Critical

Something went bump in the night...

Where am I?

The man tried to look around but yelled out in agony and rested his head back on a pillow. He stared up at the white paneled ceiling and noticed three things. One. There was a moth, blending in and looking down at him. Two. He could only see through his right eye. Three. He must be in a hospital.

Why am I here?

"Ah, now, that is the question of the hour, Nicky-boy."

The man strained to look up again but pain surged to his head. He caught a glimpse of Eddy sitting in the corner of the room, with his white cane between his legs. He tried to speak, saying, “Whaa. Hem. I-“

"Oh, save your breath," Eddy interrupted. "You aren’t doing yourself any favors by mumbling out some bloody gibberish…Also, you should probably let your neck heal."

But you CAN hear my thought, right?

"Yes."

S**t. I’ve got to be careful about what I think.

"I heard that too."

Figured. What am I doing here? How long have I been here? I can’t rememb-

"Whoa, easy there, buddy. I can only answer so many things at once. You are here, because, well, you got fucked up. If you could see yourself, you might just…well, what good is modern medicine if it can’t patch up a few cuts, right? You’ve been here for nine days, son. That girlfriend of yours came in to see you the first day and then vanished when the cops started looking for her. Something about her knife being a murder weapon and such. You probably don’t remember too well because you’ve been out for awhile, but it’ll come back in time, I bet."

I think I remember a bit. There was a girl, you said?

"Two. One of them was your girlfriend. The other…well, she was only here for a couple of days and they did everything they could but…from the sounds of it, she got cut up reeaally bad. Gwen, was it? Poor girl. Not really a thinker, but I did have some nice conversations with her. Who knows, maybe she would’ve gotten her life figured out and done something, but now…damn shame."

Gwen. I remember her. And the other one. Gone?

"Gone with the wind. Think she might’ve been framed or something. She loved you. I could tell. Even if I wasn’t tuned in."

I loved her. Loved. Love. In love.

"Aww, now even your thoughts are gibberish. You should probably rest. I’ll be around here. I’ve got nothing better to do."

Rest. White. I should. Moth. Nothing better. Rest.

"That’s the spirit, Nicky. I’ll talk to you when you are ready."

…

"You still with me, boy?"

The moth flew down and landed on Nick’s chest. Both were still. The moth flew and circled around the room, before flying out the open window, into the night.

"Nicky?"