Golden Hug (Bayley x Male OC) (DS2)

Chapter 14

-Malachi's POV-

It was definitely weird. I was unconscious, but aware of everything going on around me. For starters, I was being rolled around on a stretcher. They were talking about me like I was asleep as we sped towards the hospital. Finally, I was going into surgery to have the bullet removed and anything damaged fixed. Once they gave me the sedatives to make sure I stayed asleep, I began to dream.

I was in the safety of my own home, on my own couch, with my arm around Renee. We were watching the previous week's episode of SmackDown. Suddenly, the channel switched and a dark alleyway came onto the screen. I saw myself fighting the kidnapper, and I saw him shoot me in the chest. Suddenly, my arm fell to my side. Renee wasn't there anymore. My chest was now bleeding again, as if freshly penetrated by another bullet. I fell off the couch and onto the floor, screaming bloody murder.

---

I woke up in a chair. I was in a hospital room, and all of my friends were there with me. They were having a conversation with a doctor, who was explaining that the patient was in a coma. I sighed a breath of relief. I hadn't been shot after all. It was just a dream.

"So Malachi's in a coma, then?" Caleb asked uneasily. I told him that I wasn't, that I was sitting right next to him, but he ignored me. That was odd. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me: Who was even in the bed, if not me?

I slowly gazed over and saw something no person should ever have to see: myself, hooked up to a slew of machines. I was paler than usual, and my eyes were shut tight. There was a lump on my chest under my hospital gown, which undoubtedly was the heavy bandaging as a result of my surgery. My chest became sore as I remembered the incident in the alleyway.

So I was still dreaming. But, when I got up, there was a tingling in my legs. When my arms moved, they too tingled. If I wasn't dreaming... what was I? A ghost of sorts, I tried to leave the room, but some sort of static made it hard to move. Upon stepping back, I realized what the issue was: a part of my being was separated from my body, and I couldn't go far without severing the tether altogether.

This was weird, even for me. I was forced to watch as my friends all went up to my sleeping body and muttered words of encouragement. It was sickening to watch them hold back tears that were meant for me.

The night wore on, and they finally left one by one. I began to feel tired, so I did the natural thing: I laid down in my body and went to sleep.

---

The days rolled on, and I grew very bored and lonely. Nothing I tried to do could make anyone notice me, and trying to wake myself up also became tiresome. On the seventh day, I was out of ideas. Instead, I rested and watched people come and go. 

Caleb and Alexa both popped in at one point. They told me about discovering that Alexa was pregnant, and my mind began to race with all the things I wished I could've said to them.

The one person who never left the hospital was Bayley, oddly enough. She only ventured to go get food, and slept in a chair during the nights. As much as our friends and the doctors urged her to leave, she would not go. I felt awful, but there was nothing I could do.

On my tenth night, I had a crazy idea. If I could l combine with own body, could I do it with someone else's? Would I possess them, be able to communicate with them, or would nothing happen at all?

I quickly sat in Bayley's chair, combining with her body like I had my own. However, nothing happened. All I felt was her warmth, and that was something I hadn't felt in over a week.

---

A few nights later, two doctors were doing their nightly rounds and began to examine me and my machines. Bayley had gone to go get herself a little bit of food, so she did not hear this conversation transpire between them:

"His brain is very active," the first one noted casually, flipping through a few charts. I peeked over his shoulder, but nothing I saw on his papers made any sense to me.

"Yes, he's almost awake," the second replied comically. I screamed that I was there, but they didn't react. Of course they didn't. I wasn't actually there.

"What are we going to do? He's basically a vegetable."

"I'd say pull the plug an put him out of his misery, but we can't do that without the family's consent."

"He doesn't have any. It says in his file that his parents died in a drunk driving incident."

"His spouse or friends, then. Either way, we're going to need someone's consent. It would be cruel to make him keep hanging on when he doesn't have a chance."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Why would they want to take me off life support? Then again... were they so wrong? While I could think clearly, I couldn't move, talk, or even open my eyes. My quality of life was around a zero at that point in time. Unless I could figure out how to wake up, I was as well as gone.

---

The next day arrived, and everyone was in the room again when I woke up. They were gathered around my bed, which was odd. By the looks on their faces, it seemed like I was dead. However, that couldn't be correct. I could still feel the tingling all over my body when I moved.

My panic and confusion had distract me. Bayley's hand intertwining with mine brought me back to reality. I realized the doctor had been talking the whole time. I listened in for the end of his sentence, "-highly unlikely that he'll ever wake up."

A thought crossed my mind. When I woke up in the mornings, I left my body. What if, instead of leaving my body when I got up, I brought my body with me? It was worth a shot, and if I didn't try something soon, they were going to kill me.

I jumped into my body and began to strain, trying to will myself to wake up. Pain flared up again near my bullet wound, but I ignored it. I was just so freaking close...

"Good bye, Malachi..." Bayley said softly, caressing my cheek with her thumb. A single tear rolled down her face and fell. I don't know where it landed, even to this day. Suddenly, there was a scream as my eyes opened and I shot up in bed. Everyone looked at me in disbelief, but I was staring at the doctors.

"I'm 'basically a vegetable', eh?" I growled, though my voice was very hoarse. After all... it had been a little bit since I'd actually used it. They didn't react, leaving me unsure of whether or not I'd actually seen and heard what I thought I did.

My friends were either standing there in shock, crying, or laughing. That seemed about appropriate, all things considered. Bayley had me wrapped up in a tight hug, but this one was different. She hadn't hugged me like this since I got fired from FCW. It was very nice.