Absolution ➺ H.S. AU

Chapter 4 ➺ Paisley

Present

"Dr. Meyers, is she going to be okay?"

"Will she ever be able to breathe on her own?"

I can hear my parents' voices. I can't see them, but I can hear them. I don't know where I am, but I feel nothing. I don't even feel my body.

"She's going to need a couple more operations. We don't have the lesion in the lung completely patched up." I could hear my mother gasp. "She's doing fine on the oxygen machine now--breathing easily. When we get the break in the lung sewn back together, we'll see if she'll be able to function normally without the machine."

"What else?" I recognized that as my dad's voice. They sounded tense. Much more tense than I was actually feeling. I felt fine, just floating around in this nothingness I was currently experiencing.

"Well as you can see, we were able to get her face pretty much back to normal. Her nose had become unconsructed all the way to her forehead, so we sewed that on. There's obviously some scarring that will probably never go away."

"What about cosmetic surgery?"

"I don't think it would help much, if I'm honest. The scars are visible, but there are so many risks with cosmetic surgery, especially witht the face, and I'm not sure it's worth it to try and cover up the scars."

Scars? What scars? I wish I could actually see my body right now.

"We want to get the surgery in as soon as possible, since she has still not regained consciousness. We have a pulmonologist flying in from Dallas to perform the operation. The broken rib that punctured it should heal fine on its own, as long as it doesn't swell up too much from all the pressure of the lung."

Both of my parents let out sighs as the doctor spoke.

"And, how long do you think it will take her to fully recover?"

"She'll most likely be in the hopsital for a couple weeks. We just wouldn't want to rush anything, as I'm sure you understand. You all are very lucky. I've seen lots of incidents like this that don't end as well as this is."

My mother let out a sob, and I can imagine her leaning against my dad's shoulder. Even through and after their divorce they've never stopped comforting each other.

"Thank you, Dr. Meyer." My dad said.

"You're welcome, Mr. Evans. We'll let you know the details of surgery as soon as we know them."

"Thank you." My dad said, and my mom continued to sob.

I could hear footsteps and figured the doctor had walked out of the room.

"She'll be okay, Linda. She'going to be okay." My dad said, his tone wavering, almost as if he was trying to convince himself. And I could just hear my mom continue to cry.

"Why did it have to be her?" She gasped. I could amost hear the emotion in her voice.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people." Was all my dad said.

And then I suddenly wanted to know exactly what happened. Where am I, and why can I hear them talking, but can't see them? Why don't I feel any pain? And why am I not upset? I just heard the doctor talking about how I may never be able to breathe on my own again. And he said my face was all scarred up.

All these questions were swarming my head, when I noticed it was quiet around me again. It was a peaceful quiet, but also sent a chill down my spine. I suddenly felt all alone. All alone in this darkness, with the comfort of my parents' voices taken away from me.