Nothing.
Floating.
Falling.
Bright lights. Pain. Need to get away from the pain.
Suffocating. Too much. Need to get away. Someone yelling, too much. Too cold. Freezing.
Silence.
Everything stopped.
Gasp of air, breathe. Panic, can't breathe. Try again, breathe. Can't move, need to get away. Restrained, panic. Can't move, can't run away.
Nothing.
Calm.
Beeping.
Dull pain.
Warm. Too warm, too hot.
Beeping getting faster. Pain getting worse.
Someone talking, too fast to understand.
Cool touch, calm. Let out a slow breath, fall back.
Nothing.
Someone talking, too quiet to hear. Familiar.
Nothing.
Talking, a few people. Too far away to hear. Deep breath, let it out. Still hurts. Still heavy.
Nothing.
Wake up.
Talking. Closer. Hear familiar voices.
Wake up.
Nothing.
Wake up.
A hand, grabbing tightly. Try to hold. Move, squeeze. A gasp.
Wake up.
Excited gasp, rapid speech. Let out a slow breath.
Wake up!
Nothing.
Wake up!
Someone talking. Talking to him. Still can't make it out.
Wake up!
Nothing.
Wake up!
It's quiet, peaceful. Warm. Deep breath. No pain. Relax, let it out slowly.
Wake up!
Foggy. Move through the haze. Someone's calling a name. Whose name?
Wake up, S-
Familiar voice, heavy accent. Another voice, quieter.
Please, wake up Si-
A different name, someone said his name. Old name. Si-
Get up.
Try to move, still heavy. Try again, still heavy.
Get up!
Someone talking...about him. Which him, though? Old him? New him?
Get up, Gho-
Old name? New name? Why can't he remember? He needed to-
Wake up.
Remember a name. Any name. So he could-
Wake up! Sim-
Get up, Gho-
Too much to remember. Something on the edge, awareness. Reach for it, try to remember.
Simo-
Ghost!
Was that...his name? Familiar...deep breath.
Get up, Ghost!
It was bright, his eyes watered. Too much, let him sleep a bit longer. Someone was groaning. Someone spoke to him, hushing. Was that him? He was tired, sleep was nice.
He could hear someone speaking. Urgent tone. Said his name.
He needed to get up. He needed to move something, anything.
The light was dim, but blurry. He couldn't tell where he was. Someone was sitting next to him. Familiar. His friend…? He closed his eyes, too exhausted.
Get up.
A phone ringing quietly. He heard someone talking. Walking away, a door opening...closing. He tried to open his eyes again. Everything was lit with a soft glow. Almost like sunset. Something was brushing against his eyes, he needed to move it. The effort to move his right arm was exhaustive. He felt hair, moving it out of his eyes. A slight tug on his arm had him follow a few lines to a machine. Where was he? The door opened, someone walking in. But he didn't see who it was before the exhaustion pulled him back down.
He opened his eyes again, the room dark. He could make out someone's face light up from the glow of a cell phone, leg bouncing as they read. He tried to talk, but nothing came out other than a light exhale. The other person looked up, shock going across familiar features before getting up to approach him. He tried to speak again, but he was so tired. He went back to sleep as the person said his name. His new name.
The next time he woke up, the room was lit by a small lamp next to him. The blinds were closed, sealing out the light from outside. He moved his arm, feeling the tug again. Eyes traced from the tug, around his wrist, to a machine, complicated information scrolling lazily by with a small stool sitting behind it. He blinked, turning to his left to see a chair with a jacket draped across it. There was a small black journal, bound with a small red elastic sitting on the seat. Before he could figure out more about where he was, the door to his right opened slowly, someone walking in speaking in quiet tones.
