A/N: Short chapter, but it's important!
Cloudy Hope
Chapter 4
Please Wake Up
Everything was dark.
Flint was aware of a fiery pain in his left leg and chest. He tried to open his eyes to see where he was, but he couldn't. It felt like they were already open, but he still couldn't see. Was he blind? He didn't remember how he got there; all he remembered was thinking about making a flying car. Where was his mom?
He started whimpering with fear, but his whimper turned into a cough. He moaned in pain. Would he ever make it out of this place?
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a pair of headlights, but when he turned, they disappeared into the gloom.
"Mom!" he called into the darkness.
xxx
The night she was brought to the hospital, Fran also slipped into a coma.
She had somehow felt it coming on, so around 8 o'clock at night, she asked Tim for his tape recorder. She wanted to say goodbye to Flint in case she didn't wake up.
"Tim, can I use your tape recorder?" asked Fran. Tim looked confused, but he handed it over, with a new unused tape in.
"Um... I'm gonna go move my car," said Tim.
Fran nodded.
Tim walked outside to the parking lot, pleased to see that his car hadn't been stolen or towed. After moving and locking it, he came back inside.
When Tim reentered the room, Fran held out the tape to him. "Don't listen to it," she said. "It's for Flint only. When he wakes up. He'll show it to you when he's ready..."
"But... w-what if he... he doesn't wake up?" asked Tim.
Fran sighed sleepily, and whispered: "Only use it if all hope is gone."
Tim nodded and looked at the tape. He put it in his pocket. Fran was about to say something when there was a cough from the other bed.
"Mom," whimpered Flint, still asleep.
"I'm right here, sweetie... And I always will be," said Fran, unphased that her son was calling for her in his comatose state. Tim on the other hand was speechless.
Flint gave a soft sob. He coughed violently, and his face contorted with pain.
"Tim, call the doctor," said Fran. Tim pushed the "magic red button" on the wall, and seconds later, Dr. Jones came through the door. Fran gestured to Flint.
The young doctor quickly went to work. He checked all of Flint's vitals, but sighed when Flint coughed again.
He turned to Fran and Tim. "I'm gonna go get the x-ray room ready. We're gonna check him to see if his internal bleeding has gotten worse."
"Wait... Why would you need to check for that now?" asked Tim.
Dr. Jones held up his sleeve. There was blood on it. "He just coughed up some blood again."
With that, the doctor exited the room. Less than 30 seconds later, he came back in with a few other nurses. They moved Flint onto a stretcher and rolled him out of the room, and down the hall to the x-ray room.
Fran sighed. "He's gonna be okay," she said. She started to close her eyes. "He won't give up."
Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Flint, please wake up..."
And with that, she slipped away.
"... please..."
A/N: Looks like things are going even farther south. Fran's in a coma too, and Flint is still in danger of losing his leg. Please review! =)