The Touch Volume 1
"The Void"
By: Myke D
Part 1: The Dreamer
Chapter 6: Touched
It was the beginning of April, and my body had finally been infected with the flu. The school as closed for Spring Break, and I was stuck on the couch in the living room buried beneath a pile of blankets. Toby had the illness the week before, and I secretly blamed the kid for crawling into my bed and getting me sick. So, while he was a happy little kid during break, I was banned from being around people. My friends didn't listen very well, though.
Deedra and Sheldon made it a point to visit me at least once a day, while Chad would spend hours with me at a time. He even brought his keyboard with him a few times just so we could practice for one of the upcoming Varsity Choir concerts. Even Gavin and Geoff had managed to stop in for a few days during Spring Break.
I was feeling better by the time Gavin and Geoff arrived, so I was able to actually spend time with my cousin and his dad. Toby was constantly climbing all over Gavin during the visit, and I couldn't help but laugh at the boy's antics. He had really turned around from the shy kid that had appeared on Greg and Natalie's doorstep nearly a month earlier. Gavin told me all about how his dad was planning on taking him to Rome the first week of Summer, but he was vague on the details as Uncle Geoff was keeping him in the dark. After they left, Natalie checked on me again with a slight frown on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked in concern as she seemed puzzled.
"I could have sworn that you were getting better, Zach..."
"I feel a lot better!" I said quickly. Natalie smiled and touched my cheek.
"Your fever is going back up, Zachary." Natalie told me. "I think you may have an infection."
"An infection?"
"You've been through a lot in the past few months, Zach." My foster mother explained. "I'm surprised that you haven't come down with something sooner."
"How's our patient doing?" Greg asked as he came in the room with Toby in his arms. The boy was already in his pajamas and I felt a small spike of jealousy as I watched the boy cuddling with our foster dad.
"I think we should take him to the hospital, Greg."
I felt myself immediately pale at Natalie's words.
"No..." I said meekly. "I don't want to go back to the hospital..."
"I doubt they'll keep you overnight this time, Zach." Natalie reassured me. "The doctor will probably just prescribe you some antibiotics and send us on our way."
"I hope so," I said softly. Every time I had been in the hospital, they had kept me for an extended period of time. I had every reason to be nervous about this trip.
"Are you certain, Natalie?" Greg asked.
"Yeah," Natalie replied with a small frown. "His fever is climbing again, Greg. I want to get this handled before it turns into anything else."
"I'll get a hold of Gavin and Geoff and see if they want to swing by," Greg said.
"You're gonna get Gavin to come back?" Toby asked with a voice filled with excitement.
"Somebody has to keep you two in line!" Natalie teased both of them. "Greg, could you help me get Zachary ready?"
"Absolutely, darling." Greg replied as he set Toby down on the floor. Then, Greg turned his attention to me while Natalie disappeared from the room.
I pushed back the blankets and swung my feet around so I could stand up. The moment I stood up though, everything around me spun quickly, and I passed out.
"I feel dizzy, Natalie." I told my foster mother as she sat next to me in my hospital room.
"Just relax, Zachary." Natalie reassured me as she patted my arm. "The doctor said that you're severely dehydrated, and she's worried about your fever."
"We've been here for two hours, though." I whined.
Natalie laughed and poked me in my side.
"It's going to take however long it takes, bud."
I frowned and sighed.
"I hate this place..."
"You're not the only one," Natalie told me with a smile. "I'm going to try and see if I can get any answers, Zachary. Try to get some sleep."
"Yes, ma'am." I told my foster mom as she kissed my forehead. I watched her walk out of the room before I closed my eyes.
It seemed I fell asleep almost immediately, but this wasn't like a regular dream. It felt like the times I had always been in the middle of a panic attack. I was in the dark room again, and the other me was standing across from me wearing a pair of blue pajama pants.
"Here again, little brother?" His question confused me.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "You're just a figment of my imagination."
"Am I?" He scoffed. "Are you sure about that, Zyan?"
"Stop calling me that," I stated with a hint of annoyance in my voice. "It's not my name."
The other me rolled his eyes in exasperation before he sat down on the floor across from me.
"Are you positive about that, little brother?"
"Just leave me the fuck alone if you're not going to give me any answers!" I yelled making him flinch in surprise. "Get you of my head!"
"I'm not in your head, Zyan," he stated casually. "You're in mine."
"Bull shit!" I spat angrily. "You only come to me in my dreams!"
