Page 47 of After Effect

Chapter 12

Lilly Cisneros

Where the fuck am I? Why can’t I move?

A crust held my eyes shut, and no amount of willpower seemed to be able to open them. That willpower didn’t seem to be able to move my arm to rub my eyes either.

Numb.

I was stuck in place. I couldn’t feel anything.

Is this death?

Finchy. Where’s Finchy?!

No.

He must still be alive, because if he had died too, there’s no way he wouldn’t be here with me. I know it.

So it was just me who died. He’s not here yet.

That’s okay. I can wait for him.

The crawling build-up of a cough climbed my esophagus.

My eyes shot open and my body convulsed as it choked out stale air. The searing white light of a hospital room bombarded my pupils. I squeezed my eyelids together, until my eyelashes obscured enough of the brightness to allow myself a more comfortable transition into consciousness. The gentle hum of a heart monitor just barely reached my ears.

I let my head fall slightly to the side. Another bed. A man breathing steadily in a comfortable sleep.

Finch.

We’re alive. Both of us. I smiled despite myself.

I let my vision shift back to myself. My right fingers twitched. My left did, too. Not broken. Not paralyzed.

What about my legs? My vision drifted further downward. One leg rested on the hospital bed. The other…

No no no! I jerked my ankle from its restraints, propped up above my head. A white cast formed a hard shell around my leg from the shin down, and excruciating pain shot through my entire body as that cast hit the bed.

“Fuck!” I screamed amidst the loud, increasing frequency of my heart monitor beeps. “I need a doctor!”

I hadn’t even finished saying the words when a nurse came running into the room. He immediately helped my ankle back into suspension and checked my morphine drip.

“What happened?! How long was I out?” There was no reason to be shouting, but my voice kept coming out that way.

“You were brought in a couple hours ago.” The man assured me. “It was a terrible accident. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“What about him?” I motioned toward Finchy’s bed. The nurse snickered silently. Heat filled my face. I’m sure that was an awkward car accident to come up on…

“He’ll be fine. He’s just resting. He was in and out of consciousness when he got here and went into a bit of a frenzy every time he came to, so we had to sedate him. We can wake him up any time.”

“G-good.” I paused to stare at his peacefully resting face for a few extended moments. The nurse didn’t seem to know who I was. I guess that’s not that shocking. And it’s for the best, really. I’m not that famous...

Right! Famous! I still have a show to go to! I didn’t miss it!

I glanced at my broken foot, then at Finch, then back to my foot again.

Inconvenient.

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