Speed Racer Fan Fiction ❯ All of My Heart ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

Speed let out a soft moan. His head pounded and his mouth felt like it'd been stuffed with cotton. He felt strange . . . light for some reason. Like he no longer had a care in the world. He wondered why that was then wondered why he was wondering before dismissing the notion. Letting out another soft moan, he opened his eyes and immediately winced.

He was in a strange room. It had dingy grey walls and a dank, foul smell. Crinkling his nose, he slowly pushed himself up and glanced around, noting that the only bed it had was the one he was laying upon . . .

'Where am I? Why am I here?' he wondered, wincing as the throbbing in his head intensified.

“Good morning, Speed,” a male voice murmured. “How are you feeling?”

Speed blinked, his eyes still out of focus. Then a man with dark hair came into view, his expression filled with a bit of concern and some curiosity.

“I'm fine,” he finally managed to rasp out. “Head hurts, though . . .”

“I can imagine,” came the reply. “Here. I have some mild painkillers. Other than the pain in your head, how are you feeling?”

He paused for a moment. How was he feeling? He felt exhausted . . . but he didn't want to sleep, either. Then there was his confusion. Why was he in a place like this? He didn't understand. Otherwise, he felt fine . . . he hoped.

“Okay, I guess . . . a bit tired . . . why am I here?”

“You're recovering from an illness,” the man stated as he began to take Speed's pulse. “You've been here for a few of years . . . for a moment, we weren't sure if you were going to recover at all.”

“What happened? How did I get so sick?”

“You were in an accident, Speed,” Dr. Johnson replied. “A very serious one. Some of your injuries became infected and the infections spread throughout your body, affecting parts of your neurological system. You're very lucky to be alive.”

Speed frowned. Parts of the doctor's story didn't add up to him. He didn't remember being in an accident of any kind. Then again . . . he didn't remember much of anything after the night of his mother's birthday party. Was that when he'd been in that accident? And was this memory loss normal?

“Oh . . . I see . . . Will I be able to go home soon?”

“Oh yes,” the man replied with a vigorous nod. “You will. You'll need some medications to cope with some of the pain and nausea and some physical therapy, but you should be fine within a few days. Do you have any questions for me before I let your parents in?”

“Yeah,” Speed murmured. “How come I don't remember being in an accident or being sick for all this time? And is it normal?”

“Yes,” Dr. Johnson answered. “It is normal for you to have suffered some memory. I'm afraid, however, that it could very well be permanent. As for how it happened . . . as I said, the infections affected parts of your neurological system. How badly, we weren't sure . . . not until you woke up.”

“Oh . . .”

“Hey . . .” The doctor moved towards him and sat on the side of the bed, a warm smile on his face. “Be thankful that it's just memory loss and not the loss of your mobility. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Speed managed to smile. “At least there's that.”

“Yes. There's always that. Now chin up. Your parents are here to see you and were quite happy to hear of your recovery. I must warn you, though. A few things have changed while you've been sleeping.”