Caught in the Balance- a.i [completed]

sixteen

There was a week left before the switched was flicked on Eden’s life. Ashton had by no means come to terms with it, but it wasn’t like he could do anything to change it. He was getting ready to go to the hospital, to visit her again; he knew it would be one of the last times he got to see her. He looked at himself in the mirror, brushing his hair back from his face, it was too long; strands hung down in his eyes. he splashed his face with water from the tap, trying to make himself look like a sane person. The constant crying had made his eyes red and bloodshot, and the skin beneath them was puffy. He looked a right mess, but he imagined anyone in this situation could look any good at all.

As he walked up the steps inside the hospital, finding his way to Eden’s room had become like second nature, he realised that this morning he hadn’t cried yet. And that there wasn’t really anything to cry over. He couldn’t change what was going to happen. The only thing that could change it is if she were to wake up right now. But that would take a miracle.

He pushed open the door to her ward, the steady beeping of the life support and the whirl-click of the ventilator feeding her oxygen were the only sounds in the room. She lay still as ever under the hospital grade sheet, an ID tag around her wrist. He stood at the foot of her bed, and instead of seeing her as she was now, pale and transparent looking, her saw her as he had when he first met her- glowing. Images played over his eyes; all the dates, her smiles, he could almost even hear her laugh.

He was caught up in his mind’s eye, he didn’t notice the change of the beat coming from the heart rate monitor, or the extra kick the ventilator seemed to have, or even the slight intake of air that passed through her lips. He didn’t notice the flutter of her eyelids. He didn’t notice she was awake.

“Why are you staring at me?” she said, before a fit off coughs racked her body. Ashton stood there speechless. For once, someone had actually given him a miracle.

When the coughing didn’t stop, and her lips started turning blue, Ashton finally realised something was wrong, very wrong. He sprinted out the room, yelling and screaming for a nurse. Finally he found one and panting, he managed to get out, “help, she’s awake, she needs help, she can’t breathe.”

Immediately the nurse responded, calmly and quickly making her way to Eden’s bed, calling other nurses along with her. Ashton tried to help, but he was pushed out of the way. He couldn’t see everything either, but he heard the noise of someone throwing up, and the coughing momentarily stopped. Medical words were flung around the room, and Ashton didn’t have a clue as to what a single one of them meant.

Ashton was pushed out of the room then, and as he stood by the doors several doctors came in and out of the room. Pretty quickly the coughing subsided, and the beeping that could be heard through the doors returned to a steady pace. He slid down the wall. He realised in all of this that he hadn’t even told his mum, or worse, Eden’s mum. He felt bad because she was a pretty big thing in Eden’s life. He pulled out his phone and dialled her number; it went straight to voice mail. He would call again later.

He stood up, and tried the doors again. Now, most of the nurses and doctors had cleared out. And he was able to make his way to her bedside.

“How are you feeling?” He asked when the doctor had stopped checking her vitals. Her head flicked around to look at him, an expression of confusion clouded her face.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?”