Love Unfortunately

Joel 2

A few hours after gaining consciousness, Joel was still unable to even move his fingers. The doctors told him it wasn't paralysis, but just that he was extremely weak and tired. His whole body felt numb except his face, where he could feel the sticky patches covering the left side pinching his skin. Under his eye, he could see his hyper inflated cheek; the bruises blood red color was like a small balloon had been fitted under his skin. The room around him was dim. All the lights had been turned off except for a lamp above the sink right across from his bed, which buzzed continuously causing a disturbance in the silhouettes of all the objects around him.

Joel's eyes pricked, wanting to look to the left. But he was scared; he pulled his eyes back forward every time they even got close to looking sideways. Every time he did, the image of his missing arm would flash across his mind, striking pain into all his thoughts and dug its claws deeper into his memory every time he recalled it. When the car was turned over, your arm was crushed under your seat. He could now hear the nurse's voice too. It was so calm, yet frightened and full of deep sorrow. Blood circulation stopped.

"NOOOOO!" A haunting scream climbed up through his mouth and filled the room with agony. Icy tears slipped down from his eyes as he squinted his eyelids. Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh, Joel could not believe his fate. Even though he could feel no physical pain, that scared him even more than he could handle.

Suddenly his ringtone vibrated on the tray next to his bed. It was a song Tom had picked for him after hearing the song at a party they went to a few months back.

"Answer call." His voice struggled through the atmosphere, but the phone was close enough to hear him, and accepted the call. "Who is it?"

"Hello?" A soothing feminine voice sounded through the speaker and traveled through the bandages covering his pained ears. "Is this Joel?" It took a moment for Joel to recognize the voice; the caller was one of Tom's best friends, Antonia, whom Joel has seen a few times before.

"That's...not how you pronounce it, but yeah its me." Every muscle in his throat burned as he struggled to keep his voice loud enough. His jaw pricked with pain on every move, sending harsh punishment up to his nose whenever he mouthed a word.

"Oh listen up, you son of a bitch. You have absolutely no right to complain about how I pronounce your name, you get that?" From soft her words jumped to a level of harshness and dispute. "And better get used to being called asshole you get that!"

"Look if you called to rant, this is really not a good time..."

"Oh my, you really think I called to rant, that I would spend a second talking to you after what you did you arrogant bastard! I am..."

"I AM INJURED IN A HOSPITAL!" Joel used the last of his strengths to interrupt Antonia with a scream. Suddenly the speaker fell silent for a moment. The room was vacant of any sound.

"Tom is missing. I called to see if you know anything." Antonia reprised the conversation at a much more peaceful tone, helping Joel calm his mind for a second.

"What do you mean?" His mind was too damaged to think, he needed everything to be spelled out for him.

"He surprisingly had the courage to go to work this morning, he was supposed to be back two hours ago. He isn't answering his phone or anything." Worry suddenly poured into her words, and Joel could hear her lips tremble. "He had to walk new routes and stuff and I am afraid."

"Find him oh my gosh." Joel's heart jumped up a few bits, and he could feel pain spreading through his chest. The call was ended and the screen went blanc again making the room darker. Fear crept under Joel's blankets and curled with him in desperation. Suddenly his head felt as if it sank in the softness and comfort of his pillow, and his vision faded away with a last whisper. "Tom."

Joel woke to the sudden opening of the room's door; the aluminum frame banged against the wall scraping the surface. His sight was faded, and his hearing was weak, but he could hear muffled voices near him. Bright white light was dished onto his weary eyelids as the whole room brightened up. Figures stood at the door, and slowly his senses came to focus again.

"You cannot! He is not in the condition..."

"Mam please, we got this this."

"No, you don't understand he is in critical condition. I cannot let you...Please just give him some more time!"

He could hear a male and a female voice, none of which he could recognize. Tilting his head to the left he could clearly make out the white uniform of the nurse, and the man next to her wore blue pants and shirt; seeing his hat Joel understood it was a policeman.

Joel felt stronger than before. Taking a glimpse of the digital clock on the surgical equipment, he was that it was now nearly midnight, the clock was near to strike 12. He could finally feel his fingers, and his feet felt warm and free.

His ears picked up footsteps moving towards the bed. The policeman, tall and stern, walked up to the bed and put his phone in his jacket.

"Please leave him alone, not now, please just wait till tomorrow." The nurse seemed to make one more desperate attempt to make him leave, but he simply turned and told her, "Mam, it's a legal process." He turned back to Joel.

"Sir em...Hultman? With my deepest regrets I must report that a robbery near downtown has...em resulted to the...em...death of your f..."

"Sto...oooo....oop." Joel's voice twisted into a tremble, and then into a cough. He could feel tiny fractures cracking through his mind, bending and twisting his thoughts into grotesque patterns of tormented nightmares and disfigured feelings.

"Ok that is enough I am calling the department." The nurse left the room, and right before his eyelids closed again he saw the policeman trailing behind her. His eyes bulged as tears swelled up inside. All his senses were lost once again, punched together in a cluster of depression and ultimately the death of every last hope he held dear to his heart.

"Tom."