"That's funny," he stated with a light chuckle. "I was watching television with our older sister when you decided to come for a visit this time."
"You're fucking lying!"
"It's funny," the other me said as he stood to his feet. "You ask for answers but refuse to listen when they're given to you on a silver platter."
"Who are you?" I asked with a tremble in my voice.
"You'll find out soon enough, Zyan." He said with a slight smile. "Our time is coming..."
"What do you mean?"
My question was met with only silence as the image of myself faded away slowly. I was only left with more questions that I needed answered...
I woke up in my own bed the next morning. The sun was shining in through my bedroom window and I vaguely remembered someone carrying me into the house sometime during the night. I hadn't even struggled when they undressed me down to my boxer briefs before they tucked me into my bed. I glanced down at the three jagged scars that stretched across my torso and shuddered. One of them started at my left shoulder and ran down to my right hip where it intersected with one of the scars from my back. The other two were slightly lower, but they still ran down to just short fo my hip. The marks on my back were the worst, though. They were a mixture of scars from times when the monster had decided to use his belt against me, and from when he tried to kill me.
I sat up in the bed and felt the room spin around me for a moment. I forced my eyes closed as a wave of nausea swept over me, and it took everything I had not to vomit. Once I had myself under control, I decided that I could quite obviously use some help in getting to the bathroom. The only problem I had was I couldn't see my t-shirt anywhere close enough for me to grab it to keep my scars covered. I pulled the blanket up to my shoulders before I called out for anyone.
"Greg?" I yelled out as loud as I could. My voice was raspy and my throat hurt immediately. Then, I remembered my phone and saw that someone had put it on my bedside table. I grabbed it and it opened to the welcome screen as soon as it scanned my face. "Arrow, call Greg."
"Calling Greg," the automated voice responded.
The phone only rang once before my foster father answered the call.
"Hey, Zach." He greeted me happily. "Are you awake, bud?"
"I... I... I need help," I said softly.
"I'll be up in a second,Zach!"
I set my phone back down on the bedside table, and my door opened just as I fell back on the pillows groggily.
"Good morning, Zachary." He smiled at me as he crossed the room towards my bed. "Are you still a little dizzy?"
"Yeah," I mumbled with a blush.
"No worries," Greg replied with a shrug. He went to pull back the covers and I hesitated slightly before I released my grip on them. "Don't worry, Zachary. I've seen them before, and I still love you more than you could ever imagine."
I nodded slightly before I let him pull the covers back. He reached in and started tickling my sides. I laughed and tried to push his hands away before he made me wet the bed.
"I'm gonna pee!" I nearly yelled out.
Greg laughed in amusement as he quickly scooped me into his arms and carried me to the bathroom. I grabbed his shoulders as he set me on my feet in front of the toilet. I pulled my underwear down and quickly sat down before my legs gave out. My foster dad laughed even more when I sighed with relief as my bladder emptied itself.
"Jesus, kid." He teased me. "How many IV's did they give you last night?"
"Too many," I said with a giggle.
"I would say so!"
Greg helped me back to my room where he grabbed me a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt to wear. Once I was dressed, he carried me down to the living room where Toby and Natalie were watching some gardening show on tv together. Natalie imemdiately hugged me tightly once Greg deposited me in her lap.
"I'm going to get him some toast, Nat." Greg said as he ruffled my hair. "I'm sure he's got to be hungry by now."
"Starving," I mumbled sleepily.
"That's a good sign that you're getting your appetite back, Zach." Natalie told me with a smile.
I cuddled into Natalie before I reached over and poked Toby in the ribs. Toby turned and smiled at me before he cuddled into Natalie's side. Greg returned a moment later with a small plate of toast for me.
"I leave the room for five minutes, and I come back to two men hitting on my wife?" Greg asked in mock indignation.
"There's room for a third man in my life," Natalie teased Greg as she patted the empty spot beside us.
"I'm always stuck with the leftovers," he said even though he sat down with us. Greg handed me one of the pieces of toast with butter on it. "Eat it slowly, bub."
"Thanks, Greg."
It felt nice to be loved.
*********Thanks again for reading "The Touch". Here ends Part One: "The Dreamer". Stay tuned for Chapter 7 as our story continues... Will Zachary ever find out who he really is?
****If you wish to be notified of this or any of my other stories, please feel free to email me and make sure that you let me know which story you want to know about. – storymyke@outlook.com
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