Mattia

A peeping sound in the distance filled my ears. It was the only sound to be heard other than that of someone snoring. I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt heavy as if they weighed a ton.

My arms did not move at my command and neither did my legs. I started to squirm a little, but the resistance that my body was putting up only made me panic.

"Wh—" My words clung to my tongue, refusing to come out. My breathing hitched up, becoming uneven. I tried to clear my vision, but all I saw was darkness. Voices appeared from all around me, the one overlapping the other. I gulped, but there was nothing to swallow. My mouth, throat, even my lips felt dry.

'The hell is going on?' I asked myself.

This very question jump started my blank mind to once again work. Flashes of the accident swarmed my mind, causing a heavy headache. The voices around me became louder as the peeping sound became faster. It felt like I was moving, but my body was still very much in the same statuesque state.

"Get a doctor in here." A voice roared. It was a voice I had heard before but I could not quite put my finger on who it belonged to.

The headache became more painful with every second, so much so that I could feel the pain in every part of my body. One side of my limbs felt heavier than the other.

My eyes were still trying to adjust to the darkness that surrounded them, hopelessly navigating their way to escape the dark and find the light—  find a clear vision.

"Mr. Mulaney, calm down." I heard an unknown voice near my ear.

My mind seemed to be perfectly fine but it was no longer in control of my body, my body had formed a consciousness of its own.

"Mr. Mulaney, can you hear me?" The same voice asked.

The air around me became thick, too thick to travel through my mouth and nose to provide me with oxygen. My lungs felt empty and the thoughts that occupied my mind slowly disappeared.

Soon enough my upstairs joined my vision in the darkness. My mind seemed to have reached the absolute level of emptiness. It was literally clear, perhaps a little too clear.

My hearing on the other hand was still focused on the sounds around me, unable to process where they were coming from. The only voice that I could understand clearly was the one that was telling me to calm down.

"Doctor, we're losing him."

"Dimitri." A soft voice suddenly called out. It was sweet and calm, yet it was laced with worry and fear. It trembled a bit, as though the person it came from was on the verge of crying.

'Mother?' I called out without a sound.

"He's calming down." The other voice floated into my ears again.

The stinging pain on my left side caused me to cut my breath short, but I was once again breathing. My eyelids slowly opened, making tears that I did not know where hiding, sprung free.

The tears felt hot against my skin. It burned the left side of my face, making a soft groan escape my parting lips.

Bright, blinding lights shined straight into my eyes, making my eyelids flutter up and down. I groaned, because it was the only thing I could do.

"Mr. Mulaney, can you hear me?"

I attempted to move my head, but it only made it spin. It felt like I had a really bad hangover that caused my whole body to be on fire.

My foggy eyes met the face of the person that the voice belonged to, a man I had never seen before. Confused, my eyes moved to the other faces that were all staring down at me.

"Mar—"

I closed my eyes, whimpering out of pain with every breath I took. When my eyes opened again I looked to my left. I saw Tia, crying. A blurry Christoph was standing in the distance behind her and another person was standing by her side. This person's eyes trapped mine in hers. She was worried, beyond that even. I gulped once again, as my eyes trailed her face.

"Nu—"

The others seemingly could not hear nor understand me. She could not hear or understand me either. Her brown cheeks shined from the tears that had glided down. Her long black hair was partly covering her face. I could not look at her. I could not look at anyone.

I squeezed my eyes shut as my mind started to puzzle what had happened. I gasped and attempted to shot up in my bed, but I only managed to lift myself a few inches from it before the pain knocked me back down.

"Easy, easy." Marco helped me adjust my laying position.

My tongue wet my cracked lips. Every movement resulted in pain even the very one that I had no choice in doing— breathing.

"Water." I said under my breath. Luckily, this time Marco managed to make out what I was saying.

A straw was gently pushed between my lips, allowing the liquid to pass through my throat at my command.

