Tear In My Heart ✔️

XXII. I Was Terrified (edited)

(Revelation by Troye Sivan is linked above because I think it adds to the feel of this chapter. Feel free to listen to it then tell me if you think it went with the chapter!)

When I came to, all I saw was darkness. It felt like my body weighed ten tons and my mouth felt like it was filled to the brim with cotton balls, dry and suffocating. Pain pulsated through my body with my heartbeat that was hammering in my ears. As I breathed, my nose burned, but I didn't know why.

All I saw was black. And it terrified me.

I strained my ears, but all I could hear were uneven breaths for a while until the voice said, "Come on, Noah. Please just wake up. I need you to be okay. Baby, please wake up." Madison. I felt the pressure of his body on mine. "Open your eyes, amore mio (my love)."

I willed my eyes to open, but it was as if they were glued shut. The pain was sinking its teeth deeper in me with every heartbeat, slowly splitting my skull open and drilling into my brain. I tried moving my fingers, but again, nothing. It was like my brain had been separated from the rest of my body, unable to communicate what I needed to be done.

Frustration moved through me as I tried again to open my eyes, and after avid persuasion, they finally cracked. My vision was blurry but I could make out a figure that I assumed to be Madison with his head in his hands, his quiet sobs filling my ears and breaking my heart. What happened? Where was I?

"Madison?" I croaked, my voice dry and scratchy and sounding like a piercing siren in my ears. The sound of my voice instantly caused Madison's head to instantly shoot up, revealing his hauntingly red eyes, which told me he'd been crying with the intensity that he had been less than a week ago when his father...

"Noah, you're okay," he breathed and within an instant, his strong, familiar arms were around me in a comforting hug. As he did so, my vision became clearer and I instantly recognized where I was: a hospital. "I was so worried about you, Noah," Madison softly said into my hair. "I...I was afraid you'd never wake up, o-or..." His words died on his tongue as he gently cupped my face and looked me in the eyes, revealing the black ring that was starting to form over his right eye. "I was terrified. The most scared I've been in my life, actually." His lips then came into soft contact with mine. I could taste the salt from his tears. I gently kissed him back, but I almost instantly had to pull away due to the pain that moved through my head and the ache in my jaw.

"What happened? Did I hurt you?" Madison questioned as he looked me over, concern and pain evident on his features.

"My body hurts all over, Mads," I admitted. "I can't really move and all I feel is pain."

Madison cursed as he pressed the "call nurse" button on the side of my bed, causing me to see the scabs and dried blood caked on his knuckles. I swallowed and looked up at him. "Madison, what happened to me? Why am here and why is there blood on your knuckles?"

Madison instantly tensed. "You don't remember?"

"No," I stated, "but I'd take a guess and say that it has something to do with this killer headache I have, right?"

Madison's jaw clenched as he gently swept some of my hair from my forehead. "Those bastards that called you friend decided to beat the hell out of you because they found out about us." Madison spit the words out as if they physically made him sick. "They all gathered around you and kicked you and kicked you and kicked you until they kicked you so hard you were knocked out, and it was all lead by that codardo (coward) Trey."

"No," I instantly said, not wanting to believe him. That couldn't have been right. No, the boys were like family to me. How did they even find out about me? "That...that couldn't have happened. I've known those guys since I was little, they'd never–"