Alex awoke again, this time for real, to a maelstrom of movement and screamed commands, backgrounded by the eternal beeping and whining of alarms and monitors. Doctors were running in and out of the hospital room, nurses in tow or being left behind, checking data and comparing it to information on a clipboard. The doctors were screaming orders at the nurses and each other, but nothing seemed to be getting done. Alex looked side to side, hoping to collect some semblance of what was going on, but each movement seemed weighed, slowed down. It was almost like he was in another dream, but a brand new IV changed that thought in a heartbeat. As the thick metal tube slid painfully into his arm, sparks flew across his vision and the room spun a little. In that small moment, Alex realized how much pain he was actually in, as almost everything below his neck was spiking with an unusual electricity, focusing at moments in his gut, then sliding down quickly to his legs, then striking back up to his head. Everytime the strange sensation entered his skull, it seemed to bounce around, blurring his vision and causing stars to dance around the room.
He was catching snippets of the doctors conversations now, bits involving "blood gasses falling" and "calling surgery!" sticking like splinters in the part of his mind that controlled fear. He began to panic, a very stupid move indeed, because as he started to breathe faster, and his heartbeat increased, his pain amplified. Just when he thought the pain could get no worse, it stopped, so abruptly in fact that he had no time to enjoy it, because almost immediately after the pain subsided did a tremendous pressure well up in his chest. It felt like a giant was stepping on his ribs, and at the same time, a massive volcano was trying to explode outwards. The pain was so intense that he caught his breath, flailing his arms madly as if to strike the force from off of his body. The pressure increased to a crushing level, and he found it impossible to catch any breath at all, his vision swimming and dancing as his eyes darted from first one unfamiliar face to another. Then, as if a massive balloon had burst in his chest, his entire rib cage bounced upwards, throwing his body vertically from the hard hospital mattress.
The pain had stopped, but something was still wrong. Now, instead of pain or pressure, he felt nothing. Nothing. Still slightly dazed from the pressure that had just been pushing moments ago on his chest, Alex raised his hand up and slid it up to his ribs, right over his heart. Everyone that was in the room froze, as if suddenly entranced by the movement of his hand.There was something warm and sticky there, soaking his hospital gown and coating his fingers. Moving his hand around a bit, he found that the area where his heart should be was slightly spongy, as if the bone had been removed or turned to something softer. Just as he was about to push, one of the nurses grabbed his hand harshly and began feeling feverishly for a pulse, then seemed to get disgusted with the search. All this time, there was a terrible screeching sound to his left, as if there were an overlong test of the emergency broadcasting system going on.
Another doctor came tearing through the already abused room door then, hauling behind him a relatively large and very complicated looking device, all sorts of hoses and dials branching out from alomst every orifice. Another one of the doctors leaned over him, yelling something, but Alex hardly heard him. He was too busy watching the room go slowly dark. Was this death? Was this it? After all this time, would the terrible demon that had hunted him and his friends for so long finally get it's wish? Alex tried to fight the oncoming flood of blackness, the ever-shrinking tunnel that was his vision, but he had no more energy. The doctors and nurses were feverishly doing something outside of his vision, below his neck, but he didn't know what, nor did he seem to care. He was drifting now, swimming through the inky blackness. Everything seemed to be fading away, the world, his memories. He saw images, bare flashes, of his parents, his friends, the faces of all those he had known and lost in his lifetime.
The blackness began to lighten around him, began to glow with an infused type of light. Ahead of him, in the very center of his vision, was a dancing light, twinkling and pulsating like a star. I was growing bigger, closer, warmer. Alex could feel the happiness that radiated from the light, the joy, the family that he had always wanted, his love again in his arms. All that would be his again soon. He smiled, reaching out his arms, trying to grasp the light that was coming towards him. It was coming closer...closer...he was so happy now...no more suffering...no more death...it was over now...Alex laughed, a victorious laugh, one full of triumph, triumph towards the battle he had been fighting for so many years. He had won. Death may have claimed him, but he was going to heaven, he was going home, to where he had always belonged. He reached forward harder, his fingers barely touching the edges of the brilliant force, but then only caught void. He reached again, but the light was further away. It was leaving him. NO! NO! Not after all this time! He would not lose like this! Damn Death! Damn it's cruelty, its malice!
As Alex continued to curse the force that had hunted him for so long, the light grew fainter and fainter until it was just darkness again. He was swimming, floating in a void of nothing, oblivious to everything and aware of nothing. Then, to his surprise more than anything, he began to hear something. It was muffled, but he was almost sure it was a regular beeping sound. He tried to turn his head, tried to focus on the sound. It was getting louder, louder, and now he could hear some hushed voices, talking very quickly and strangely high pitched. He saw just darkness still, but everything else was starting to become more familiar. He now recognized the voices of the doctors, muttering about how they had been lucky, how someone was a fighter. He then felt something on his rm, suddenly realizing it was a hand, and a voice very close to his ear. He didn't recognize it, but he heard what it said.
"Mister Browning, Alex, you made it. You are one lucky little bastard, you know that? Your heart exploded, and we have you hooked up to an artificial pump for now, but were in the process of getting a transplant. Just rest, Alex, you'll be fine. Damn, but you kids are resilient nowadays."
