Burn

Chapter Two: Tough Encounters

When I woke up, I'd forgotten everything that had just happened. My head was the source of the greatest pain, but when I went to feel it, it all came to my right arm. I opened my eyes, and I lay in the ER, a place I'd never ended up after a call. I was always in the waiting room, and this was a completely different perspective.

A doctor rushed in when he'd noticed I'd stirred, and he looked at my vitals. "What happened?" I slurred, finding it was hard to talk. He didn't say anything, but that I would be fine, and that I was very fortunate to had made it out. At that moment, my chief rushed in, looking drained, and completely terrified. "You could've died!" he whispered, clinging onto the bedframe.

"I'm sorry chief, I just—I can't recall anything. It's all just... black." He turned and looked at the doctor, whom seemed that Baldwin's guess was as good as his as to what caused my lack of memory. "We're going to keep an eye on you for a while, and until then, just rest and try to remember what happened." He said, then left the room.

"Also," Baldwin almost mumbled, as if to keep quiet, "Miss Leonard is here to see you." I sat up quickly, and immediately regretted it when the pain shot back. "She's here? Has anyone seen her?" I rambled, hoping that the answer was no. All he did was purse his lips, then step out, while my girlfriend hurriedly stumbled in, with a tear-stained face.

"Oh my gosh, Gavin, what the heck! I knew this job was dangerous, you should've stayed a medic!" She said, engulfing me in a hug. At the entrance, I saw Zach peeking in with a raised eyebrow, and gave him a "Leave or you're buying tonight" look. Then I returned my attention to my girlfriend, saying, "I know what I got myself into, Kara, but I'm fine, honestly. It just hurts a little; no need to be freaked out."

She calmed down a bit, then stepped back, eyeing me suspiciously. "Where have you been these past few days? I looked at your shifts and saw you were off, but you haven't texted or called... nothing. What's going on?" As much as I hated the thought, my love for Kara just wasn't there anymore. But I hadn't brought this up, of course, and just managed to sneak out every once in a while to hang out with my closest friend, Andrea. Now, from the looks of this, "every once in a while" turned into every time I got off shift.

"I might've been hanging out with Andrea every now and then..." I almost whispered, hoping she wouldn't hear, but she most certainly did. She slowly got up off the bed, but kept a hold of my hand, which I hadn't realized was in hers. "I knew it; the whole 'we're just friends' doesn't work on me, Gavin. Do us both a favor and take me off your emergency contact list; we're done." And just like that, she was gone. It seemed like the headache I had digressed a little.

As soon as the coast was clear, Zach came in and sat down in the chair where Chief had initially sat. "First of all, yikes. Second, are you okay? I heard you got hit with acid, man! Nobody survives that, I thought you would've stayed unconscious forever!" This caught me off guard. "How long have I been out?" I asked, concerned. He gave me a 'are you stupid' look, and said, "Um, a week."

A week? It felt like hours, minutes even. "I was hit with acid? Is that what that burn is--," I said, and pulled down my shirt collar to look at my shoulder, and sure enough, it looked like someone tried to deep-fry me. Zach gawked at it, like I was suddenly part animal. "That's crazy... Does it not hurt?" And I poked at it; nothing, It felt like normal skin.

"Do you wanna stay at my place? Or are you gonna be here awhile?" He asked, looking at his watch. "I have to stay, I mean, I survived this freak accident, they probably want to dissect me or something." I said, half joking; half worried. He shrugged, then his phone buzzed, and he looked at it. "Oh, it's Andrea, she wants to know if she can come in?" He asked, and I nodded my head.

She walked by, not realizing which one I was in, but once she caught sight of me, she ran in and nearly jumped on me. I put the pain aside and embraced her, taking in her warmth and beauty. Being a blue-eyed brunette, she was absolutely gorgeous. She wasn't what one would call hot, but she was perfect for me. Of course, I kept these thoughts to myself.

"Calm down," I kind of laughed, and she sat up and looked me dead in the eyes with a stern expression, but they were still warm. I help myself back as she said, "You have no idea what I would've done if you...," then she fell back into me, and I slowly wrapped my arms around her. I was too deep in the moment to notice that next to Zach stood a broad man, looking awkward as Andrea sat with me. "Who's that?" I whispered, and she looked up and smiled. "That's Brad; I wanted you two to meet, but not like this," she half laughed, "Him and I have been dating for a few months now. But we're not talking about him, we need to discuss what the heck happened back there."

Suddenly, I became fazed by everything, and just wanted to rest. "Hey, I'll tell you everything once I'm out of here. I'm kind of tired, even if I did just wake up...," I said, and she got up and brushed herself off. "Oh yeah, of course! I'm sorry about everything, just please call me once you get home?" She said, almost disappointed. I cleared the thought from my head and mustered up a smile as she waved goodbye, and her handsome, muscular boyfriend followed after her. I wished I had forgotten that instead.