"-ischarge Sanderson possibly by next week. Right. No, sir. Still no change on Gh-Riley." He watched the figure close the door quietly behind him, turning and staring at the ground. The figure sighed, shaking his head slowly before talking again. "Right, no, we haven't been able to gather any useful intelligence yet. He hasn't been cooperative, but Sergeant Laurence and I will fig-" He stopped midsentence, blinking slowly for a moment. "Sir, I'll have to call you back." He moved slowly, putting the phone in his pocket. "Hey, Ghost. You awake?"
His new name. Ghost. He tried to speak, voice barely squeaking out. He tried again, the figure holding up a hand to stop him.
"Give me a second, let me get you something to drink." The figure left quickly, the room falling silent.
He stared at the ceiling, trying to remember. His name was Ghost. The other person, he was familiar. He knew him. Worked with him. He was family. Right? His name...his name was…
The door opened again, the same person as before walking in with a small paper cup in hand. He pulled the small stool from it's spot, putting the cup on top of the machine and helping him sit up. He sat down, offering the cup.
"It's ice chips, easier to get water that way than spilling it everywhere." He tried to reach for it, his hand shaking visibly as it extended. The familiar person made a small noise of understanding before helping. What was his name?
"Take your time, Ghost. You don't have to rush." He was so...gentle. But that wasn't what was normal with him, right? A patchy memory of gruffly spoken words and a punch to the shoulder. He raised a shaky hand up, the shaking ironically helping him get an ice chip. He sucked on it for a moment, looking up and staring at the person in the stool, who was staring back at him. "You ok?"
"Y-yeah...uh…" He stared down at the cup, trying to remember the other person's name.
"John." The other person spoke up. "You couldn't remember my name, right? It's John. You go by Ghost." Ghost gave a small nod of thanks. Grateful that...John...could help him remember that, at least. "You're gonna be confused for a while there, which is fine. We're here to help, alright?" Ghost gave another nod. He watched John give him a smile before he stood up, walking to the chair with the jacket and picking up the journal, pocketing it and pulling out a small piece of paper. He crumpled it up, pointing with one arm into the corner, Ghost now noticing there was someone else in the room, sitting in the corner slumped over and asleep. John gave him a smile before throwing the paper ball, hitting the sleeping person on the head. They jolted awake, grumbling as he picked up the offending item.
"Funny. At least I got some sleep, unlike others." The man on the floor got up slowly, looking startled when he saw Ghost sitting up. "So you're finally alert." Ghost frowned, staring for a moment. This person was familiar as well, but his name escaped him, like with John.
"Doc mentioned he would have a bit of a memory problem at first. Give him some time." John sank into the chair with a sigh. "That's Marcus." Ghost nodded again. The names did feel familiar, but still slightly wrong.
"No callsigns?" Marcus asked. John shook his head.
"Let him get some of it sorted out first, at least.." John turned to Ghost. "How are you feeling?" Ghost looked down at the cup in his hand, thinking for a moment.
"Where...where are we?" His voice sounded awful with disuse, barely understanding what he was saying himself.
"A hospital in Texas. You were seriously injured, they had to put you in an induced coma for...a while." John paused for a moment. "Right now your body is healed, you just lost some muscle mass and weight we can get back with PT." Ghost nodded slowly, fleeting flashes of pain skirting the edges of his thoughts.
"Are you finally going to sleep?" Marcus asked. "You've been up a few days straight." John shook his head.
"No, Shepherd is going to be calling soon, I hung up on him a few minutes ago." John tilted his head back with another sigh, staring at the ceiling. Ghost felt something...angry...when he heard the name 'Shepherd', but he wasn't sure why.
"Why does…" He paused to clear his throat. "Why does that name-"
"He's our boss. You don't like him." Marcus replied simply. "Yeah I saw that anger for a second. Honest, no one really cares much for him, we just do his shit." John let out a short laugh.
"That's an understatement. Ghost hates him." Ghost frowned, moving slowly to try and suck on another ice chip.
"Can't remember why...wish I could…" He flinched when his voice cracked.
