The Truth Hurts

09 │confined

A bright light flashes into Garrett's closed eyes. He groans and covers them as he wakes from his sleep, his face wrapped with clean bandages. He looks over to see a redhead woman in her early twenties peeking through the curtains in the open window, letting the sunlight in. She's wearing a simple white dress with a skirt that hangs just past her knees. A half-way buttoned up cardigan hides her bosom.

She hears his groan and turns around to see that he is awake, immediately pulling the curtains closed. She approaches his bedside and looks down at him, smiling. "Sorry if I woke you."

"Who—" He stutters, confused.

"I'm Hannah Ellis. I was appointed by the hospital to be your at-home nurse." Her smile widens. "So, how was your first night back at home?!"

Garrett glances around his room, as he had already forgotten where he was. Yesterday the doctor had him pumped up on so many drugs before the transfer he was completely out of it and hardly remembers a thing.

A miscellaneous variety of posters are tacked randomly to his wall. Some are of movies, video games, and half-naked models striking a provocative pose. In the corner near his closet hang a few plane models him and his father had assembled a few years ago, just before his parents died. The breeze from the open window causes the planes to sway lightly.

The only picture hanging on the wall is of his football team, hanging next to his jerseys that he has spread out and lined up on the wall above the TV. Most are from his middle school football team, one from his freshman year of high school.

"I see you like football." Her eyes focus on the picture.

"Yeah." He grunts.

"What position are you?"

"I was a running back."

She looks back at him. "You'll be back on the field before you know it."

He attempts to laugh, his shortness of breath making it sound like he has the lungs of a chain smoker. "Yeah right."

"Stop." She taps him on his shoulder.

Garrett winces at the pain. "Oww! Why would you do that?!"

"Oh come on, I barely touched you."

"And it hurt like a bitch!"

"I barely touched you, Garrett." She repeats. "And you felt it."

His eyes widen and he quickly tilts his head down, something he couldn't do before, to see that the casts have all been removed. His left arm and legs are now mostly covered in bandages. He takes a deep breath and leans back, feeling the fresh air relax his skin.

Hannah can't help but smile herself. "The doctor said your vitals were surprisingly strong. A recovery like this would take most people months, if not years."

He reaches over to touch the bandage on his left arm, wincing again at the pain as he pulls at it.

"Don't touch that."

His finger slips underneath it and he raises it slightly up to get a peek at his skin. It looks like melted wax, a mixture of light brown with pink, peeling near the tip of the bandage.

Disgusted, he quickly pulls back and digs his head back down into the pillow. He reaches up to lightly touch at the bandages on his head. "I want to see my face."

"That's not a good idea." She advises, crossing her arms nervously.

"I want to see my face!" His voice quickly raises as his arms slams down against the nightstand next to him.

Hannah shakes her head. "No. Your skin is still healing and it's a crucial part of the recovery process to keep open exposure to a minimal."

He sighs and turns to face the ceiling.

"If you take off any of the bandages, you're increasing your risk of infection." She softly touches his shoulder. "But, when the time comes, we will take it off. "

He doesn't respond.

"Umm, so they told me that you were living under the care of your brother..."

"Yeah?"

"Any idea where he is?"

"Nope."

Sighing, she turns back to the window as worry begins to sweep over her. "Well, the weekend has just begun. He'll just have to miss out on the fun."

His head turns to face her as she reaches over for a remote on his nightstand. "Fun?"

Hannah shoots him a smile as she aims the remote at the TV and flicks it on. "Didn't you know? Binge watching Netflix is also a crucial step of the recovery process."

Although still numb, his lips manage to move this time as he smiles. Something he hasn't done in quite some time.

♫ sʜᴇᴇᴛs / ᴅᴀᴍɪᴇɴ ᴊᴜʀᴀᴅᴏ ♫