There Was an Accident

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2019 by Cagey Sea

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Author, except where permitted by law.

"There is no love like the love for a brother. There is no love like the love from a brother."

- Astrid Alauda

Chapter 1

Todd was confused. He wasn't even sure his name was Todd, but it felt right, in his mind.

He didn't remember anything. Well, not anything, really. He knew he was a he, but beyond that, nothing.

He heard some faint beeping that sounded far away. He didn't think he was anywhere in bright light. His eyelids looked dark, but he couldn't open them. He couldn't move anything. He tried to yell, but nothing happened.

That incessant beeping was annoying, and distracting.

He tried to sit up, move his arms, move his legs, and shake his head; nothing moved. He couldn't feel them move anyway.

Why couldn't he remember? He wasn't sure, but he thought he could only lie there. He wasn't even sure of his posture.

Now he was scared, and the beeping seemed to pick up its tempo. He couldn't remember anything, but he was pretty sure this wasn't normal.

He heard something else. Papers being flipped?

He remembered papers and the sounds they made.

"Hm. It could be an involuntary response, or he could be waking up, or it could be nothing at all. Keep an eye on him, nurse, and let me know right away if there are any other changes."

It was a deep male voice. The voice sounded far away, like in a different room.

He knew what a nurse was. If there was a nurse in the room, that means there's probably a doctor nearby. Maybe the male that the voice belonged to was a doctor.

If there's a doctor there, does that mean he's in the hospital? Had something happened to him that he doesn't remember, or was this just him? Was he a vegetable? He remembered what a vegetable was, both the kind you eat and the kind you pity.

He felt something! Warm and soft, on his...was it his wrist? He concentrated, but couldn't tell. He felt like his body was there, but he couldn't move it, and he couldn't really even feel it, except for the soft warm thing that might have been on his wrist.

"Well, Todd, we don't know why, but your heart rate seems to have gone back to normal."

It was a female. Maybe she was holding his hand? Or, probably checking his pulse with her fingers on his wrist. She was probably the nurse the voice that was probably a doctor was talking to.

He tried to say 'hi'. Nothing happened.

He heard a soft scuff that sounded like shoes on a floor. They too seemed far away. He listened. There was only silence, except for that damn beeping.

"At least I'm not a moron. I know what a nurse is, and a doctor, and a hospital," Todd thought to himself. He wished he could say it, but thinking was better than nothing.

Probably.

Chapter 2

"It's not a good sign or a bad sign. There will be involuntary movements. It doesn't mean he has any control over them, and it doesn't necessarily mean he's waking up."

It was the voice that probably belongs to a doctor. Todd remembered thinking about stuff, being in a hospital. The doctor's voice, the nurse, the beeping. The beeping was still there. The doctor still sounded far away.

It seemed time had passed though. And he could see light. Not a light, but his eyelids didn't look black. It wasn't his eyelids. Maybe he could see something. Was it the ceiling? He didn't think his eyes were focused on anything. He tried to focus them.

Nothing changed.

A blurry face filled his vision, then a bright light flashed across one eye, then the other. He couldn't make out any features on the face before it disappeared.

"His eyes react to the light. That's a good sign."

"Is he brain damaged?"

It was a female voice, but not the voice that was probably a nurse. Maybe a different nurse? He thought he knew that they come and go.

"We can't know that. Not until he wakes up. We do know he has brain activity, and it's what we would hope to see, considering the circumstances," the probable doctor's voice said.

He wanted to look around and see who was there, but nothing moved. He tried to blink his eyes, but nothing happened. He still couldn't really feel his body, but kind of knew it was there.

He did know, however, they seemed concerned about his brain, and he wondered what happened to him.

Chapter 3

It was dark again. Since Todd couldn't see anything but blackness, he assumed his eyes were closed again. Even though he couldn't see anything, and they didn't seem to focus, he decided he liked it when they were open.

He was fairly certain now that he had been asleep. He didn't really notice going to sleep, but since he had not heard anyone leaving, and he had not noticed when his eyes closed, his mind must have gone to sleep. He didn't have any idea how long he had been asleep.

