{A Wattpad Featured Story & Wattys 2018 Long List Book}
Highest Rank // #22 in Teen Fiction
Lennon Reese has always been quiet but after being sexually assaulted she has shut herself off from the world. She finds solace in writing all of her evasi...
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I couldn't place the sounds around me. It echoed in one ear and went straight out the other. The voices were merely background noise. I was wet, I could feel water dripping down my fingertips. My body stung. First just in the pit of my stomach but then it radiated throughout my entire body. Suddenly I was aware of everything that was going on. My eyes adjusted, a man was hovering over me, his lips moving.
"Careful buddy, just lie still." He told me.
"Where am I?" I asked, but it came out muffled. There was a mask over my mouth.
"You were in a surfing accident, we're on our way to the hospital. You're going to be okay." He reassured me. I was in an ambulance. "What's your name son?"
"Rowan Taylors." I said as pain shot through me. The paramedic held me down.
"I'm Denis." He nodded. "And how old are you?"
"I'm seventeen." I muttered. I felt cold, I was shivering.
"The doctors are going to take good care of you." The ambulance stopped and the doors opened.
"What do you have?" It was a new voice, the voice of a woman.
"Rowan Taylors, seventeen, no ID. He was in a surfing accident. He has a large wound to the abdomen. His vitals are one hundred over seventy, pulse one-eighteen and respirations twenty eight. He gained consciousness in the field."
My eyes were glued on the sky, but then the sky turned into lights hanging from the ceiling.
"Clear trama four. Page Doctor Ainsworth." Everyone rushed around me. There were three doctors, all with their hands on me.
"I'm going to need you to lie very still, I need to cut off your wetsuit to get a better look at the wound." I was confused, all that seemed to register was that she was going to cut my wetsuit. It was my favorite one.
"What?" I shook my head.
"Lie still." She repeated.
With each cut I got weaker. Black spots clouded my vision.
"Dammit, I need lap pads." I had a weird feeling in my stomach, I could feel hands. "Intubate him and call the OR. His stats are falling. Stay with me..."
--
My throat burned, my head hurt and my stomach ached. I tried to swallow, to breathe but I couldn't. There was something in the way. I reached up and felt a tube. I felt like I was choking.
"Rowan..." I heard a familiar voice. "Nurse! Can I get some help in here?" My eyes adjusted, my Mom was standing over me.
"Mom..." I tried to say, but it came out as a muffled groan as a nurse came to my side.
"Rowan, you're in the hospital. You have a tube down your throat to help you breathe but I don't think you need it anymore so I'm going to take it out, alright?" She said softly, her voice was comforting. "I'm going to count to three and then I'm going to get you to cough. It'll help us both out. Mom, why don't you hold his hand." She turned to my Mom and nodded. My Mom took my hand. "You're going to feel a little discomfort... One, two three..."
