Peripheral Vision | ✓ [NOW PUBLISHED AS HUNTINGTON AVENUE]

Chapter 22

C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y - T W O

Zach's P.O.V.

Consciousness hit me like a ton of bricks.

My head throbbed with pain as I realized where I was. The anaesthetics were slowly wearing off as I gently felt my forehead. I realized there was a cloth or something wrapped loosely around my eyes which stung like wildfire.

Dizziness spread throughout my body and I almost wanted to go back to sleep before something stopped me.

"Zach, are you awake?" my mom's quiet voice asked from a few feet away.

I let out a soft groan, a dull soreness arising in my throat. I don't even know what they did to me during surgery, but it sure was painful. I slowly nodded, feeling a bit more attentive.

"You okay?" inquired Mom again, her tone still very quiet.

"Sounds like typical Zach to me," Hayleigh replied with a giggle. I didn't realize she was in here too. "Always grumpy in the morning."

I nodded a little, feeling a bit of sweat drip down my forehead. Was I that nervous? Maybe it was just the hospital setting.

Then again, it's probably warm in here.

I sat up a little bit, the pain in my head slowly fading away. My entire body felt exhausted and I found it difficult to move around, so I just laid there comfortably, trying to hide the nervousness building up.

"Anyone have any water?" I asked with my voice barely being a whisper, my throat feeling extremely dry and my voice scratchy.

"Sure," Hayleigh responded, and I heard her loud footsteps wander across the room..

I assumed there was a sink or something in the room since I heard running water turn on and off. Hayleigh handed me the cup of water and I downed it in one gulp.

"Thanks, Hayleigh," I replied, feeling the soft bandage over my eyes. "That helps a lot."

"Want to take that bandage off?" Mom inquired, probably noticing my anxiety.

"In a minute," I responded almost silently, my heart starting to pound like absolutely crazy. "I just got the living daylights beat out of me," I added on jokingly.

"Okay then," she replied, and I heard a small laugh through her voice.

I straightened my posture, the lightheadedness I felt finally beginning to go away. Both my eyes seemed quite a bit swollen, but the pain was slowly dying down. I never want to experience a surgery again.

This hurts.

After about ten minutes or so, a nurse walked into the room. I let out a sigh, knowing this was the make it or break it moment.

"You ready?" she asked in a friendly tone.

Was I...?

Was I ready..?

I took a deep breath, not even realizing that I was shaking from how anxious I felt. That one deep breath had several more following it, but I was trying my hardest not to panic or anything.

"Yeah..," I stammered quietly, my heart seeming to leap out of my chest. "I guess so.."

Carefully, I unwrapped the bandage from my eyes, keeping them all-the-way closed.

I put the cloth, or whatever it was, to the side, rubbing my eyes gently. Gently, I ran my fingers through my hair, pausing before I found out if it worked or not.