ARELLA (A Mafia Story)

Twenty-Two

Damon

I'm floating in a sea of darkness and pain. My chest feels like it's on fire and my body aches. Every time I try to wake up, I'm pulled back under. It's like trying to climb thousands of steps and when you're nearly at the top, you fall down.

Over and over, the process repeats itself. Voices drift around me. Often times I feel somebody touching a certain part of my body. My arm, hand, and face.

The voice that stands out the most is a sweet, innocent little voice calling me daddy. Just once. The word circles around in my mind, making me fight harder towards the surface of the darkness.

"Damon? If you can hear me, squeeze my hand." Freya's voice. She sounds so drained.

Her soft hand touches the palm of my hand. All my efforts to give it a squeeze, to let her know I'm here, fall flat. Try as hard as I can, I can't get my body to cooperate with my mind.

I can hear my wife's cries when I'm not able to move at all. How did I end up here? Why am I in so much pain? Did something happen? Are the boys okay?

An unknown amount of time passes before I hear Freya say, "Daddy is sleeping, baby girl. He'll wake up soon. The doctors said he's healing."

Doctors? Am I at the hospital? I'm trying to remember how I ended up here, all I'm coming up with is blank. I want my children. I want to come back to my wife.

The thought is enough for me to fight the darkness even harder. It feels as though I'm moving through thick sludge to just open my eyes. My heart pounds in my chest as I work my way to the surface, just barely managing to open my eyes.

Blinding light is the first thing I see. Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to move to let anybody know I'm here. I can't even open my mouth to speak. It feels like I'm suffocating.

Two beautiful green eyes enter my blurry line of sight, "Damon? Damon!?" Freya shrieks, leaning over and grabbing my cheeks.

Turning her head away from me, she yells at somebody in the room to, "Go get a doctor!"

"I'm here, handsome. We're all here. Stay awake for me. The doctor is coming." Freya doesn't break eye contact with me as we wait for the doctor to come.

I wouldn't leave her again. I'm not falling into that pit of darkness ever again. It was lonely and painful there. Even if all I want to do is sink into the exhaustion that is flowing through my body right now. No, I'll stay here with my wife.

Freya's bottom lip wobbles, her beautiful eyes filling with tears. One rolls down the bridge of her nose, dropping down onto my face. She caresses my cheek, leaning down to press her lips to my forehead.

"I thought I was going to loose you. You were so still." Freya's words end on a sob.

All I want to do is take her pain away. I want to pull her into my arms and whisper reassuring words. All I'm capable of is blinking. Even raising my tired arms feels impossible.

Somewhere around me a door slides open, shortly after a doctor enters my line of sight.

"Damon? Blink hard once if you can understand what I'm saying." The older doctor shines a light in my eyes while I blink as hard as possible.