Noted

Chapter 27

I had never felt my heart beat so strongly, except when I was close to Troy. This time it was almost overwhelming. I thought I could actually hear my heart pumping, or ticking. Or...was it beeping?

My eyes fluttered open, but my eyelids felt so heavy that it took twice the effort to see through my glossy surroundings. As I tried to regain my sight, I heard my heartbeat again, but this time there were more than one. The sound of beeping heartbeats filled wherever I was.

I was lucid enough to realize I was in a hospital, and I struggled to sit up on a bed–not a concrete floor for a change. I realized that the sound I was hearing was my heart among other patients' that were beeping and overcrowding my mind. Suddenly everything went silent. And I remembered.

Troy.

I tried to disentangle myself from the bed. I had too many things jammed into my body (tubes, wires, lines, needles) I felt like I was tied up again. The heart rate monitor started to beep louder and louder. I had a large cast around my hand that didn't allow me to do much, but with my other hand and teeth, I ripped out the needles and tubes and lifted myself off of the bed.

Everything hurt. I grabbed the table beside me and accidentally pressed the button to call the nurse. When I heard a Hello from the other side of the line, I said nothing. With a desire to get out and find Troy, I hadn't realized how weak I was, until I was falling out of bed. Right then a nurse came running into the room, just in time to save me from my fall.

"Y'a need to stay in bed, Miss Moore," said the nurse as she brought me back to a lying position. She then began to reinsert all the things I had ripped out. At first I tried to refuse, but she assured me that I needed whatever was in those tubes, and so I gave up trying to fight back.

"You're in too bad'a shape to be going anywhere," added the nurse kindly. "You have cracked ribs, a broken hand, and a ruptured elbow tendon. Those minor cuts will heal fast, but y'a still need to rest."

I ignored the nurse. I didn't care what was wrong with my body. "I need to see Troy." I said, lifting myself up off the bed again. The nurse gently pushed me back down. "I need to see him; let go!" I attempted to rip out the tubes again and tried to push past the nurse, but she was too strong, and I was too weak.

"Do you want me to sedate you," asked the nurse, firmly. "Or do you want to find out about what happened to your friend?"

"Boyfriend," I interjected as I lay back, allowing the nurse to continue replacing the tubes.

"Boyfriend, right." replied the nurse. "He's alive. The bullet just passed his heart. He's in ICU, but he's going to be alright. I can promise you that."

I let out a massive sigh of relief and finally let the nurse finish her work, and I promised her I wasn't going to rip the tubes out again. "Is he awake?" I asked the nurse with teary eyes. "Can I go see him?"

"He just came out of surgery a few hours ago. You can see him tomorrow when he'll be a bit better."

"He's alive." I thought to myself.

A second wave of relief washed over me. I  couldn't lose him again. I never wanted to feel what I had felt in the woods, or when I saw him fall to the ground with a gunshot wound in his back, ever again.

"Alright," said the nurse after completing her work and heading towards the door. "Just ring me if y'a need anything. Meanwhile, you have a visitor."

After the nurse exited the room, my mother entered, slowly but fast enough for me to smile. She looked good. Better than she did before she had left for her treatments. She walked up to me and took me in her arms.