Forever Gone
My eyes began to slowly flutter open as I woke up. It took some time, though; almost as if the immense weight of my eyelashes was slowing me down, lagging me behind. Little-by-little, my senses began to return to me.
Sight. A white, dull room.
Smell. Antiseptic. Rubber gloves.
Taste. My mouth unbearably dry.
Hearing. Muted sounds close by, but yet far away. A steady beeping close to me, however.
Touch. A rough blanket laying on top of me.
Pain. The right side of my face was burning. My right arm was throbbing.
Finally, I looked around. I was in a hospital room. That's when the memories began to flood my thoughts... my brother and I driving to get smoothies... headlights blinding me... an unanticipated jolt... a loud noise... and then... nothing. Everything after that was pitch black, unknown.
I felt something rest softly on my hand. I looked over. "Dad," was all I said. This was the first time I ever called by stepfather "dad."
His free hand went to rest on his pounding heart. "Oh, thank God." My stepdad bent down and kissed my forehead. "How are you feeling?"
I blinked my blue eyes a couple of times. "Dizzy."
"What do you remember? Do you remember anything, honey?"
I ignored his questions and asked my own. "Where is he? Is he okay? I wanna see him!" I didn't want to know, but I had to. It was inevitable.
He looked away from me and to some random space in the bland hospital room. I saw him close his eyes and swallow once before bringing his eyes back to rest on me. "He's not here, sweetie," my dad whispered. "He's gone."
Forever.