Loud Silence

Chapter One

That light, it's too bright for hell. How did I make it to heaven then? The pain and this light. This fluorescent light. This can't be heaven. There is no way God would install fluorescent lights in heaven. Which means I'm alive.

I try to move my hands, but everything hurts so much. My movements are stiff, creaking and straining as I turn my head from side to side. Flipping my palm over and pushing against the bed, I try to move myself up but something is caught in my way. Wires. Beep beep. I look around to check my surroundings, having no inkling of my location. White sheets. Salmon-colored walls. All these medical machines. I'm in a hospital room.

Daisy! I push myself up again and one of the machines starts to become erratic. A nurse comes running in. She's short and petite, her hair worn in a single braid to her shoulders.

"Well hello, sunshine! Nice of you to finally join us!" she exclaims as she rushes in to help me, steadily placing me back on the bed.

I lie down slowly as the constant throbbing pain on the back of my head refuses to let me get up again. It's hard to make sense of what has happened, and all I know is that Daisy is nowhere in sight. What does the nurse mean by finally?

"How long? Where's Daisy? Who has Daisy?" I ask her weakly, confused, trying to prop myself up on my elbows.

"Try months, honey," she said in a soothing, southern-like accent, completely ignoring my request for my daughter. "It's been almost three months. Now you lie back down while I go get the doctor and notify the police."

I stare at the door after her. The police. That must mean Daisy is not back? Or that....no. No! That is not an option. I refuse to accept that as an option.

A few minutes later, a man who I assume is the doctor enters the room. I only see saw him from the corner of my eye, more afraid of what test he will require from the patient who just woke up from a three month nap. I could have ignored him entirely, but he stands silently at my bedside, and curiosity causes me to turn and face him. His eyes. Those deep green eyes looks intently back at me, his square jaw tightens, light stubble shadowing from side to side. I let my vision take in more of him, his features bold and glaring, like how his eyes are glaring at me right now—like how I am staring at him right now! He shakes his head slightly, his thick, dark hair ruffling as he does so. Under different circumstances, I would have to say that he's quite beautiful, jet black hair thrown back in a natural yet mesmerizing way, but I don't care about how anyone looks, occupied with deeper emotions. This doctor seems quite young, but the sternness in his face makes him seem much older. He remains beside me without a word, tapping away on his tablet.
   
He proceeds to check me—light in my eyes, looking in my ears, touching around my head—a series of what I think is a routine checkup.

"How old are you?" he asks with a cold tone, his deep voice startling me.

"24."

"That's correct." What the hell, why wouldn't it be correct? Jerk.

He reaches to the side of my forehead, against my hairline, examining a wound I haven't noticed. His touch is light and gentle, but I pull back, wincing at the thought of a man touching me there, expecting pain to follow.

"It's ok, your stitches are looking good." His voice is commanding, but soft, and so familiar, almost like I've heard it in my dreams before. Impossible. I've never met the man. 

"Dr. Leonard has been caring for you since you got here sweetheart," the nurse tells me. "I wouldn't mind having this handsome fella with his hands on me sometimes," she chuckles teasingly.

He doesn't respond back to her joke, but she didn't seem to mind the rudeness. The nurse must be used to his cold and crude behavior. This guy really is a jerk.
A series of other questions and examinations follow, all the while, his eyes are focused on mine. His expression changes from frustration to relief and back to frustration again. I watch his one dimple come and go as he focuses, reminding me of how Daisy's was, except she had two. My head starts throbbing again, and I couldn't be patient another minute in this ridiculous situation.