The Accident (One Direction Fanfic)

Chapter 1: I Can't Recall

I try to lift my head but it’s heavy, too heavy. Something’s not right. I try to lift my hand up to feel my forehead (maybe I have a fever), but I instantly regret it. A shooting pain fires up my arm stopping me from moving it any further. I try my other hand, this one hurts too but I’m not restricted by the pain. I lift it up to my head but it doesn’t feel right. A sticky, thick substance pulls on the hand as I run it across my brow and under my neck. The mess is everywhere. I try to open my eyes to see what’s left on my hand, or better yet, what’s left of my hand. Only one eye supplies me with the vision I need to try to understand what’s happened. The other one won’t even open… what’s wrong with me?

Red (or what once was red), but has now dried in clumps across my hands is the only thing I register when my vision comes to. This can only mean one thing, blood, and I immediately lament my decision to wake up. I feel sick, not just from the pain but from the unknown, what’s happened to me? Where am I? Wait, better yet, who am I? My name. It’s something I’ve known my whole life… it defines me. So why can’t I remember it? I feel like it’s on the tip of my tongue, I try to move my lips to form it but all I discover is that there’s blood there too. There’s blood everywhere, but how and why is it here?

I use my one good eye and one good hand to try and assess my situation a bit better. I give myself a quick look over and discover a few things. Firstly that I don’t have the use of my right eye or my left hand and that my knee is sticking out almost to the bone. There is dried blood almost everywhere, even around me on the floor but the worst is my head and abdomen, they still have fresh blood. Secondly that I’m in some sort of alleyway, around the corner I hear what seems to be a lot of people, cars maybe but definitely people. People who I need to get to if I’m ever going to get the help I desperately need. I can currently prop myself up into a sitting position without being in too much pain. This gives me a better view of myself, whoever I am, and my surroundings, so I can try to get out.

I allow myself what seems about 20 minutes or so to panic. I freak out, I question everything, I rack my brain for any memories but none of them are helpful. None of them tell me who I am, where I am, or how I got here. I cry, I sob, I struggle to breathe and then I stop. I’m quiet. I don’t dare to move anymore, I’ve already caused enough damage to my already brutally disfigured body. I try screaming but my throat is so parched that all I manage to do I spit up more blood before I feel light headed and close my eyes once more.

It’s dark now; I still hear voices and city life though so I have hope. I can’t lose hope; it’s the only thing I have left. I’ve already counted 174 stars when I hear it, a soft buzzing sound coming from a few meters away. A small light flashes through a soft layer of black fabric. It’s a phone in a bag. My phone, and my bag. Something is mine besides the pain and the blood. Something is mine that could help me. Something is mine, which is too far away for me to reach. It’s disgusting how close I can get to reaching the bag, but it’s hopeless and now I’m hopeless too.

I don’t remember falling asleep but when I wake up its light again and the only thing that’s changed is that I hurt, if possible, more than yesterday. The blood from my head and stomach has nearly stopped but I’m thirstier than I’ve ever been before and the spare skin around my knee has begun to dry up making it more unbearable. I spend most of the morning, or what I think is the morning trying to think of how long it may have been between the time I became like this and the first time I woke up. After a few hours I come up with 3 days. I think it’s been 3 days since I last had water, since I last felt what it was like to not be in pain and 3 days since I last knew my name.

I doze off a few times during the day. Unconsciousness has become my friend. It’s much nicer than facing the hard decisions and pains of reality. Right now I think I’d like to stay unconscious forever. It’s dusk by the time I am fully aware again and I’m scared for the sun to set and for it to go dark again, because night means that there’s less hope of me being found.