"You haven't been able to talk for a while, your voice is going to be weak. Take your time with the whole talking thing." Marcus stood up to stretch, looking towards the door. "Hey weren't you supposed to get the nurse?" John waved a hand.
"She's making her rounds soon, it's fine."
"I wouldn't want to get her mad."
"Then you go get her, twat."
"Bastard."
"Lazy git."
"What's all this? Y'all need to stop with th-" A blonde woman walked in, stopping midword when she saw Ghost sitting up. With a huff she approached John, smacking him on the arm with the clipboard she had. "You were supposed to get me when he woke up!" John let out a long suffering sigh.
"He's only been up fifteen minutes, let him have some peace." The woman grumbled angrily before turning to Ghost with a wide smile, her blue eyes sparkling with joy as she looked him over.
"It's good to see you alert, hun, how are you feeling?" She busied herself with reading the machines and scribbling notes.
"Uh...fine…? Confused…" His voice broke again.
"That's to be expected for a day or so after waking up from a coma. Your brain's basically rebooting right now, memories and whatnot will be scattered." She spoke quickly, pulling out a stethoscope. "Do me a quick favor, huh, and lean forward a bit so I can hear your lungs." Ghost complied, jumping slightly as cool metal touched his back. He noted that she stuck to the left side of his back before she leaned away, turning to John. "Doesn't sound too bad in there, remember we were talking about any left over fluids in there. Still a little shallow for our liking, but we can get him looked over by the doctor later and make sure it's all good."
"Cindy." Ghost mumbled out absentmindedly. The nurse looked at him expectantly, John and Marcus both looking at him sharply.
"Yes?" The nurse asked with a tilt of her head.
"S-sorry...your name...Cindy, right?" Ghost rubbed his head as he cleared his throat. "You helped...last time I was here."
"You bloody git." Marcus swore. "You remember the nurse's name but not ours?"
"Well sure am hun." Cindy ignored Marcus, smiling widely. "Nice to see you remember. It's been a few years." Ghost blinked for a moment, recalling the last time he was at this hospital. Why he got there last time was still out of reach, but he could remember her helping him.
"Yeah...you were...really nice…" Ghost mumbled, avoiding everyone's stares.
"He remembers the bloody nurse but not John. And he's being shy. Are you sure this is Ghost?" Marcus grumbled out, half joking. "Because I've never seen Ghost shy." Ghost frowned for a moment before raising one hand to shakily flip Marcus off. John laughed loudly, giving a thumbs up.
"Sorry…" Ghost looked to John, who waved him off.
"Nothing to apologize for."
"Should I let the others know? I know they keep asking." Cindy asked as she finished writing something down.
"I'll let them know. They don't need to swarm in here." John frowned. "Give him a chance to catch up first." Cindy gave a hum of understanding. "Plus, I think Ghost has had enough of the waking world right now." Ghost frowned, looking at John. "You look tired and you've just woke up. You need more rest."
"He's right. Go ahead and rest, hun. I'll be back to check on you in a little while." Cindy made one more note before heading out, waving as she closed the door behind her. Ghost stared at his cup, which was now half full of water, going to take a small sip.
"I'm headed out to the hotel, get some sleep on an actual bed. John, don't stay too late." Marcus gave a pointed look to John, stretching as he did.
"I won't. Going to talk to the others in a bit." John leaned his head back again. He glanced to Ghost, eyes narrowing. "You need to sleep. You just woke up, but you're still exhausted." Ghost frowned. He could feel himself falling into a lull, eyes slightly stinging with trying to stay awake. He nodded once, taking another drink from his cup. John reached for it, taking and throwing it away once empty. Ghost leaned back into the pillows, sighing. He closed his eyes, hearing John get up, pausing to grab the jacket on the back of the chair. "I left my cell number on the table next to you, if you need call." Ghost gave a slow nod as he fell asleep, hearing the door closing quietly.
what a nice cliffhanger last chapter, huh?
Like I could kill off Ghost
IW does that for us ;v;