Page 28 of From the Ashes

“I’m going to remove my hand, okay?” Ted said, his fingers flexing against my skin. “Don’t pull your arms up, alright?”

I nodded and his hand slowly came away from my skin. Even with my eyes closed, I could tell the room was a lot darker now. Still, there were a few bright pinpricks of light on either side of me. But I didn’t care. I needed to see Phoenix. To ask him what the hell was going on. I knew I could trust him no matter what. So, with a concentrated effort, I forced my eyes open at last.

The first thing I saw was those bright green eyes and that messy auburn hair. I squinted, trying to focus on Nix. He looked careworn and there were tears streaming down his face. But I didn’t understand why.

“N-Nix?” I asked, my voice raspy.

He was suddenly at my side, lifting a styrofoam cup to my mouth. Cool water splashed over my tongue and ran down my chin, but I drank it greedily. He pulled it away before I could take the entire glass, but just the few drops I got had an immediate effect. It was like the first rain in the desert as it ran down my throat. All at once my vocal cords seemed to have life again, and it felt good to swallow for what felt like the first time in ages.

“Charlie…” he muttered, his hand going to the side of my face. “You’re okay. You’rereallyokay…”

I reached up and touched his hand. “I’m f-fine,” I managed to get out. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He looked up at me, a pained expression on his face that confused me. My gaze darted to the side, and I noticed the hand touching his face,myhand had tubes coming out of the back of it. Not only that, but the flesh was pale and…deflated. I pulled it away from his face, turning it over as I tried to figure out what had happened to my hands.

That’s when I finally noticed that the sheets weren’t mine and the bed was a strange shape. I glanced up, taking in the drop tile ceiling and the large fluorescent lights that were thankfully off. There were whiteboards with notes on the walls, charts, medical supplies, and all sorts of odd things I didn’t know the name of. Turning to the side I saw I was surrounded by machines. It wasn’t until that moment that I finally realized that I was hooked up to all of them.

My heart began to pound once more. The calming effect Phoenix had on me disappeared in an instant.

“W-Where…”

“You’re in the hospital in Portland,” Nix said, his voice shaky. “But you’re okay now.”

I glanced up at Ted, his words coming back to me. “F-Four… months?”

He winced but nodded. My heart rate sped up even further and my chest tightened. It was suddenly hard to breathe.

I turned back to Nix. “W-Why?”

“You don’t remember what happened?” he asked, his thumb gliding over my cheek. “The car crash?”

It was as if someone had shot me. I yelped as several memories came flooding back all at once. I remembered the car going sideways, the flipping through the air, the pain as we struck the ground once more. I saw my mother’s pained and horrified expression as she held her arm against my chest, trying to protect me from being injured. There was a flash of hope as the car neared the edge of the road and seemed like it would stop. Then a flood of horror as I realized we would go over the side.

“Mom…” I said, looking up at Phoenix. “Where’s Mom?”

He stared at me wide-eyed, tears slipping down his cheeks. “I… she…”

For some reason, he couldn’t speak. So I looked up at Ted. “Where is she?”

He bit his lip and his wife, standing at his side, lifted her hand to her mouth to stifle a sob. Why weren’t they telling me where she was? I didn’t understand.

“Nix,” I said, grabbing his hand. “Where’s Mom?”

I don’t know how long he was silent. But when he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

“She… She…” He swallowed hard. “She didn’t… make it.”

The words didn’t compute. What was he trying to say?

Nix saw my brows furrow and took another deep breath. “You were the only survivor.”

The world seemed to stop spinning around me as his meaning finally sunk in.

My mother was… dead. Dead. Dead. The word repeated over and over in my mind as my heart went into overdrive. The machine next to me started blaring and a red light flashed behind me. I was shaking so hard that I could barely tear my hand away from Nix. My chest tightened and even though I knew the room was full of air, I felt like I couldn’t get a single breath into my lungs.

“Go… away…” I shuddered, not wanting anyone to see me like this.

“Charlie! It’s okay,” Nix said, holding me tight. “I’m right here. We’ll get through this together!”