Troubled Souls // 5SOS

XI ∞ Breakthrough

(A/N)

SURPRISE WEDNESDAY UPDATE BECAUSE IT'S MY FRIEND ABBY'S (Cupcake1317 ) BIRTHDAY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BITCH XD So um yeah, no update tomorrow, but there will be one next Tuesday :)

• Michael •

I had expected to feel a lot different after the surgery. After months of being unable to talk, I thought having the ability back would make me feel something new. Sure, I knew I wouldn't be able to talk right away, but I expected to feel some kind of change.

When I do finally wake up, all I feel is an overwhelming tiredness and a heaviness from the drugs. It feels like there are lead weights attached to my eyelids and I'm totally disoriented. For a minute or so, I can't even figure where I am.

That is, until a man in blue scrubs and a white lab coat walks in. Now I've got it figured out. He grins at me when he finds me awake.

"Welcome back to consciousness, Michael," he says, his voice friendly and genuine. "How are you feeling?"

My first instinct is to try and use my repaired vocal chords, but the only thing that comes out is a wheezing breath. I surprise myself and make a face, which causes the doctor to laugh to himself.

"I wouldn't advise trying to use your voice until you start vocal therapy next week," he explains. "You need a little rest before we can move to the next step. Your parents are waiting out in the lobby, would you like me to bring them in?"

I nod and the doctor leaves as soon as he came, going back down the hallway to fetch my parents. I lay back on my pillow again, hit with another wave of dizziness and unable to hold myself up quite yet.

My mum leans over my bed to wrap an arm around me as soon as she comes in, smiling warmly. "How are you, honey?" She asks, kneeling down beside my bed.

My dad stands next to her, a hand on her shoulder. I shrug a little, giving her the "so-so" sign with my hand.

"The doctors said you wouldn't be waking up until later in the day," my dad comments. "We were surprised when they came and got us."

"You know, your therapy group is meeting right now," my mum tells me. "Would seeing them make you feel better?"

I nod as enthusiastically as I can in my current drugged-up state and my mum smiles again.

But then I remember exactly where I am and what's been going on the past few days. I glance down at my plain blue hospital gown and then back to my parents with a raised eyebrow. "We brought you some clothes to change into," my dad replies with a laugh. "C'mon, the doctor said it was okay for you to get up and get dressed as long as you don't try to move too quickly or anything like that."

My mum goes and gets me the pile of clothes that they had brought, a pair of black skinny jeans, a black-and-white baseball shirt, and my favorite pair of black boots. I take the pile from her and go to the bathroom to change quickly. I run my fingers through my bright red hair and try to make myself look as decent as possible considering that I had just woken up after being unconscious for at least 24 hours. I stumble on my feet a few times, a little too drowsy for my own good, but I make it in the end.

The doctors put me in a wheelchair because they don't want me to travel too far on my feet or attempt to go up the stairs, so my mother pushes me down the hallway, to the elevator, and into the therapy room.