The Lost Heir

Scaredy cat

Air forced it’s way down into my lungs, and with a wheeze, I gorged my eyes out as I tried to get hold of my breathing. I could feel my heart beating fast, and like a man rescued from a burning house, all my airwaves conjoined in inhalation. Where I’m I? White light penetrated my pupils when I tried to open my eyes, making me close them immediately. My body was laid on whatfelt like a bed, and as I struggled to understand my environment, a memory from a past unknown came rushing into my mind. It was a man, holding a woman by the hand as they ran in the woods happily. I knew neither of them but what was strange is how familiar they all felt. I could feel their emotions. Then, while trying to lock the vision, see clearly who they were, I felt my throat tickle.

With each passing second, I felt the irritation get worse and out the blue, I let out a dry cough, ejecting nothing but air and small droplets of saliva. At that moment, my chest pressed against my abdomen, squeezing my lungs deep inside my chest cavity. I can’t breathe! Warmth then graced my right shoulder. It was a hand, a large hand.

“You’re okay!” said a voice that I wasn’t able to decipher due to the endless coughing.

“Whe…whe…re..” I stammered while trying to ask about my whereabouts.

“Shhhh! You are safe here. Just rest.” Added the voice. I could tell it was a man’s voice but I didn’t know who’s it was. Curiosity wanted to open my eyes wide open. I had to know where I was, and as paranoia built up within my consciousness, the man beside me pushed my body back, laying me on the bed underneath. Coughing had started to cease, and I while I tried to sort the turmoil in my thoughts, I started remembering about the time I blacked out. A voice had told me that I will be okay. Could it be the same person? Could it be the man with the scar?

On the bed, I felt my body getting weaker. My heart, now beating slower and steadier sunk inside, until I couldn’t feel it anymore. My eyelids were heavy but my ears still remained active. In the background, I heard people talking. At first, I thought it was a hospital but listening further, I realized the echoes were too low for a hospital. It must be a room. And without any energy left in me, I napped.

It was already dark by the time I opened my eyes. I tried to open my mouth but the cracks on my lips couldn’t let me. scanning the room, my grandfather sat beside me, right on the chair beside the bed. The wrinkles on his face looked deeper, and his eyes were sunken. Despair rode his face and it was as if he wasn’t sure of what would happen next.

“Mmhh!” I groaned in pain while trying to change my position. My grandfather, heard my outcry and rose from his seat like a lightening, speeding to my position, while looking at me with tears welling his eyes. At this point, I could see how much he cared for my well-being. I then saw Zuri who was on the other side of the room, busy with something I didn’t see clearly.

Despite my weakness, I managed to sit up, with the help of my grandfather who held my back, preventing me from using too much energy.

“How long was I out?” I asked, after summoning all the saliva in my mouth, to wet my dry lips.

“Just two….few hours,” answerd my grandfather, with a faint voice that was inadible at some point.

“What? Two hours?”

“Is there something you can give him to make him look better, he doesn’t look too good.” Assented my grandfather, while looking at Zuri on the other corner of the room.

“Yes, there’s something that will help him,” said Zuri while opening a small cabinet on the wall, just above his head. What I saw next was a big needle that he used to draw clear liquid from a small bottle.

“My throat hurts,” I murmured, “my body too. What’s wrong with me?”

“Shhh! We are all hear for you,” consoled my grandfather as he tried rubbing my back.

The syringe on Zuri’s hand was scary. With his white lab coat covering his upper part of the body, I felt as if I had been on my death bed, and that it was a miracle I still woke up, or maybe I simply hated needles.

“What’s that?” I asked without hesitation while sitting upright, looking Zuri in the eyes, full of more questions than the answers I was getting from the two men in the room. 3

“Just something to give you a little bit of energy.” He answered as he reached for the valve on the IV tube. As he squeezed the medication, I started feeling some relief. First on my chest that had been cramped all along, then slowly to my legs and back. I could feel blood circulating all over my body. I felt life find it’s way to me and ass soon as he was done administering the medication, I licked my lips once more, took three deep breathes and asked the same question I had asked since the time I opened my eyes. “How long?”

“It’s just two days, and some hours.” Answered Zuri, who was now leaving my side, going back to his corner.

Shock swept my feet and I couldn’t come to terms with the fact that I was unconscious for two days and a few hours. Did I die? What’s wrong with me? as I tried to comprehend the information I had just been given, I started recalling about how Zuri used to say I stand a chance to die if the transition goes worse. This must be how it looks like when things go sideways.

“I’m I dying?” I murmured while looking at the drip on my hand.

“No you are not!” exclaimed my grandfather who heard my silent cries. “You just need more water. Zuri says you fainted because you aren’t drinking enough water and with the headaches you have been experiencing, caused all this. You are fine now.”

That was a lie. Zuri lied to my grandfather about the real issue behind my passing out. It wasn’t water. My transition had already started and from the look of things, I didn’t look like I will survive it all. Then, I thought back to the man of my dreams, the man with the scar, and the man who walked around with a woman.

“Water? Don’t I drink a lot of water?” I questioned my grandfather’s theory while puzzle defined my facial expression. “That doesn’t make sense. What’s wrong with me!” I shouted while looking at Zuri.

“Don’t stress yourself with all that. The point is you are now doing fine. Just lie down and rest up a little kiddo. No one is dying today, or tomorrow, or anytime soon. Just catch your breath first.” Added my grandfather while trying to push me onto the bed.

“No! I cannot sleep,” I whisper yelled while fixating my gaze on Zuri whose attention had been drawn to m once more. “Why do I keep seeing people I don’t know? Who are they?”

Silence defined the room while my grandfather and Zuri looked at each other with puzzled faces. No one knew what to say next and in that moment of silence and confusion, I took out my hand drip and before anyone could stop me, I arose from the bed and stood on the floor. Adrenaline was being pumped in liters and all I my mind was telling me to do was get away from everyone. I’m going to die. f**k! I’m going to die!

All the weakness in me had drained and while I stood by the bedside, my mind was being corrupted by flashes of trees, leaves and a waterfall that felt like it was at the heart of a dense forest. Not knowing where that was, or what was happening to me, every bone and muscle in me wanted me to leave that room, and without thinking twice about it, I sped off, leaving my grandfather and Zuri wondering what is happening.

“Stop him!” I heard my grandfather shout from the background. His security detail had started to follow me, attempting to get hold of me but I was too swift and faster than them. With great skill, I maneuvered past them and got lost in the forest behind where we lived.