I scanned Marco's face, he looked rough but judging by the amount of pain I was in I could tell that the look in his eyes was just a reflection of the look in mine. My pain caused him to look rough, it caused all of them to look rough.

"Mr. Mulaney, my name is doctor Henry Gardner. I am going to do a quick check up to see if all is well." The man in the long coat stated.

He checked the tubes and then looked at my eyes with a tiny flash light before he inspected my left arm. That was when I noticed the large wound that was partly dried. My skin was completely peeled off around the area, putting the pink-ish color of my flesh on display.

Then he inspected the left side of my face before he walked around the bed to be on my right side. My eyebrows pinned together as I noticed the cast around my arm. I attempted to slightly lift my head, but was held back from moving too much by the brace. I later noticed that my right leg was in a cast as well.

I rested my head back and exhaled the long breath I had taken in. All I remembered was the truck coming fast at me from a side street and next thing I knew I was broken, quite literally.

After getting the liquid to get rid of the dryness in my mouth and throat I was able to speak more understandingly, though it was still softer than usual.

"How long—"

"Almost two weeks, one week and four days to be exact. That's how long you've been here with us." said the doctor.

"—the others?"

"Marissa's at work, Anthony is accompanying her. Emilio is taking care of some business."

"Hhmm." I gulped. "Gia?"

Marco's eyes faltered down and his jaw flexed. "She's— at the restaurant."

I could tell that he was lying. I knew Marco too well to be able to tell when he was lying. The sudden pause during his speaking, the way his face changed to a more serious expression and the way his eyes quit our eye contact before he spoke. I was broken, but I was still functioning.

"Don't talk to much, rest. You need it. I'll call the others."

I responded with a nod.

Not long after Marco had called Marissa, she came walking into the room with Anthony. All eyes were on me, showing their sympathy, sadness and their tiredness even though they did not mean to do so.

I hated it. My body was enough of a reminder that I was helpless, I did not need them to remind me as well by looking at me like that.

They all stayed for hours, the doctor did too. I did not let any time pass before I went on to questioning him about my injuries and when I could leave the place. Well, actually I mumbled the key words and he formed the sentences himself.

"Your wounds are heeling, but you will have to continue with the antibiotics. You can't engage in activities that will demand a lot of movement, because you're still heeling from the operation. Usually we ask patients with your kind of injuries to stay a while longer, but since it has been mentioned that you will be able to get the needed care in your own home we'll keep you for observation for twenty-four more hours. You will be discharged tomorrow at six in the afternoon." The doctor explained.

Around eight at night Marco decided to head back home with Tia and Nuelle. Tia almost wanted to stay another night, but I could not bear to ask that of the old lady. She had been through so many sleepless nights already. She kept asking me if I needed something, always ready to do anything that would guarantee me comfort.

Her motherly instincts were working overtime. Nuelle on the other hand was quiet. She sat in a chair, watching me with her sad eyes. I could understand why everyone else was so effected by my accident, but her sadness surprised me.

We barely spoke and the times that we did I was mostly rude to her. Yet, she came to spend some nights at the hospital to keep me company, even though I was unconscious. Tia had proudly told me all about how everyone was there for me, how everyone was waiting for me regain my consciousness.

Marissa and Anthony were suppose to stay the night, but around ten o'clock Gia came running through the doors. She quite literally threw herself at me, tears falling from her eyes. She only backed away when she heard me groan out of pain. Marissa did not seem too pleased with Gia's presence, but they had been frenemies since Gia and I began dating which is why I did not question her behavior.

In the middle of the night when all of them were asleep, I was awake. I blamed my sleepless night on the fact that I had gotten a whole week of shut-eye. But in reality, I was scared. As my memories of the car crash haunted me, I was scared that if I were to close my eyes again I would not wake up anymore.

Laying awake, my mind got swarmed with questions about how drastic my life was going to change and how much the changes in my life would change that of my loved ones.