Falling Up

59. Three Months

Jason heard the sounds of a door closing, followed by the sounds of people talking next to him. The next thing he noticed was his eyes flashing open and through a brief moment of haze, he saw a blur of people standing around him, talking in fast, hectic voices. His vision blurred and went black.

The next time his eyes opened were different. A fresh set of people stood next to him with a woman hovering over him, attaching something to his arm. Again, his vision blurred, fading to black.

The same sequence of events repeated themselves. A brief glimpse of his surroundings, possibly a hospital bed and the next, darkness. This happened several times with much of the same visions. Until eventually, he opened his eyes once more, feeling more focused, his eyes less blurry.

Only this time, his vision wasn't of a crowded hospital bed or the site of nurses and doctors hovering over him. It was the site of a room with a faint humming noise of the hospital lights above, dimmed down to a gentle orange glow. The room was dark, possibly night time as he blinked his eyes once, then twice more. It was quiet in the room, quieter than he had experienced in a while and not even the sounds of footsteps were heard on the corridor outside. But there was a sound in the room, one that he tried hard to see as he tilted his head to the right in search of the faint mumbling sound coming from the corner.

As he blinked his eyes into focus, adjusting to the darkness of the room, he set his sights on a hunched figure in the corner, sitting upright yet clearly asleep. The mumbling came from his dreamlike state. It was Tyrus, fast asleep on a nearby chair with his head resting in an awkward spot against his neck.

Jason reached his hand down and skimmed it across the bed, in search of perhaps a better light or at least a way to put his bed upright. As he moved, he grunted loudly enough that Tyrus bolted upright in his seat. However, he still seemed unaware of Jason. Tyrus simply rubbed his hand across his forehead, massaging his temples. Then ran his hands down his neck to ease the likely stiff joints he had from sleeping in that weird position.

Jason simply watched him, no longer interested in finding a better position for himself. He was focused on Tyrus, a man he thought he would never see again. Yet here he was, in all of his glory, as he watched his muscle flex, rubbing the back of his neck. It perplexed him, though. Tyrus was normally a man well dressed and composed, confident in his stature. Yet the man before him was dishevelled, wearing his normal white button-up shirt that was perhaps less white than normal. Many wrinkles covered his usually ironed out shirt. He had a beard growing as well. Not the start of a beard, but one that had clearly been growing for a while and not groomed. His eyes looked tired, weary, and old. This was a different side of Tyrus that Jason had never seen before.

Tyrus pulled out his phone, checking the time on the clock before placing it back on the table in front of him. It was only then that he glanced up at Jason.

Tyrus's eyes widened, then narrowed as he took in the sight of Jason looking back at him.

"Hi," croaked out Jason. His voice was horse and barely came out as a whisper.

The sound of his voice seemed to stir Tyrus in action as he jumped out of his chair, rushing to Jason's side and pressing the call button for the nurse.

"Jason," Tyrus said, relieved as he touched Jason's forehead, pushing back the strands of hair that were covering his eyes.

Jason tried to croak out more words, but he coughed instead, feeling the rawness of his throat.

"Don't try to talk," responded Tyrus, grabbing a cup and a pouring some water. He grabbed the remote for the bed and pushed Jason into an upright position. "Here, drink this."