Hello everyone! I've been "harrassed" to publish another chapter of this story, so here we go! I wrote this one in a particular POV I've learned at school (when I was on my first year in high school, I've win a high school contest with this POV by the way :D). I hope it will be understandable although it's short :)

Thank you all for the reviews you let me. It warmed my heart to see that this story is pleasing you!

It's time to read this chapter now! And thank you again ;-)


Chapter 19: Pain

An unbearable pain. That was what Matt had felt when he began to be aware of his surroundings. This sharp pain in his chest that he never thought to experience again, this gene he feared but couldn't fight. He was powerless. He was frustrated because he couldn't move, his own body wouldn't obey. Everything he wanted to do wasn't working. This disconfort, he had already experienced it before. He didn't know when, he didn't remember, but he was sure about this. He remebered this thick fog that was blocking his vision, he remembered this pain that wasn't going away, but no way to remember when. He was hearing everything, he was feeling everything, but he coudn't do anything. His body had become a prison from which he couldn't escape. Focussing a little more, he could feel that something was blocking his left arm. It looked like a head, but as he couldn't see anything, Matt couldn't know. After a few interminable seconds, he was sure to feel a head resting on his arm: he was hearing a kind of snoring, and he knew them. It was Kelly. Internally, Casey laughed despite the pain. As it wasn't going away, he told himself that it was normal, otherwise someone would wave been worried sooner. Well, that was what Matt thought. It was the most sense thing that could happen. Deep down, he wasn't even worried, not at all. Wanting to further explore the world around him, he ventured through this opaque cloud that reigned around him. As he was walking, he heard more noise, more sounds becoming increasingly strong. Something was ringing regularly. This uproar was giving him a headache to the point that he fel dizzy and he thought he would faint. He decided to move back cautiously until the migraine disappeared. He concentrated on these new sounds, trying to understand what they were. After several seconds of concentration and reflection, he managed to guess what it was: it was the beating of his own heart. Weak, regular but above all here. He was alive then. Somehow, he knew it, but he didn't want to face the reality. And then he remembered that Kelly was sleepin on him, snoring. Yes, he was alive. He heard another sound, farther than the snoring of Kelly, farther even than this intermittent rattling. Matt heard like a creaking door. The snoring stopped, this weight on his left arm disappeared, he heard someone coughing slightly.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't want to wake you".

A woman just talked. It was a voice he'd already heard somewhere. Matt was sure.

"It's nothing Emily. It's six in the morning, I used to wake up at this hour".

Kelly just answered. 6AM then. In his last memory, it was daylight and it was also the morning. Maybe ten. He suddenly jumped: someone was removing the top of the clothe he was wearing, and he felt as if someone was tiring his skin, pulling it in all directions.

"The incision seems to heal slowly and properly. The drains aren't clogged and are still in place".

Drains? In his memories, Matt didn't have drains anymore. The doctor had removed them when he began to breathe on his own without any big problems. Once again, he concentrated on what might have happened. Flashes entered his head. His argument with Kelly, the pain lacerating his chest, the nurse trying to explain that the repairs to his heart broke... He had another heart surgery, explaining the pain. Something small, round and cold came into one of his ear and bipped several seconds later. From what he was feeling, it looked like a thermometer.

"His body temperature is stable".

"Still too high then..."

By the sound of his voice, Matt could tell that Kelly was worried. Really worried. But Matt wasn't.

"It's pretty normal to develop a slight fever after what his body went through. He needs time to recover".

The nurse's voice was soft, reassuring. But knowing Kelly by heart, it wouldn't appease him at all.

"But it's been four days Emily. Four days he had this... This surgery. His fever should have fallen, even a little, right?"

He was right: Kelly was very worried.

"We'll do a new complete blood workup again. If he develops any infection, we'll know. But for now, nothing proves that there is an infection. His body is dealing with this new foreign body now within it. As I told you, it takes time".

"How much time? Days, weeks? Months?"

A heavy silence fell. And Matt felt increasingly bad: it had been four days that his body was resting, trying to get used to this foreign body he didn't know, in vain for the time being.

"Generally, patients aren't put in an induced coma. We wake them up a few hours after the surgery. But Matt had a surgery that nobody had tempted before, and as far as we can tell, it's working. He has no arrythmia for about five hours, his fever is stable, his blood circulation works properly, his body is functionning normally. Everything is okay Kelly".

"Then why you don't wake him up? Why you don't reduce sedation?"

"Dr. Kinsley already passed earlier while you were sleeping. He gave his consent to start reducing sedation. It was lowered to about a quarter".

That was why he could hear and feel everything around him. They reduced sedation and he was waking up. Kelly didn't seem to dare to answer. After all, he was sleeping when all this happened.

"Why I haven't been informed sooner?"

"Dr. Kinsley wanted to let your sleep. You barely closed your eyes these past four days, you needed rest as much as possible. Matt will need you in top form when he wakes up".

Matt could heat a sigh from Kelly. It meant that he knew he was wrong and he was going to apologize.

"I'm sorry Emily. I'm just... I'm just worry, that's all".

"I get it, I understand you behavior. I think I would react the same way as you. Maybe even worse!"

The nurse that was taking take and curing him laughed softly. It was a very light but communicative laugh. He knew that Kelly had a smile on his face.

"You... Do you think, uh... Do you think that Matt can hear us?"

Casey could feel the nurse continue providing her care while answering as calmly as possible.

"There is a high possibility, indeed. Many studies state and prove that patients can hear and feel what's going on around them when they are in a coma, even induced".

"T-then... He can hear us?"

"I think so, but it may be that the body doesn't assimilate its environment. Patients generally say that they fekt everything, heard everything, but didn't really know where they were in space".

He knew where he was: he was in a hospital bed, in ICU, it was six in the morning and it was four days he had been placed in a coma. Today's date was therefore Tuesday, April 29th, 2014. Twenty days passed then after his car accident and he still couldn't remember anything. He knew that he was lying in bed, his legs still plastered from thighs to toes, his pelvis was still placed in a special splint, his right arm was still casted, and he had still this tube into his throat and he wasn't breathing on his own. But he didn't care. At least he was alive.

"If... If I talk to him right now, then he... He will hear me".

"You can try? When he wakes up, you can ask him if he remembers?"

Although he didn't see him, he could tell that Kelly nodded. He knew him so much that even in this fog, he could know what he was doing or going to do. He felt a twinge on his arm, probably Emily taking his blood for her blood workup, and he also felt that Kelly took his hand and squeezed it very slightly. His hand was warm, slightly trembling. He heard him take a deep breath and exhale.

"When you wake up, I promise that... That I'll buy you a dog. Or a cat, as you want. So that it keeps you company and helps you to turn the corner".

It made Matt smile. He wouldn't forget this for anything. Because he knew perfectly that Kelly said this because he thought he wouldn't hear. He didn't really believe that people in a coma could really hear everything and feel everything. He was going to have a big surprise when he awoke.