I’m not sure how long I had been unconsciousness. What I did know, was that my head hurt like hell. I opened my eyes, only to immediately shut them again, because the sunlight seemed sharp as a knife.
My left temple seemed to hurt the most, so what did I do? Touch it of course. Not a good idea. Not only did it feel like my skull was split right open there, it was also sticky. When I slightly opened my eyes to look at my finger, I saw there was blood on it.
Okay, confession time. Nick and blood do not make a great combo. For as long as I can remember, the sight of blood makes me nauseous and dizzy.
Once, when I was younger, say six or something, three nurses had to hold me so the fourth could tab some blood from my vein for some routine exam. I fought and struggled to keep them away from me. Not that it worked of course. It probably would’ve been easier to just get the whole thing over with, but did I see it like that? Of course not.
I wish I could tell you I now act like an adult when it comes to giving or seeing blood.
Well, I don’t. I still get dizzy seeing it. The difference between then and now, is that I don’t scream and yell if a nurse sticks a needle in my arm. I close my eyes and try to think of something else.
That doesn’t work by the way. You don’t believe me? Well, try not to think about a pink kitten wearing orange boots and a blue hat for the next couple of minutes while I continue this story.
I closed my eyes again for a few seconds and sighed a couple of times so the nausea would go down. It was almost gone when I remembered what happened before I got hurt in the first place.
Fear immediately came back at full force, causing me to shoot up straight.
Again, bad idea. Not only did it hurt like hell to do so, but I couldn’t stop myself from throwing up at that point. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be much in my stomach and most of what was, didn’t land on myself. I wiped my mouth and cursed because I didn’t bring any water with me, AGAIN.
I looked around me as fast as the dizziness would let me, but of course there was nothing to be seen. Obviously I was happy there was not a crazy axe killer behind me, but more questions, or should I say puzzles, would arise soon.
Slowly and with my eyes closed I got up and the first thing I noticed when I opened them, was that I was no longer in the spot I had been trying to get out of so desperately.
In front of me, there was a small creek. That certainly hadn’t been there before, just like the grass I was standing on. Told you there’d be more questions and indeed there were.
For example, how the hell did I do this, being unconsciousness and all? Or did someone else drag, carry, fly or zap me over to this area? (Hey, my mind was open for anything at that point!) If so, why? And where was this person? If not, then how did I get here?
By the way, how did the not thinking about the pink kitten go? You can’t do it, can you? It’s the same with me and trying not to think of blood.
But let me get back to the story.
Here I was, bleeding, hurt, without water and most of all, lost.
I felt a panic attack coming on when I finally remembered I had my phone with me. As I took it out of my pocket, it started to ring, causing me to drop it and scream like a girl. Again, not a good idea while your head hurts.
For once, I got lucky though, since the phone landed on the grass instead of in the water. Slowly, I reached for it and looked at the display, seeing it was Kevin. I took a deep sigh trying to calm myself and answered.
“Hello?” I said with a shaky voice.
“Nick? Is that you? Are you okay?!” Kevin responded, sounding both relieved and nervous.
“Yeah, it’s me.” I tried to steady my voice. “Kinda. I hurt my head a little.”
As I spoke, I reached for the wound and softly cursed as it hurt when I touched it.
Seriously, I wasn’t the poster boy for being smart in the woods when hurt and lost.
I heard muffled voices in the back and heard Kevin tell them it was me on the other end.
“You’re on speaker now, kid. Sorry, what did you say?” he asked.
“I’m okay, Kev. I just hurt my head a bit. Look, I’m sorry I’m late for our first work day, but I didn’t do it on purpose. I mean, I got lost and-”
“Where are you?” Kevin demanded as he cut me off.
“In the forest, I think.” I shrugged. “Kev, I think I’ve been unconsciousness. And, uhm, well.. and.. I..” I hesitated.
“What is it, Nick? And what?”
“I don’t remember how I got here.” I sighed.
“…”
“Kev? Hello?” I actually started to panick a little when he didn’t respond. “Kev? You there?”
“… don’t think I should tell him right now.” I heard Kevin whisper to whoever was with him.
“Kevin?” I repeated.
“Yeah Nick, sorry. Can you describe to me where you are?”
“Tell me what, Kev?” I asked, feeling a bit uneasy.
“Nothing important. Now, can you please look around you and tell me what you see?”
“Uhm, apart from trees and more trees, you mean?”
I got a bit agitated that he didn’t really answer my question, but decided I wanted to get out of there, so I slowly looked around trying to find anything that stood out.
“There’s a small creek right in front of me. Other than that, just a lot of trees and there doesn’t seem to be a path or anything.”
I closed my eyes for nothing more than a second, hoping the pounding would stop.
“Okay. Listen, here’s mister Gable, he knows the forest and its surroundings like the back of his hand. He’ll ask you some questions.”
“Okay.” I responded, unsure I’d be any help.
I mean, I didn’t even know how I got there in the first place.
Thankfully mister Gable really knows his way around the forest, cause it took him no more than a few minutes to figure out where I most likely was. He told me they’d probably find me within the hour and to stay put. I nodded as if he could see that and felt somewhat relieved.
But that changed when Kevin came back on the phone, still sounding very concerned.
“Nick, please stay put, okay? Don’t even move a muscle ‘til we get there.”
“I’ll try.” I shrugged. “Could you maybe bring me some water? I’m kinda thirsty.”
I continued as I slowly sat down.
“Of course. Be careful, Nick. We’re on our way.” He said as he got in the car.
I knew cause I heard him slam the door.
“We’d better hang up now, kid. I don’t know about yours, but my battery isn’t fully charged. Call me if you need to, okay?”
“Wait.” I rushed out, desperate to stay connected to him, in fact, to anyone. I didn’t want to be all alone again, even though my friends were coming to find me.
“What is it?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I hesitated. “Uhm.. what aren’t you telling me? I mean, I heard you earlier you know.”
“I’ll tell you later, Nick. We’ll be there soon.” He sounded anxious.
“You’re scaring me, Kevin. Just spit it out.” I grew more and more nervous as I waited for his response, which seemed to take him forever. He was definitely trying to avoid the question.
This time he didn’t sound too sure as he spoke. “It’s nothing, really.”
“If it’s nothing, then tell me.” I pressed.
The pounding in my head increased even more as I rubbed my forehead while waiting for an answer. I could hear him letting out a deep sigh before he responded.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Please, just tell me. I’m about to go crazy right now. I can’t wait til you get here! You know me, I can think of a thousand things worse than the truth!” I urged. “How bad can it be?”
It took him a moment to respond. “Okay, but promise me you’ll try not to freak out.”
That obviously didn’t help, but I tried to sound calm as I told him I’d do my best.
“Listen Nick, you didn’t exactly miss our first day of work.’ He slowly said.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s a good thing, right?” I responded.
Kevin sighed before he answered that question.
“Not really kiddo. You’ve been missing for 2 days.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey everyone, I'm back :)
Life's been busy, but I tried to get back to writing and so here's a new chapter!
I hope you readers will give this story (another) shot.
I can't promise I'll update weekly though.
I hope you enjoy. Please review!
