Taylor slowly began to wake up in a hospital bed. His arm had multiple needles and tubes stabbed inside his flesh, which was still thin and weak. His body was barely larger than his skeleton, resembling a corpse much closer than a living body.
Taylor slowly turned to see Trevon, sitting asleep in a chair while holding his hand. Taylor softly smiled and weakly turned his head to look forward.
The hospital room was dark, and the windows were pitch black with barely any light coming through from the city.
Taylor very slowly and weakly shifted around, sitting up in the hospital bed. As his hand moved around, Trevon slowly began to wake up, looking over at Taylor shifting and jumped up.
“Taylor?” Trevon asked.
“Hey.” Taylor replied weakly.
Trevon took a few steps away to turn on a single lamp, illuminating the room just enough so they could see each other. Trevon’s eyes were red and dry after hours of crying, tear trails crusted onto his cheeks.
“You look like shit.” Taylor joked, which made Trevon chuckle.
“You should see yourself.” Trevon replied as he rubbed his eyes with one hand and clutched Taylor’s hand in his other.
The two were in loving silence for a few seconds, just looking at each other with warm smiles.
“I need food.” Taylor said softly.
“Are you sure?” Trevon asked.
Taylor weakly nodded.
“What do you want?” Trevon asked.
“Literally anything.” Taylor replied as he weakly laughed again.
Trevon kissed Taylor’s frail hand before he made his way over to the door. Taylor watched as the door opened, Trevon stepped through, then disappeared as the door shut.
Taylor looked up at the dark ceiling, the light from the lamp fading before it reached the limits of the space. Taylor was breathing very slowly and weakly as he looked over at the machines next to him. He was hooked up to everything they could’ve possibly attached him to. His heart rate beeping quietly, his blood pressure constantly being measured, every vital sign his body could make was being recorded.
Taylor looked down at the blanket covering his body.
He weakly moved his arm down and struggled to even lift the thin blanket enough to move it. Taylor sighed and kept pushing, but the blanket barely budged. Taylor groaned and rested his head back against the pillow.
He had never felt so weak in his entire life.
But now he was beginning to understand what his Mom had been going through.
“Well, the only options were from some vending machines, and I don’t have much money on me, but I got everything I could.” Trevon spilled a large pile of bagged chips, candy bars, and mixed nuts. Taylor smiled and wanted to reach out to grab them, but his arms were trapped under the blanket.
“Can you help me?” Taylor asked.
Trevon smiled and climbed up to sit next to Taylor on the bed. Trevon opened the mixed nuts first, feeding them to Taylor as he laughed.
“I’ll always be here to take care of you if you need.” Trevon said.
Taylor smiled as the two locked eyes.
“Thank you Trevon.” Taylor whispered.
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Taylor had eaten all of the food Trevon had gotten for him. His body was mostly back to its normal size and proportions, but not exactly the same as before.
“I just want to go home man.” Taylor said.
Trevon was still sitting with him after hours and hours.
“I just want to know what the fuck is going on with you. How the hell is your body doing that?” Trevon asked.
“I told you, I don’t know. My body…”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZIBglBtFh
Taylor stopped as he remembered the strange things that happened.
His race against Darius when his legs snapped.
His legs suddenly healed within a few hours.
The fight with Maurice that broke his hand.
Suddenly racing to the opposite side of his living room in a split second.
His hands moving at a blur to clean the pan.
And then the scene with the police, everything seemingly frozen in time.
“I think…” Taylor started, but then the hospital room door opened.
“Well Taylor, good to see you again.”
The doctor that had helped Taylor with his legs walked in, reading over the notes.
“Dr. Asunder, it’s good to see you again.” Taylor joked as he sat up, his body able to move the blanket around as if his strength had all returned.
“Well, good is relative. How are you feeling?” Dr. Asunder asked.
“I feel fine now. Guess I was just dealing with starvation.” Taylor said as he swallowed hard.
“Well, I’m happy to hear that. I wasn’t able to see you when you first came in. The hospital is getting pretty full and the hours are just…” Dr. Asunder was beginning to rant but caught himself.
“Nevermind that. Is there anything that we need to discuss?” Dr. Asunder asked, pulling up a chair with wheels on the bottom before sitting down, still reading over the notes.
