"I met Mark in the emergency room.
Bright, flashing lights. People everywhere, doing everything. I heard voices, too many voices. They were too loud, it hurt my head. I tried to cover my ears, but I couldn't. The voices, they were too loud. My arms, I could feel something cool under them. They couldn't move.
"It's alright, son. Stay with us."
I heard a voice, louder than the others, closer. I opened my eyes. An angel. No, a man. A man looked down at me. His brown eyes held mine.
"We're going to take care of you. You're going to be okay."
He spoke. To me, I think. I couldn't tell, he was too far away. He was going down a tunnel. Or was I falling? Falling further and further down. Into the black. Into my mind.
"You're going to be okay."
I woke up with a start. Where am I? I looked around, white walls, white ceiling, white floor. I heard a beeping next to me, a heart monitor. A hospital. Why am I in a hospital? A man walked into the room holding a clipboard.
"Thomas O'hare? Good, you're awake. For a while there we weren't sure if you'd ever open your eyes."
I was confused, "How long have I been asleep?"
The man smiled at me, "About two weeks, son."
Son, "Are you the man that helped me that night?"
"Yes, I helped you into the hospital. You were in critical conditions. Five broken ribs, a concussion, and a stab wound. Someone really did a number on you."
I flashed back, remembering the cold, wet wall, his groaping hands, his rough voice.
"Do you remember what happened to you?"
The man looked at me with kind eyes, "A man mugged me. Threatened me with a knife if I didn't give him my money, but I didn't have any. So he beat me up and took the keys to my mom's car. Where is my mom?"
The man smiled, "I wouldn't worry. She shows up here eyeryday around this time. In fact, I think she's here now, I can here her voice. I leave so you can talk. My name's Brian, by the way."
"Thank you, Brian."
The man smiled and left. Not twenty seconds later my mother burst through the door, "Thomas? Oh Thomas," she launched herself at me, "I'm so glad you're okay! My poor baby."
I hugged her to me, "Mom? Did you get your car back?"
She giggled and hugged me tighter, "Yes, baby. The police caught the man that hurt you last week. Plead guilty, he's going to jail for four years."
Wordlessly, I held her to me. We talked for a while longer, but then visiting hours ended and she was told to leave. The hospital wanted to me to stay for another week for observation. Apparently I had been rather unstable while I was asleep.
"Brown."
I jumped, startled. Looking over, I noticed another bed in the room. I had a roomate, "Pardon me?"
The boy smiled at me, green eyes twinkling, "You have brown eyes. The entire time you've been out I've wondered what color your eyes were. Now I know."
I smiled back at him, "Oh. Thanks."
"No problem. So that guy did quite a number on you, yeah?"
I looked down at my various bandages, "Yeah, I guess. I don't really remember most of it," I looked over at him, "Someone bang up your head? You've got that wrap."
