Vacant Memories

Black. Was all he saw. Ringing. Was all he heard. Jacob felt weightless. He was flying through the air backwards around 50mph. It happened so fast. It was a beautiful summer day in June. He was just reading the instructions booklet from the new Doom game for his Xbox while his girlfriend drove. She had lost control of the car when she tried to light her cigarette.  

He hit the ground and quickly tried to stand up, but his ankle gave a loud crack and he fell. Laying there he saw his two 12” Rockford Fosgate subwoofers land within arm’s reach. Dazed and confused. He looked over to his right and saw the SUV completing its last roll. Is she alright? He thought. 

After climbing out of the back of the smashed SUV, she comes over to him. With people pulling over and rushing to help she whispers in his ear, “Please tell the cops you were driving.” Moments later Jacobs adrenaline subsides and he starts suffering from shock. Looking up into the sky he didn’t know if this was the end. All the bystanders are around him at this point. Their heads leaned in forming a circle as he looked up. It blocked the sun from his face. Blood. He felt blood pooling in his right eye. His body started to shake violently. Is this it? Is this really how I am going to go? He was terrified.  

The ambulance came and lifted him up. Not knowing or paying attention, they let his broken ankle repeatedly hit the side of the vehicle causing more pain. I am going to die. Jacob thought. He was scared and tired. No one would let him sleep. 

He arrived at the hospital and was quickly rushed back. The only surgeon that could help him had to be flown in from North Carolina and it would take three hours. Jacob laid in the bed in agony. The doctors and nurses said they couldn’t give him any pain medications yet. He started shaking. At this point, he knew it was from the pain. The shakes came and went.  

After a while his family came. One by one they looked at him. Crying, with this frightened look on their face. Do they know something more than me? He wasn’t sure, but he was terrified. 

Eventually the doctors came in the room and advised the surgeon would be there shortly. They administered him his medication through IV and told him he shouldn’t be in pain anymore. Jacob started feeling sleepy as the cocktail of medications started flowing through his veins. He saw the room fade away and the doctors whispering to his family. 

Fairies. What the hell am I seeing fairies for, thought Jacob. As he was in-between worlds. He drifted back off to sleep. 

When Jacob woke up he saw he was in a room by himself. He had a boot on his broken left ankle, and his right hand had this weird Edward Scissorhands contraption on it. His mother came in the room and told him about the surgery. She said his ankle was severely damaged. The top of his hand was ripped off and while in surgery they found a gash in his thigh. His mother told him he might never be able to walk again without help. Violently, Jacob shouted, “I will walk again without help." He was still highly medicated.  

His girlfriend came to the hospital one of the days when everyone was gone to visit him. She asked again if he told everyone that he was driving. “I told them it was me” said Jacob. It wasn’t long before she was straddling him on the hospital bed, but as soon as they started it ended. Jacobs’s mom walked into the room and snatched her off. He watched his girlfriend being dragged out by his mom. Damn. He thought.

Jacob stayed in the hospital for two weeks then was released. He quickly learned how hard it was to live the same life he was living before the accident. He was crippled now and all his so-called friends were no longer there for him. 

Loneliness. That’s how Jacob felt. 

Time passed and Jacobs’s emotional and physical wounds healed. Through physical therapy he could walk normal again. He had to cut his girlfriend loose because he caught her sleeping with one of his so-called friends. Whore. 

Two years since passed and he had a new girlfriend. She was different than his last. She well…wasn’t a whore and was genuinely an amazing person. After a year of dating they moved in with one another. One night she wakes him up because he was talking in his sleep about fairies. This wouldn't be the only time he would be woken up from sleep for talking about fairies.  Secretly he thought this was strange, but never said anything. 

One year turned into three years. This was definitely the steadiest girlfriend he’d ever had. What the hell did I do to deserve this? He thought. After treating girls like shit for years he somehow landed the jackpot. 

After completing college.  She received a bachelor’s in Nursing. Jacob received one in Economics. They both married one another. I am the luckiest guy in the world, he thought. Their life was perfect in everyway. Jacob’s wife became pregnant the following year with a boy and four years later with a girl. They decorated her room beautifully in Fairies. Those past ten years had been perfect.  

Jacob couldn’t ever shake the thought of fairies. Why did they resonate so much to him? 

Black. Is what Jacob saw. Beeping. Is what he heard. What's going on, he thought. Jacob tried to move his arms, but they were heavy. His legs were also heavy. His heart is  racing, and he hears the beeping sound pick up the pace. Beep.Beep.Beep. Growing faster and faster. Footsteps. He tries to move his head. It’s heavy.  Someone is over him. Removing something on his head.  

Slowly light began to peek at his eye. He squinted. The blurry room started to come into focus. The nurse looked at him in shock and quickly left the room.  

Jacob looked around the room by moving his eyes around. He saw some pictures in the distance, but he couldn’t make them out. He saw some Birthday and Christmas cards sitting on a desk. At this point he is panicking. Where am I? Where are my wife and kids? Why am I here? He tried to yell out for the nurse but couldn’t.  

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity a doctor came in the room. Jacobs eyes are glued to him." Mr. Adams, I am Dr. Jenkins. I bet you are curious why you are here. There is no need to panic Mr. Adams you are in the best care here. I wish I could tell this to you in any other way, but you are in a vegetative state. You have been this way for the last 10 years." No way, thought Jacob. I am married, I have kids.  

"Ten years ago you were in a bad car wreck. We placed you in a deep sleep to help with the bleeding on your brain. The bleeding caused significant damage. So, you have been here the whole time getting the best help from all the worlds renowned doctors. We are happy you’re finally awake,'  said Dr. Jenkins. 

Jacob remembered the fairies he saw on the ceiling before he faded away in slumber 10 years ago.

Emptiness. Emptiness is all Jacob felt.  

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