“Not that I can think of.” Taylor responded.
Taylor could tell Trevon wanted to speak, but Taylor squeezed his hand.
“Alright, well I’ll just run some tests and then you can be on your way.” Dr. Asunder said with a smile as he stood back up.
He began to walk towards the door as Taylor and Trevon looked at each other.
“So, guess I’ll be back at school soon.” Taylor said.
“You shouldn’t even go to school man. Take a break. Get some rest.” Trevon said.
“If I don't go to school, then I can’t do track. You guys need me.” Taylor joked.
Trevon softly chuckled.
“I think we’ll be fine without you. They still have me.” Trevon said.
Taylor playfully laughed.
“Oh please, you’re fast but you aren’t that fast.” Taylor replied.
“I’ll work on it. But you should spend time with your Mom. I know she needs you.” Trevon said.
Taylor swallowed hard and looked forward, thinking about what his Mom had told him just the previous night.
“Yeah…I think she would like that.” Taylor said, trying his best to fake sincerity.
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Taylor opened the front door of his apartment.
His Mom was sitting on the couch, staring forward with music playing softly from the record player. She was staring into the small television screen that was turned off, almost like she was lost in a trance within the reflective void.
“How was your day Mom?” Taylor asked as he made his way over to see what record was playing.
Lullabies of Birdland by Ella Fitzgerald. Angel Eyes was coming to an end until Taylor turned the volume knob, making the song fade out slowly before turning it off all the way.
Only once the music was completely silent did his Mom seem to be broken free from her trance, moving and shifting on the couch.
“What sweetie?” She asked, turning to look towards him.
“Just asking how your day was.” Taylor replied as he looked over the record.
“It was good…” She said with a smile.
Taylor kept looking over the record.
“You’ve always said that Dad had the eyes of an angel…” Taylor started.
“Yes, and that’s why I like that song.” His Mom quickly replied.
Taylor turned to look back at her.
“What was Dad like?” Taylor asked.
She kept staring with her blank white eyes and warm, loving smile.
“I’ve told you…he was a Universe. When I looked into his eyes…I saw everything I needed to see.” She replied.
“But you also said he came falling out of the sky.” Taylor replied.
“Everything I’ve ever told you about your Father is true.” She said.
Taylor rolled his eyes, not believing her as he slid the record into the sleeve.
“So where is he?” Taylor asked.
“I only know he is back home. I don’t know much more than that.” She replied.
“But you don’t know where his home is?” Taylor asked.
“His home is a place that I can’t travel to. It's a place where he doesn’t want to be found.” She said.
Taylor shook his head slightly upset and annoyed.
“I think he wasn’t as good as you say he was.” Taylor mumbled to himself.
“He was more than good…he was…” His Mom chimed in.
“An angel, like you always say.” Taylor dryly replied.
“Why are you asking about him? You never ask about him.” She asked curiously as she shifted over, giving Taylor room to sit down if he wanted.
Taylor sighed as he slowly made his way over.
“There was a…I’m not really sure what to call it…before school.” Taylor said.
“What happened?” His Mom asked.
“Police stopped by. Things were getting crazy…”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkgWhAOlhW
Taylor reached his hands into his pockets before stopping. He felt his fingers press against something. He quickly pulled it out to look at it.
The flattened circle of a bullet.
“Is everyone okay?” Taylor’s Mom asked.
Taylor didn’t respond. He was staring at the bullet as he pressed it with his fingers. It was too strong to bend or change shape, even when he pressed as hard as he could.
“Taylor?” His Mom asked, snapping him back to the conversation.
“Oh. Yes. Everyone is okay. Mentally probably not, but nobody got hurt.” Taylor replied, putting the circle back in his pocket.
“How are you feeling?” She asked.
Taylor looked at her, unsure of how to respond.
“Angry…Afraid…Nervous…” Taylor replied, every word beginning to make him more emotional.
He didn’t realize until he talked about how scared he really was. He didn’t realize the gravity of the situation. He didn’t know how close he was to death.
He didn’t know any of those things until right now.
“Come sit with me.” His Mom slowly lifted her arm up.
Taylor felt the tears run down his eyes and quickly made his way over, sitting next to his Mom before immediately putting his head on her shoulder. He began to ball quietly, the emotions all flooding out.
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