He wondered what year it was. He wondered how to tell one year from another.

He knew what days were, but didn't know what day this was, or what day it had been when he arrived here. If he had arrived, and this wasn't just how he had been his entire life.

He wondered how old he was.

"Three plus three equals six. Three minus three equals zero. Three times three equals nine. Three divided by three equals one," he thought.

He could do math. Simple math. He had to have learned it somewhere, surely. People aren't just born knowing that, even simple stuff like that.

"A squared plus B squared equals C squared." He knew geometry!

"Five cubed equals one hundred twenty-five!"

He was pretty sure he had not been like this all of his life. That was a relief. Or it wasn't. That means something happened, and now he's like this.

Why had he chosen math to test himself? He thought that was a good question, but didn't really know why.

Chapter 4

It was a little less dark. He must have been asleep. The beeping was still there, and still sounded far away.

There was a different sound. Todd listened.

Somebody was humming. Somewhere. It sounded far away, so did the splashing.

There was splashing. Something moved off his chest. He could feel it. More splashing, then he felt something warm, and wet, on his chest. He wanted to look, but his head wouldn't move and his eyes wouldn't open. Somebody was still humming. It wasn't good humming, and he wondered if it was supposed to be a song.

He wanted to smile, but didn't think he would. He thought he was getting a bath, a sponge bath. He wanted to think there was a brunette nurse with big boobs about to pop out of her white uniform top, giving him a sponge bath.

He must not be a little kid. A little kid wouldn't want a buxom, sexy nurse playing with his body.

"Oh, well, that's a good sign, probably. Seems you like your bath today."

She might sound sexy, or maybe it was just the imagination that made her sound sexy. He felt something that felt good pressed against something. Was it underwear? Or just a sheet?

Everything seemed to be getting further away.

"No!" Todd wanted to shout, but nothing happened, nothing changed. He felt himself falling asleep.

Chapter 5

"stable enough to move out of ICU. He'll still get the best care, but he might respond better if he can have visitors more often."

Todd knew the voice. It was Probably the Doctor.

He felt his body, and everything hurt. Not excruciating pain, but it still hurt a lot. Everything he felt hurt.

"Is he in pain?"

It was a female voice. Todd was pretty sure it was the same voice that asked if he was brain damaged. Surely a nurse would know if he was in pain. Maybe this was somebody that knew him. A visitor?

"We're still managing his pain, but have reduced the dosage considerably," Probably the Doctor told the female voice.

"Like hell you are," Todd said, without saying it. His mouth still didn't work. Nothing worked.

"Make sure he's not in any pain, Doctor," a new male voice said, confirming the first voice was a doctor.

He could tell it was light in the room. His eyes were open. He noticed he could see something. It was white on white, but there was a line across it. It was the corner where the ceiling met the wall! His eyes were focused! He tried to move them, but they wouldn't budge.

A face blocked his view. He tried to focus on it, but couldn't. He thought it was a female. He could make out the halo of curls surrounding the face. The face didn't stop, but moved to block out his entire vision.

He felt the warm lips on his cheek.

"We love you, Todd."

The face moved away and there was another behind her. It could have been a man. He seemed to stare, then he turned and followed the female.

He heard far away footsteps, then silence. Except for the infernal, ubiquitous beeping.

They must have been visitors. Todd wondered who. Their voices didn't seem familiar.

Todd thought it was a waste. His eyes were open, and he was awake, but nobody was there.

Chapter 6

The beeping woke Todd up. He thought it woke him up. He wanted to blame it, but knew it was always there, so he probably just woke up on his own. His eyes were closed. He still hurt, but now it was just a dull throb all over.

He could tell he was reclined completely. He could feel the weight of a blanket from his feet to the middle of his chest. That was new. He could feel its texture against his feet and the backs of his hands.

He tried to move stuff: his feet, his hands, his head. He got the same response. Nothing moved.

He wanted to sigh, but knew that would be pointless. He was bored, and had no way to relieve that feeling.

