The Angel,The Devil,The Nerd

Chapter 59 - The light at the end of the tunnel

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CHAPTER 59 - THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

ERIC'S POV

I would have sworn my heart skipped a beat, but nothing moved. I fought to open my eyes, but I couldn't. Neither could I move. I was lying on a bed, I guess. Paralyzed maybe? Or just chained to it? That wouldn't be a first.

Last thing I remember is seeing Heather wounded on the shoulder and dashing to her help ... catching a lot of bullets in the process. I barely remember her frantically trying to keep me awake. Then it's all blank, apart from some on and off lights that seeped through as my eyes opened and closed several times. I would have sworn I saw a familiar face among those lights, but can't exactly tell who that was. My uncle maybe? That'd mean I'm dead.

Wait, am I? I couldn't move, didn't even feel if I was breathing or not, and yet I could feel something warm touching my hand. I couldn't move that said hand, but I felt as if something was touching it, and right after that I could hear the faint sound of a sob. Someone was crying. Beside me? Who? And where was I? Why was this person crying? I'm not dead, am I? Well, I felt all but alive anyway.

Yet I could hear faint sounds around me. Couldn't see anything and they felt far, but I still could hear them. And those sobs, they increased, getting more frantic and desperate. I couldn't feel my hand, yet I could feel something warm squeezing it. Odd, right? As if somebody was squeezing my hand and yet I couldn't feel it but I knew they were. So who was this someone? Heather maybe? Nah, she wouldn't cry. Then ... oh.

No. Not her. No. She can't know where I am. Well, neither I know where am I, but ... if I was lying on a bed, barely alive, better said, halfway between life and death, the last person that should see me like this is ...

"Eric, please! I need you. We all need you! Please!" If I'd felt my heart beating, I'd have said it'd dropped. That voice. For how faintly I could hear it, I could recognize it all too easily. She was pleading me. To do what?

Oh. Right. Lying on a bed. Faint sounds around me. Unable to move and to feel my own body. Only one explanation possible. Coma. I was in a comatose state. That figures. I guess it's normal. Lots of bullets did pierce my skin after all.

I forced myself to move, to at least respond to her touch, but I couldn't. It felt as if I was paralyzed, unable to move one single muscle. It felt like my whole body was a statue and there was no way back.

Yet I could still feel her touch, and while it didn't cause me any physical reactions, psychologically I felt my heart racing, even if it wasn't. It's hard to explain.

I perked up my ears (figuratively, because I couldn't move one single muscle, remember?) to listen to that sweet familiar voice, though it was starting to be always farer and farer, to the point that it was almost a whisper and I couldn't tell what she was saying, no matter how hard I tried to listen carefully.

Yet all of a sudden I heard a blood-freezing shriek, but it wasn't human, it was like a siren, and out of the blue I felt like being hurled out of bed, which is weird per se, considering I couldn't even feel my body.

Wait. Now I could. I couldn't see anything, as if my eyes were shut and yet I knew they were wide open, I could hear noises in the distance, some hustle and bustle of different busy people, among those, louder sobs. What was all of this exactly? I think I've read somewhere about out-of-body experiences, but this didn't quite feel like it, though I wouldn't know how does it feel, considering I've never felt it.

Not being able to see, I focused on the noises: people tinkering with something, sobs not too far, words being whispered, other words being yelled ... it was a complete mess there. Wherever that was. Though I perked up my ears to try to hear my Natalie. The sobs were too distant, but I knew it was her.