Chapter 43 - He Sees Trees
EPOV continues...
The constant beep wakes him.
He stirs. It's slow. Everything hurts. He hasn't felt pain like this since winter biting at his limbs, burning, but this is different. No cold. This is heat, blood pebbling over raw skin. He feels aches and burns like rocks were the grater and him the cheese. Well, it was like that. He tumbled and slid on hard rocks.
He can't remember much yet. He's too consumed with pain. Hands trembling as he pulls on the oxygen at his nose. He's alone. He cracks his eyes open, and he can't ever remember being in a hospital bed. Not ever. Not even when he was young.
His heart makes the beep accelerate. Where is he? How did he get here?
He swings his legs over the edge of the bed, and like sparks, memories come.
He jumped out. He jumped before they charged past the border patrol. Something like that. Something terrible. He can't remember much. But he does remember opening the door, jumping out of a moving vehicle, and tumbling down the hill by the road's shoulder.
Everything, all his things are gone. He jumped with just the clothes on his back and regret. So much anger at himself … and regret.
He pulls all the cords off, the line, the heart rate monitor, pinching his finger, the sheets. He pulls off the scratchy blue gown, finds his clothes, and leaves the room.
He looks this way, then that way down a long hospital hallway. The coast is clear. He doesn't know the protocol, but this is not his. He must get out. The woods call him even though he's days away, having left behind a comfortable tent and all.
He knows he must seem casual, normal, but a man so wrecked, how could he pretend? He leans against a wall to breathe. Fluorescents blind him this time. He's gotten far. The exit sign is just ahead. He must get there.
"Hey!" Someone shouts. A groggy, drugged voice from a room. A guy is pointing right at Edward from his bed; the door opened across the way.
What are the chances he stops to rest at this very spot?
"You piece of shit. I'll kill you!" The guy shouts. He jerks his arm, and to Edward's luck, his wrist is bound by cuffs.
Edward's eyes open fully … no droopy lids this time. He has to run. Get away. Never come back.
The cop appears down the hall, and he's walking this way.
Edward's spine goes cold. He must not get caught. He must not be asked questions. His fingerprints cannot be taken. He is invisible. He is a nobody. He is fine as a nobody. Things must remain sacred.
"I'll find and kill you, you thief. Thief! Thief!" he shouts now so the cop can hear.
Edward gathers strength and walks past that room and out the 'EXIT,' the sign pointing the way. That man still yelling behind him.
Fresh air hits him, and he breathes, but not leisurely. He breathes to save his life.
He runs, panting large gulps of air. He sees trees, and he runs like he never has towards them.
…