The beeping was all there was to keep him company. He wondered if he could speed it up.

He tried to clench all the muscles in his body, and hold, but nothing happened. The beeping maintained the same rhythm.

He tried to open his eyes, and got the same result.

Was he in the same room? Something had been said about moving him, but it all felt the same. He knew that didn't mean anything. He could barely feel his body, and knew there was no way he could tell anything about his surroundings.

Except for the beeping. It still sounded just as far away.

Chapter 7

Todd's eyes were open. He was sitting up. He was sure he was still in bed because he could feel the blankets on his feet and gathered at his waist. He was wearing something on his chest.

Silence, almost. He could hear voices. They weren't discernible, but low and mumbling. He didn't think they were even in his room. There was no beeping.

He could see through what looked like a fuzzy, out of focus open door, and beyond was a counter. He could see it! There were computers showing behind the counter top, and there was a woman sitting at one. It was in focus!

He tried to focus on the doorway, but couldn't. His vision remained focused only on the counter. He tried to move the rest of his body, but nothing moved.

A woman approached the nurse. She had curly blond hair to the middle of her back, and a really nice ass under her tight blue jeans.

She leaned on the counter with her elbows and raised herself up onto her toes as she spoke to the nurse. Todd couldn't hear her, but they both turned and looked at him. The blond was young, Todd guessed around twenty. She was cute, too.

The blond moved away from the counter, toward him, and was soon just an unfocused blob. She filled the doorway, and he could tell she walked through, then stopped.

"Hey," she said softly, then approached Todd's bed and disappeared as she stepped to the side. He liked her soft voice.

He heard a far away scraping sound. The blond blob filled his vision then disappeared again.

"How are you Todd?"

Then she giggled. It sounded like music to him.

"Sorry, I know you're not fine. You don't have to answer me. They told me it might help you to have people you know talk to you. I've missed you. I wish this had happened to me instead of you."

She knew him. Was this little cutie his girlfriend? He didn't recognize her, but he couldn't picture anybody in his mind. He didn't remember anybody. He didn't know anybody, not parents, not friends, not this girl. He kind of assumed the female voice that had asked about his pain was his mother, and the male with her was his father, but he didn't know. Their voices didn't ring any bells, and this girl's face and voice didn't either.

Her crying sounded far away, just like all the other voices. Then he felt a hand slip into his. It felt warm and soft and it gently squeezed him. She smelled pretty.

He wanted to tell her not to cry. He would fight hard to get better, so they could be together again. He was sure this was his girlfriend. He hadn't had any other visitors, except his parents, and she seemed so sad that he was like this.

She cried for a few minutes, holding his hand.

"I'm sorry for crying, Todd. You know I love you, and I'm just really sad you're like this."

She loves him!

She started talking about school. It sounded like college. He wondered if they went to school together. She told him about some people, and what they were doing. None of the names sounded familiar, so he wondered if they were her friends, or his friends, or their friends.

She never let go of his hand, but as she spoke, she sometimes touched his forearm or shoulder with her other hand. A few times she put her hand on his chest. He really liked the way her touches felt to him. He quit listening to what she was saying, and just listened to the sound of her voice and felt her touching him.

Suddenly she stopped her rambling.

"Todd?"

His eyes were still focused on the counter in the hallway, but he felt his hand shift, and he thought he could see her standing next to his bed.

Her unfocused face filled his vision, then turned to look away.

"Todd? What..." She sounded concerned.

"Bye!"

She kissed his cheek and he could see her blob move to the door and out.

He felt that same feeling he had felt getting a sponge both, centered just below his belly. He wished he could move his head and look to see what seemed to have frightened his girlfriend away.

He wished he remembered her name, or anything about her. He just couldn't remember anything though.

Chapter 8

Todd was awake again. His eye lids were dark, and closed. He listened. There was only silence. There weren't even any muffled voices.

He remembered his girlfriend talking to him. Her closeness made him happy. He hoped she came back soon.

He came to the conclusion it was night time now. Everything was so quiet, and the darkness made him think there were no lights on in his room, and maybe even the door was closed.

