Lost

LOST AND FOUND

 

Charoum had always been a serious, quiet girl, ever since she was young. As she got older, the various antics of her peers did nothing to change her. Refusing to lower herself to their level, she instead made every effort possible to act as mature as possible. Compliments from teachers, and her mother’s pride encouraged her behavior as well.

She dressed to reflect her personality. Her dark hair was kept up in a bun, and she dressed in fairly conservative closed to match the clean appearance she kept up. She didn’t speak unless it was absolutely necessary.

Of course, this behavior had its drawbacks. For example, her peers didn’t appreciate her ‘sucking up’ to the teachers all the time. I’m sure you know what I mean. As a result, she didn’t have any friends. Not that she wanted to be friends with them anyway. (or so she told herself.)
During school one day, it started raining. This wasn’t unusual, but it did pose a problem – it was incredibly cold, and they were worried that it would cause the roads to ice over. Deciding to take the safe route, the school officials ended school early, to give the students a chance to get home before it got dangerous.
Charoum headed outside, and stood among the crowd of students waiting for their parents. It was raining heavily at this point, and the kids got drenched in the short distance it took them to get to their parents cars.
After a few minutes of waiting, she saw her mom’s car pull up. She quickly ran to it and hopped in, closing the door the second she was all the way in.

“How was your day?” Her mother asked as she drove out of the school zone.

“It went well.” Charoum responded, leaning back in her seat.

Her mother smiled to herself and concentrated on the road. Up ahead, there was an intersection. It was hard to cross normally, but that much harder during the heavy rain.
After waiting patiently, it was their turn to go. They made it about halfway there.
--
Charoum woke up with a jolt, on a stretcher. She could feel herself being rushed to the hospital, but more than that, she felt pain in her right arm. It was particularly painful in her shoulder; the rest of her arm felt numb.

She tried to look around, to comprehend what was going on, but her blurred vision prevented her from seeing much.
Her vision cleared slightly, and she noticed that she had arrived in the hospital. She was quickly rushed to a room. Only when an oxygen mask was strapped to her face did she notice how badly she had been breathing.

A few minutes later, she passed out again.
--
This time she woke up a bit more slowly. The first thing she felt was a burning, itching sensation in her right arm. Reaching over to scratch it, she jolted all the way awake when she didn’t feel her arm there. Confused, she looked at her right arm, only to find that it was no longer there. Despite this, the burning sensation continued.

Panicking, confused, and in pain, she writhed slightly on the bed, trying to get rid of the sensation. Then, hearing footsteps approach, she quickly composed herself.
A man, whom she assumed was the doctor, walked in. He smiled at her.

“How do you feel?” He asked, while checking her.

“Fine…”

He nodded. “Have you felt any pain where your arm was?”

She relaxed at the question and nodded. It must be normal, then…

He nodded again. “I’ll get you some medication, we’ll see if that helps.”

Finishing his inspection, he walked out of the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

It was about then she started to wonder what had happened. She was faintly aware that it must have been a car accident. Upon that realization, she started worrying about her mother. This, along with the continuing pain in her non-existent arm, her frustration started growing.

Just as she thought she might just snap, the doctor returned, followed by another man. The doctor handed her a small bottle of pills.

“Take these when you feel pain, but don’t take anymore than four in a day.” Charoum nodded silently and took the bottle from him. After checking her over again, he left her with the other man.

“My name is Mr. Louie…and your name is Charoum, yes?” He said, looking through a notebook he carried.

“Yes…”

“I’m your caseworker; I’m going to help you find someone to watch you until we can find a relative to adopt you.”

“…excuse me?”

He suddenly got a panicked expression, and covered his mouth with his hand.
“He didn’t..?” He looked around, as if seeking escape. Upon finding none, he took a deep breath.

“Charoum…your mother died in the accident.”

“…what?” This isn’t happening.

The man nodded silently while she tried to comprehend what he had just told her.

“No…you’re lying.” This isn’t real.

“I’m sorry, Charoum…” The man said softly.

Her throat burned as she tried to hold back the tears stinging at her eyes. It can’t be.

She only nodded numbly as he explained what was going to happen. She barely remembered when he finished and left.
Even as she lie there, staring at the ceiling, wishing it would all end, for it all to be a dream, she could feel, in the pit in the bottom of her stomach that it was real.
After what Charoum estimated to be about an hour, a nurse poked her head in and turned off the lights.

With a resigned sigh, she closed her eyes, eventually settling into sleep. 

Reviews

[Jester]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Poor Charoum D=
It totally sucks to lose your arm and still have pains from it.

[*Kantola*]

HOW AWFUL! POOR CHAROUM! *hugs imaginary Charoum*
this is marvelously written so far! Oh wait, let me get rid of the is!
This (magically) marvelously written so far!
=D
I AM EAGER TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CHAROUM!