Page 1 of Fractured Grief (Hope’s Ridge #2)

Sebastian Apollo Papadakis

T wo Months Ago

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you have a near-death experience. You see all your missed opportunities, any regrets, and hopefully some good moments from your life.

That’s all crap!

All I felt when I was shot was dread, protectiveness, and anger—then nothing but darkness.

No white light, no other side, no past family members waiting to welcome me.

Maybe it was because I didn’t actually die, but it was very anticlimactic.

I was ripped off. I didn’t even feel the bullet.

One moment, an unhinged asshole was waving a gun around, threatening my family, and then the next, he pointed the muzzle at my big brother, Atticus, and I reacted, jumping into the line of fire .

I remember waking up, feeling groggy as hell, in unspeakable pain, and barely able to breathe. I was in a hospital bed with Ma crying at my side.

“Ma-m-m-m?” I tried to croak out, my voice barely a raspy whisper. It didn’t even sound like me.

What the fuck happened?

What is wrong with my voice?

I tried to lift my arm to touch my throat, but it felt like I had lead weights attached to it, and it hardly twitched.

What is wrong with me?

Why can’t I move?

“Oh, Sebastian.” Ma brought a cup and straw to my lips. “Here, have a sip. You’re in the hospital. The doctor said your throat will be sore from the intubation tube.”

I let the ice-cold water soothe my raw throat.

“Hap... W-w-w-t?” I hissed, but panicked. The words hadn’t come out of my mouth! Why couldn’t I talk right? “Ww-www.” I looked imploringly at my Mama for answers.

“Oh, agóri mou, you saved Atticus.” She started to sob.

“But you were shot. You barely survived.” Tears trailed down her cheeks as she looked me over.

She appeared disheveled, like she hadn’t slept in days.

Her clothes were a mess. Her beautiful brown waves were flat and greasy as they hung limp around her face.

Her bright brown eyes had bags under them and were red-rimmed.

Ma reached for my hand. “When you were shot, the bullet nicked your liver. You lost a lot of blood and have been in a coma for over a week. We weren’t sure you were going to wake up. I was so scared.”

“Mr. Papadakis.” A deep voice spoke from somewhere to my right. My brain felt foggy, and the world was hazy and far too bright as I turned my head toward the voice. A slender man in his fifties, who must be my doctor, stood at my side checking over my chart.

“You are lucky to be alive. You gave your family quite the scare.” He glanced compassionately at Ma.

“I’m going to explain a few things, and I want you to try and follow along, okay?

So, you were shot, and we performed emergency surgery as soon as you arrived.

During surgery, you suffered an ischemic stroke.

This has caused weakness and paralysis on your right side.

We won’t know the full extent of the damage until we run a few more tests.

Your speech has likely been affected too.

We’ll work out a treatment plan when the results are in.

I’m afraid you’re going to be with us for a while, Mr. Papadakis, but we can work together to help you get back on your feet.

” He finished with a pat to my shoulder.

“I’ll leave you to visit with your mom and send a nurse in soon to take you for those tests. ”

With a wave, he left me reeling from everything he’d just said.