Carly: thanks for the review. Since you're the only one who came up with a name, majority rules. I've already picked the name Claire. I know it's probably not a Latin name, but the main character's name will be Dr. Claire Corinthos.

Ch. 2

The first time I saw Claire, I thought she was an angel. It's kinda embarrassing to admit that me, Maurice Boscorelli could entertain such a cheesy thought. Faith would have definitely laughed at me. But you gotta cut me some slack, my head wasn't exactly right at the time and the trauma probably shook loose a few sentimental nerve fibers. Still, it was a nice feeling to find yourself staring into a pair of beautiful hazelnut eyes when you just woke up from the longest nightmare of your life. The sunlight lit up her dark brown hair from the back, framing her perfect oval face.

For a moment, we just stared at each other and time stood still. Soon enough, I was sucked back into the real world. Lucky for me in a way, I found out that I wasn't dead when a tall blonde man in a white lab coat barged in through the door and started yelling.

"What the hell is going on here? I just got paged about multiple traumas down at the ER from a car pile-up. This had better be an emergency!"

The woman turned hastily. "Dr. Mercer, Mr. Bos…the patient just woke up from his coma, and I thought…"

The man cut her short: "Well, good for him. Dr. Corinthos, I don't know what they taught you in med school, but an alert patient is good news, not an emergency. Give him a proper check-up, order some tests and present to me later, I don't have time to baby sit you now." In a second he was out of the door.

To her credit, the young woman quickly recovered from the thunderstorm. She fixed her eyes on me and smiled: "I'm sorry for that, sir. You shouldn't have to wake up to a yelling match. My name is Dr. Claire Corinthos. You were in a coma. What's your name? Do you remember what happened to you?"

I tried to speak but my mouth was dry. She leaned closer to be able to hear me better. When I spoke my voice was so coarse that I hard recognized it myself. Later on I imagined that my opening line to the most beautiful woman I've ever seen could have been a lot more elegant, but at that moment all I said was: "what's up that guy's ass?"

She seemed surprised, but couldn't suppress a slight chuckle. I noticed that she had dimples. "That's Dr. Mercer. Don't mind him. He's been pretty overworked lately, and babysitting interns isn't his favorite past time. What about you? You haven't answered my questions yet. How do you feel?"

"Like I've been shot." I whispered weakly. "the name's Boscorelli."

"Mr. Boscorelli, what do you remember about your injuries?"

I tried to focus, and my head began to pulse slightly. Flashes of scenes kept going through my mind and everything started to rewind…Faith, Ma, Mikey…Gunshots started ringing in my ears and glass, pieces if flying glass everywhere…Oh God. Soon my palms were sweaty and my breath became labored.

"Sir, take it easy, it's okay." She sounded concerned. "You should rest and we can talk again later."

"No, my mother, my partner, are they alright? I have to know, now. Please tell me, please." The air in the room felt thinner every second and I couldn't catch my breath.

She held my hand and brought a mask over my nose. "Relax, I'm sure they are fine. I've seen them come to visit you. This oxygen mask will help you breath easier. You can rest for now, and when you wake up again, I'll make sure someone's here by your side."

Her voice was soothing and melodious, and I believed her. Before I slipped back into my dreams, I mumbled a weak "thank you". I hoped she heard me.

Please R& R. I'm finding it hard to write everything in first person narration. I'm constantly trapped in the thoughts of two people. Does anyone mind if I switch to 3rd person perspective to get things going faster?