Eighty-Eight

Athena

Seeing Cameron lying unconscious in that hospital bed felt like someone had yanked the ground from beneath me, ripping my world apart piece by piece. I burst through those cold double doors, screaming his name, "Cameron!"

My voice echoed, raw and desperate, down the sterile, quiet hallways. Two stout nurses hurried over, both with annoyed expressions, trying to hold me back.

“Ma’am, you need to calm down; this is an emergency ward,” one snapped. I didn’t care. I shrugged them off and rushed to Cameron’s motionless figure.

“Please, Cameron, open your eyes.”

My voice cracked, and tears spilled down my face, unstoppable, like a dam breaking.

Just this morning, he was laughing, alive, and so full of life. Now, he lay there like a stranger—pale, weak, swallowed by a mess of wires and tubes.

My legs buckled beneath me as the reality of the scene hit. Doctors and nurses worked tirelessly around him, their movements a blur as they fought to keep him here, keep him with me.

“Ma’am, pl