Alex just laid there. His heart had exploded? How the hell had that happened? He didn't care. He was too tired to, anyway. Darkness found him again. Silence surrounded him. He was drifting. Nothing. In the last fleeting moments of his consciousness, Alex said a silent prayer for the others, hoping that they would stay away until he was recovered again. Then, sleep took him, and he thought nothing again until morning.
He was catching snippets of the doctors conversations now, bits involving "blood gasses falling" and "calling surgery!" sticking like splinters in the part of his mind that controlled fear. He began to panic, a very stupid move indeed, because as he started to breathe faster, and his heartbeat increased, his pain amplified. Just when he thought the pain could get no worse, it stopped, so abruptly in fact that he had no time to enjoy it, because almost immediately after the pain subsided did a tremendous pressure well up in his chest. It felt like a giant was stepping on his ribs, and at the same time, a massive volcano was trying to explode outwards. The pain was so intense that he caught his breath, flailing his arms madly as if to strike the force from off of his body. The pressure increased to a crushing level, and he found it impossible to catch any breath at all, his vision swimming and dancing as his eyes darted from first one unfamiliar face to another. Then, as if a massive balloon had burst in his chest, his entire rib cage bounced upwards, throwing his body vertically from the hard hospital mattress.
The pain had stopped, but something was still wrong. Now, instead of pain or pressure, he felt nothing. Nothing. Still slightly dazed from the pressure that had just been pushing moments ago on his chest, Alex raised his hand up and slid it up to his ribs, right over his heart. Everyone that was in the room froze, as if suddenly entranced by the movement of his hand.There was something warm and sticky there, soaking his hospital gown and coating his fingers. Moving his hand around a bit, he found that the area where his heart should be was slightly spongy, as if the bone had been removed or turned to something softer. Just as he was about to push, one of the nurses grabbed his hand harshly and began feeling feverishly for a pulse, then seemed to get disgusted with the search. All this time, there was a terrible screeching sound to his left, as if there were an overlong test of the emergency broadcasting system going on.
Another doctor came tearing through the already abused room door then, hauling behind him a relatively large and very complicated looking device, all sorts of hoses and dials branching out from alomst every orifice. Another one of the doctors leaned over him, yelling something, but Alex hardly heard him. He was too busy watching the room go slowly dark. Was this death? Was this it? After all this time, would the terrible demon that had hunted him and his friends for so long finally get it's wish? Alex tried to fight the oncoming flood of blackness, the ever-shrinking tunnel that was his vision, but he had no more energy. The doctors and nurses were feverishly doing something outside of his vision, below his neck, but he didn't know what, nor did he seem to care. He was drifting now, swimming through the inky blackness. Everything seemed to be fading away, the world, his memories. He saw images, bare flashes, of his parents, his friends, the faces of all those he had known and lost in his lifetime.
The blackness began to lighten around him, began to glow with an infused type of light. Ahead of him, in the very center of his vision, was a dancing light, twinkling and pulsating like a star. I was growing bigger, closer, warmer. Alex could feel the happiness that radiated from the light, the joy, the family that he had always wanted, his love again in his arms. All that would be his again soon. He smiled, reaching out his arms, trying to grasp the light that was coming towards him. It was coming closer...closer...he was so happy now...no more suffering...no more death...it was over now...Alex laughed, a victorious laugh, one full of triumph, triumph towards the battle he had been fighting for so many years. He had won. Death may have claimed him, but he was going to heaven, he was going home, to where he had always belonged. He reached forward harder, his fingers barely touching the edges of the brilliant force, but then only caught void. He reached again, but the light was further away. It was leaving him. NO! NO! Not after all this time! He would not lose like this! Damn Death! Damn it's cruelty, its malice!
As Alex continued to curse the force that had hunted him for so long, the light grew fainter and fainter until it was just darkness again. He was swimming, floating in a void of nothing, oblivious to everything and aware of nothing. Then, to his surprise more than anything, he began to hear something. It was muffled, but he was almost sure it was a regular beeping sound. He tried to turn his head, tried to focus on the sound. It was getting louder, louder, and now he could hear some hushed voices, talking very quickly and strangely high pitched. He saw just darkness still, but everything else was starting to become more familiar. He now recognized the voices of the doctors, muttering about how they had been lucky, how someone was a fighter. He then felt something on his rm, suddenly realizing it was a hand, and a voice very close to his ear. He didn't recognize it, but he heard what it said.
"Mister Browning, Alex, you made it. You are one lucky little bastard, you know that? Your heart exploded, and we have you hooked up to an artificial pump for now, but were in the process of getting a transplant. Just rest, Alex, you'll be fine. Damn, but you kids are resilient nowadays."
Alex just laid there. His heart had exploded? How the hell had that happened? He didn't care. He was too tired to, anyway. Darkness found him again. Silence surrounded him. He was drifting. Nothing. In the last fleeting moments of his consciousness, Alex said a silent prayer for the others, hoping that they would stay away until he was recovered again. Then, sleep took him, and he thought nothing again until morning.