ODE TO SLEEP

「013. rest」

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

I COULD FEEL myself beginning to wake up, the effects of what must have been anesthesia wearing off. My eyelids felt heavy, and my mouth was dry. I couldn't feel most of my body at that point, and I was struggling to actually wake up. I kept falling back asleep, then waking up again.

After about 20 minutes, I finally came to. I blinked a few times to get the blurriness away, then looked around me. I could see a heart monitor beside me, the lines jumping across the screen steadily. Behind that was an oxygen tank, and I lifted up my left hand, touching the tubes that were taped to the side of my face, leading to my nose.

To my right, there was a small pull-out couch set up. A small pillow and blanket were tossed across it, and there was a half-drunk bottle of water beside it.

I felt a squeeze on my arm and looked down at the blood pressure cuff. Wires were strapped to my chest, and I noticed that I was shirtless, though the number of bandages could have made up for that. I must have been on strong painkillers, as I touched my chest and stomach and felt no pain. My right arm was resting in a sling, cradling it against my chest. I couldn't move it whatsoever.

I turned my head when I heard the doorknob turning. I recognized Maddox as he walked inside, rubbing his hand over his face in exasperation. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his clothes were rustled. He must have been sleeping on the couch.

His head was hung, and he walked past me before flopping onto the couch. He exhaled heavily, his shoulders rising and falling with his actions. He held his hands over his mouth, and for the moment, his eyes were closed. After a few minutes, he opened them and finally noticed me.

"Oh, shit," He jumped up and immediately rushed to the side of the bed. He placed his hand on my forehead, pushing my hair away from my eyes, his other hand holding onto the railing. "Hey, buddy. How you feeling?"

"I can't feel shit," I mumbled, my words slurring together. Maddox stepped back and grabbed the bottle of water from the floor.

"Here, drink some of this," He held it to my lips, allowing me to drink some of it. After a moment, he pulled it away and used his foot to pull a chair closer. "The pain meds shouldn't be wearing off for a few hours."

"What happened?" I asked, bringing my hand to my face, and rubbing my eyes.

"Don't remember much?" He asked, frowning slightly. I shook my head.

The last thing I remember was when Marcus rolled me onto my back. After that, I had nothing, until I woke up a few minutes ago.

"You had three bullets in you; one in your shoulder, which shattered your collarbone; one in your chest, which was just a couple inches from piercing your heart; and the third in your stomach, which traveled upward and hit your lung. You were in surgery for six hours, then went back for another two hours after you coded. Everyone thought..." Maddox lowered his head and rested his hand on the back of his head. "...we were all scared we'd lost you, Isaiah."

"Marshall," I frowned, the beeping in the room increasing. I felt my chest grow tight, and it was getting harder to breathe. "Why? Why did he shoot me?"

Maddox stood up and grabbed the mask hanging from the oxygen tank. He carefully removed the tubes from my nose and held the mask over my mouth and nose. Instantly, I felt relief. Maddox moved my hand up and ordered me to hold it there. He sunk back into his chair.

"He claims it was a 'misunderstanding'," Maddox pinched the bridge of his nose. "He saw Emerson, and he knew that she had been shot. He then saw that you were holding a gun, and you were covered in blood. What he didn't see, however, was the person you hurt in order to save Emerson. He just assumed the worse."