it was there. After that, everything was a blur. We tried to patch you up best we could, give you blood, and I didn't have hope. But Percy...that man sat by your bedside for weeks. You began to be more stable, your wound healed, but I wasn't sure of how much brain damage you took." Beth realized the pattern of her wound would have hit part of her brain, she wondered how she was even alive.
"How did I survive?"
"I believe the trajectory of the bullet was angled. Entered here, " he touched under her chin, then began to trail along her neck and out behind her ear, "and exited here. It was a clean in and out wound. There was so much blood, it had seemed that the bullet had gone right through your head. That is what we believed, then I looked closer. With a lot of blood and time, you healed...but I didn't think you would ever wake up. Percy was hopeful, said it was you that had brought us hope and freedom. We owed you a chance." Beth looked down at the end of the bed as Dr. Edwards sat back in the chair after checking her vitals. "Percy asked me on his death bed that I keep hope. No matter how long you were under, to just have positive thoughts." Beth remembered Percy, he was kind old man. "We checked on you daily, then every other day. The door was locked for our safety, should you pass in your sleep."
Beth looked over to him, she pointed at him, "Your hair." She nodded, "It's gray."
"Grayer." He smiled, "My father had gone gray by the time he was forty. So I wasn't too surprised." Dr. Edwards folded his hands in his lap, "I know what you are thinking. I need you to understand that if you are healthy I need to check your vision and we must learn how much damage your brain took...but Beth...you must understand...it's been a long time."
Beth took a deep breath, it was like she could feel her age, she knew she was no longer a teenager, "How long?"
Dr. Edwards sighed, locking eyes with Beth, "Nine years."
