Passion

Chapter 10

     The first thing I noticed when I came to was a strange faint beeping.

     Where... am I?

     I sucked in a deep breath, willing away the feeling of sleep, but as my lungs filled, my heart stopped, my throat clenching as I choked. I immediately let the air rush back out of me, the pain quickly subsiding when I did so. My lung felt like it was being stabbed.

     Slowly, ever so slowly, I opened my heavy eyelids to see the blurry outlines of a white roof, resisting the urge to shut them at the sudden brightness. I groaned silently a minute or so later, still having trouble adjusting to the harsh light.

     Once it adjusted a bit more and I could successfully turn my head slightly, I could see a dark figure sitting next to me. One that seemed strangely familiar. My vision came back bit by bit, and I could finally see who was bent over in the seat, head in hands.

     It was Charlie.

     Confusion clouded my mind as I tried to sort out what happened and where I was. My eyes dragged towards the sound of the beeping, which I soon realized was a heart monitor.

     Ok, so a place with medical equipment. What had medical equipment? A hospital. Why would I be in a hospital? If I had an injury. Did I remember getting any recent injuries?

     No. No I did not.

     Wait. Wait. Wait. Hold up. I thought I remembered something. Ok, so I went to school, came home, did homework. Then what? I went to skating practice. What did I practice?

     Then it hit me.

     I attempted a quadruple toe-loop.

     And I broke my leg trying.

     Now that I thought about it, my leg did feel slightly levitated.

     I groaned out a mangled version of Charlie's name, which I was sure he wouldn't respond to, but it seemed to do the trick. His head shot up, though it seemed that it spun a bit from the sudden movement. I could see so much clearer now-- well, as clear as I could, considering my lack of glasses.

     "Alex! Hey, you're awake!"

      I tried sitting up, only to collapse back down from the shooting pain in my ribs. Charlie gently held my shoulder and called for a nurse. He started drilling me with questions, most of which were incomprehensible, and none of which I could even decipher to be sentences, as I was still in a hazy state of mind and Charlie seemed panicky.

     Seconds later I felt a much nimbler hand under my head, coaxing me down, willing me to relax. I caught a glimpse at what I deemed to be an unfamiliar man, who I guessed was the nurse Charlie had called for. He informed me calmly that I had a broken leg and one cracked and one broken rib. He told me to take small breaths so as to not puncture my lung, which was an order I gladly followed.

      As the general atmosphere of the room settled, Darek, as he asked me to call him, quizzed me on simple questions. Where I was, who I was, the first president, the current president, and when my birthday was. I answered all of them without hesitation, proving that no, I didn't somehow lose my memory when I didn't even hit my head. The only reason I actually answered each question was that it seemed to console Charlie bit by bit.

     I looked around the room slowly, noting that Carma, Ally, and the whole gang of guys from school seemed to have just entered the room. I grinned slightly, glad that one of them (most likely Sam, he worries about me the most, almost like a mother) had convinced everyone to visit me.