The Hero's Lover

My head felt like a prisoner was trapped inside and hit the walls to get out. I had trouble breathing as if felt like something strange was in my throat. My arm ached as I lifted it up to my head. Bandages touched bandages. Something wet was coming out of my eyes. Were they tears? When I opened my eyes, I saw a pure white wall in front of me. To my right, I saw a ton of machines and a little tub coming out of my arm. To my left, there was an armchair with a man whose face looked like he was a hundred years old. His head laid facing mine while using his arms as a pillow. Slowly, my arm moved and touched his hand. His head rustled a moment.

With a fright, he jumped up and peered into my eyes and shouted, "Doctor! Doctor, come in here now!"

A nurse calmly walked in. "Sir, I have told you several times that I do not need to know... Oh, Doctor! You're needed in ICU Room 423! The girl..." She ran into the hall.

I looked at the man who had my dad's voice. He looked like he had aged from the youthful-looking guy that I knew into an older man. "Hana," he whispered like he couldn't believe it. His hand lifted to touch my face while shaking. "Hana. Hana. Hana. Thank God, Hana."

The doctor walked in and explained something about something, but the only thing that I remember him doing is taking the tube out of my throat. Finally, I could talk again.

"Dad," I started, "Where is...?" His eyes started to tear up as he shook his head.

"Gone. I was running late for graduation to surprise you, and your mother went ahead of me to save a spot, but..." His voice choked up.

"Mom is... What about Ajax? Where they able to save him?" Bile started to pool in the back of my throat as I saw him lean back into his seat. His hands threaded through his hair.

"Hana, no one." He looked me in the eye. "No one except the people backstage, the ones who left early, and you survived the bombing." Tears flowed down his face. "I'm sorry, Hana. Everyone's gone."

I leaned my head to the side as tears flowed down my face faster than I could count. "How long have I been like this?"

"Two months."

"Two months, huh? How long until I leave here?" I turned and looked at the doctor who was awkwardly standing near the door.

"That depends on you, Miss Lixue. Your skin suffered multiple burns, which have been healing nicely now. Your father has been massaging your limbs to minimize muscle loss, so after you complete the required therapy, you should be out of here in five or six months from now." He started to explain everything that was going to happen since I woke up from the coma, but I stopped listening shortly after that and fell asleep.

I saw it. I saw it happen all over again. I heard the boom, the screams, and the crying. I heard a man say, "I found one alive over here!" I felt the agony burn as he touched me. I felt the tears roll down my face. Something touched me. I shot awake and looked at a man in a light blue uniform standing by my side.

"Miss Hana, there's no need to be started. It's the morning after you woke up last night." The nurse smiled with a grin like Ajax's. "I'm Jack. I'll be helping you out with your physical therapy while you're staying at this fine establishment. After breakfast and changing your bandages, we begin your stress test to see how much therapy you need."

I nodded my head. He went outside the room as he called in a female nurse to help me change into a cleaner gown and bandages. A small bowl of oatmeal that looked more like soup arrived. Mechanically, I spooned it into my mouth. After finishing what little bit of what was left in my bowl, Jack came back in with a huge grin on his face.

"Alright, we're going to take this nice and easy. Since we didn't have to feed you or help you along, we're going to see how much more you can do." He pulled the blankets off of my legs. His chilling fingers touched my feet. "Hana, can you wiggle your toes like you did when you were a little girl?"

I complied and nodded.

"Good. Now, can you wiggle your feet? That's nice. Now your legs can you lift them as high as you possibly can and hold it there?"

My legs lifted a foot into the air, but after thirty seconds my legs began to tingle and slowly drop. Thirty more seconds passed and my legs were less than half a foot off of the bed. Another ten seconds went by, and my legs touched the bed.

"Not bad, Miss Hana. You're in a lot better shape than most people after a coma." He said while nodding and smiling. "Now, the fun stuff: standing and walking."

My legs swung over the side of the bed. Jack handed me a glass of water. "Take a sip. You'll feel a little better." After taking a drink, I leaned over and set the glass of water on the side table. "Good, your arms support more weight than I thought, and you have better control now than when you ate breakfast."

I felt pitiful.

Day after day. Night after night. It was the same routine of waking up, breakfast, therapy, nap, lunch, therapy, dinner, seeing my dad, and then sleep. Three months passed by as I slowly regained my strength. While I wasn't making quick progress, it wasn't slow either. That is until my hospital window was hit by lighting in broad daylight that set me a month behind.