ANOM: Awakening (The ANOM Series Book 1) by Jason R. James Read Free Book Online Page B

was the dull hum of
hushed conversation, and everyone in the waiting area looked like they were
moving again at normal speed. Jeremy heard his name. It was just a whisper this
time from his dad. He turned back to look, to see what his dad wanted, but then
Jeremy ran out of time.
    In
an instant, it was all gone. His dad, the medic in gray, the patients sitting
in their chairs, the whole emergency room—everything was gone, lost in
brilliant, blinding light. There was no sound.
    Jeremy
felt himself jerked back into the air, and for a moment, he was falling. He
landed heavy on his back, and his head slammed against the floor. Then the
blinding light from before went suddenly black, and Jeremy’s ears buzzed with a
high-pitched ringing. And he couldn’t breathe.
    *****
    Jeremy
sat straight up in the bed, gasping for air. He gulped in a deep breath, but it
wasn’t enough. He took another, and then another. The whole room felt like it
was spinning under him. Jeremy reached for the heavy plastic railing on the
side of the bed. He closed his eyes, took another deep breath, and then the
vertigo passed.
    He
opened his eyes and looked around the room. The floor, the counter on the
opposite wall, the curtains over the window, and even the painting next to the
door all existed in various shades of beige. Then he noticed the plastic tubing
laced under his nose, and Jeremy knew exactly where he was. He looked over at
his left hand, still holding onto the bed railing, and his suspicions were
confirmed. He saw a pair of white hospital bracelets around his wrist, and
farther up his arm, a thin IV needle stuck under his skin, taped down in place.
Jeremy looked over to his right. On his right hand a gray plastic clip covered
his index finger, and a single gray wire snaked from the clip to an electronic
monitor. Jeremy reached down and pulled the clip free from his hand. The
electronic monitor sounded an alarm.
    “Hey,
take it easy, kid.” The dull voice behind him took Jeremy by surprise. He
didn’t know anyone else was in the room with him, let alone standing that close
to his bed, but now Jeremy could see the nurse over his shoulder. He wore mint
green scrubs and had a thick black goatee. His thinning hair was slicked straight
back over his head.
    Jeremy
tried to focus. “What are you—what am I doing here?”
    The
nurse looked around at the door to the room, then he turned back to Jeremy.
“Open your mouth, kid.”
    Jeremy
did as he was told. The nurse reached up with a long cotton swab, sticking the
end in Jeremy’s mouth and rubbing the cotton up and down the inside of his
cheek. Then the nurse put the swab inside a long plastic tube and sealed it
with a cap.
    Jeremy
rolled his tongue over where the swab had been, trying to get rid of the taste
of cotton; he tried the nurse again. “Can you tell me why I’m here?”
    The
nurse looked over his shoulder again, toward the door, and then back at Jeremy.
“You tell me, kid. Rumor is you got hit by a bus. That true?”
    It
sounded familiar. Jeremy remembered the bus bearing down on him, but at the
same time it wasn’t right. He didn’t actually get hit by the bus, did he?
Something else must have happened. The bus stopped. Jeremy shook his head. He
was dizzy again.
    “All
right, kid,” the nurse opened the door. “Your doctor’ll be here in a minute.”
    Jeremy
fell back on the bed. He closed his eyes, and for a second he thought he would
go back to sleep, but then the door opened again and a new nurse walked into
the room. Like the man before, she wore a set of green scrubs. Jeremy propped
himself up on his elbow and faced the door.
    The
new nurse stopped. “Oh, so you’re awake.”
    Jeremy
didn’t bother with an answer, and the nurse didn’t wait for one. She stepped
over to the bed, picked up the phone, and pressed the call button for the
nurse’s station.
     “This
is Maria. Can you page Dr. Patel for me? Tell him room 324 is awake. Thanks,”
the nurse spoke as she