He felt alone. He wondered if he would ever get better.

He tried all his parts, but still, nothing worked. He wanted to cry, but not even that worked.

Chapter 9

"We don't know. It's up to Todd at this point. We can continue to treat his body, but there's not anything we can do to force him to wake up," Doctor said patiently.

"I think they're doing all they can, honey," Possibly Dad said softly.

Todd wished his eyes were open. They seemed far away still, but he had figured out they were close by and everything sounded far away. He liked that they were there.

He heard crying, and it sounded female. Possibly Mom was there too.

"Bye bye, son. We love you," Possibly Mom whispered, and he felt a warm kiss on his forehead.

She called him son. It was his mom.

Why didn't her voice sound familiar?

Now Todd knew his mom's and dad's voices, but still not their faces. He knew his girlfriend's face though. At least from a distance. He knew what her butt looked like, from a distance too. He liked it.

He heard his parents leave, and he was alone again. He really wanted to tell somebody he was in here, and wanted to get better.

He wanted to go back to sleep, but apparently he wasn't in control of that either. He was bored, but had to entertain himself until his brain went to sleep again.

Chapter 10

"Hey, Todd." It was his girlfriend's voice. She didn't sound far away. She sounded like she was standing right at the foot of his bed.

Todd's eyes were closed though, so he couldn't know for sure. She could have been talking right into his ear to sound that close.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, but I was at work."

She sounded like she was beside him now. He could tell she had been at work. She smelled like pizza. She must work at a pizza place. Todd wanted some pizza. How did he eat now? He had not eaten since he came to the hospital, that he knew of.

"I'm sorry for leaving so fast last night, too. I didn't know what to do. I didn't tell anybody about your, um, you know, your erection." she barely whispered the last word into his ear. He could feel her breath on his skin. She didn't sound far away at all now.

"And I didn't know what to do. I was embarrassed, 'cause I didn't know what to do, and because I left so fast. You shouldn't be embarrassed by it though. It just happens. Probably an involuntary thing, anyway."

Todd wanted to tell her it wasn't involuntary. It was because she sounded so sexy talking to him. He just wanted her.

"I thought about it a lot today, and decided what I should do if it happens again. Anyway, work sucked tonight. The tips weren't good, and there were a couple of parties..."

Todd quit listening to the words, instead just listened to the sound of her voice. She was holding his hand again.

Chapter 11

"Damn it!" Todd thought as soon as he understood he had gone to sleep while his girlfriend was there, and had missed most of her visit. He wondered what she had decided to do if he gets an erection again while she's there. He knew it wasn't if, but when. She was so sexy, he had no doubt that it would happen.

Todd's eyes were open. He almost missed that fact. The room was dark. It must be night. He listened, and heard just some muffled voices from really far away. His door must be closed too. He assumed there would always be lights on at the counter where the nurses sat.

He was bored, so he thought about his girlfriend. He could see in his mind her face when she turned to look at him, and her butt in her jeans as she leaned onto the counter. He wondered if she was as good looking naked, and how far they had gone before whatever happened to put him here happened.

He could feel his erection, and wished she was here. Would she help him out, or would she be too embarrassed to do anything about it in the hospital?

Chapter 12

"has caused some mild bleeding. It's nothing to be worried about right now, but we're concerned. We're administering some very mild antibiotics to avoid an infection."

It was Doctor speaking. Todd wondered what they were talking about.

"Frequent erections? Is that normal?" Mom asked Doctor.

They were talking about him getting erections. His erections caused mild bleeding? He wondered how that happened.

"He's a young man, so it's not terribly unusual. That fact alone isn't cause for concern, but to avoid continued irritation, and reduce the chance of an infection, we've removed the catheter. He will be wearing a diaper to contain his urine output. He already wears a diaper to contain his feces, so it won't be a big change. The nurses will just need to change him more often. It's just a mild inconvenience."

Todd understood. He had a catheter. He didn't know until now that was the case. Apparently he had too many hard-ons, and had chaffed himself raw, on the inside.