Darkness
1096 Words
It was awfully dark.
Darkness was all that was around me.
It wasn’t the kind of darkness you’d see when you closed your eyes or the comforting one.
It was the kind that wraps itself around you like a thick blanket after a nightmare.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t speak.
I wasn’t even sure I was alive.
Then I heard a noise. A faint beeping sound.
It was slow and controlled, like a clock ticking but softer.
“Mia, please wake up.”
It was Sarah.
Her voice cracked. Like she’d been crying.
Something warm touched my hand, it was hers.
I wanted to respond, to tell her I was okay, but I couldn’t.
I was trapped.
She was holding my hands, squeezing them like the pressure could bring me back.
“I’m so sorry.”
She whispered, her voice wavering.
“You weren’t picking up. I didn’t know what happened. When they called me I…”
Her words broke into sobs and my heart ached.
“Please Mia, open your eyes. You’re scaring me.”
There was a pause and then another voice entered the room.
It was Neo.
“Has the doctor been in?”
He didn’t even ask about me.
“H-he said she’s stable.”
Sarah sniffled.
“They said she might wake up. Eventually. I don’t know.”
An uncomfortable moment of silence wafted through the air, before Sarah broke it.
“She could’ve died.” Sarah snapped suddenly.
“Doesn’t that bother you at all?”
“She didn’t.”
He answered coldly. His voice was devoid of emotion.
The way he said it, like it was a line from a news report and not a person.
“She’s not just some employee, Neo,” Sarah said, her voice rising.
“She’s my best friend.”
There was another long pause. My heart monitor beeped steadily in the background.
“I’ll cover her medical bills. Just make sure she gets whatever she needs.”
I heard a chair scrape back, followed by footsteps.
“You’re not even going to stay?”
Sarah asked, her voice cracking on the last word.
“There’s nothing I can do here,” Neo replied.
The door clicked shut a second later.
A knock on the door broke the silence that lingered after Neo left.
“Miss?”
A calm male voice asked gently.
“I’m Doctor Warren. Mind if I come in?”
I felt Sarah let go of my hands and stand quickly.
“Y-Yeah of course.”
I heard footsteps approaching the bed and then the voice continued.
“She’s stable for now,” he began, his tone calm and steady.
“The good news is her vitals are normal, and the internal bleeding has stopped.”
Sarah let out a shaky breath. “Thank God.”
“However,” the doctor continued. “She suffered a traumatic head injury, a serious one.”
There was a pause.
“What does that mean?” Sarah asked, her voice wavering.
“She’s in a medically induced coma to reduce brain swelling. But with injuries like this, there’s no clear timeline. It could be weeks or months. And in rare cases…”
The doctor paused.
“There’s a chance that she might not wake up at all.”
“No.” Sarah gasped.
“No, that’s not possible. She has to wake up, she has to.”
“I know this is difficult.” The doctor’s voice was soft now, full of compassion. I wondered if was real.
“Do you have contact with her family?”
Sarah cleared her throat.
“Her mother lives in another town. She’s on her way, but it’ll take time.”
“Alright, we’ll keep monitoring her closely. Don’t hesitate to call if you notice any changes. Try to get some rest.”
The doctor retreated to the door and left the room.
Then it was just Sarah, me and the steady beep of the machines.
“I don’t know if you can even hear me.”
She whispered, pulling her chair closer.
“But I’m going to pretend that you can. Because I need you, Mia. I really need you right now.”
I wanted to reach out to her. To tell her I was here. But I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t speak.
“I found the dress.”
Her voice shook with a bittersweet laugh.
“You were supposed to come with me, remember? You said you’d be the one crying over the lace while I just pointed and picked.”
She sniffled.
“I know this was rushed. You were always against it. Truth is I never even wanted to marry him in the first place, but gosh, our parents are so persistent.”
Her hand tightened around mine.
“And he was kind to me, Mia. Sweet even. He listened, never rushed anything and even though our marriage was arranged, he’s been… warm.”
She paused, her breathing hitched.
“Until recently.”
“I don’t know what changed. He’s been cold and distant, like he’s somewhere else every time I talk to him. And I thought maybe it was stress from work or wedding nerves…”
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“But what if it’s something else?”
She leaned forward, laying her head on my arm.
“I don’t know what to do.” She exhaled.
I wanted to scream, to warn her, to tell my best friend everything. But all I could do was lay there, trapped in the darkness.
“I’m pregnant Mia.”
She whispered ever so quietly, as if she was afraid for even the walls to hear.
“You’re going to be an auntie.”
“I found out two weeks ago. I haven’t told him yet. I don’t know how to.”
“I don’t even know if……”
She paused, sobs echoing through the room.
“You’re the only one I could tell, the only one I could trust.”
Her tears soaked my sleeve. My chest ached with every word she choked out between sobs.
“I need you, please wake up.”
Sarah frantically shook me, whisper-yelling for me to wake up before she finally settled down.
The machines kept beeping, the room awfully silent.
Until the sound of the door opening echoed through the room.
The clink of the door was followed by heavy footsteps that I recognized to be Neo’s.
He was back, and he didn’t say much, he didn’t need to.
“We need to talk.”
- Writer
