Welcome to Paradise Chapter Five- Concussion

I awoke around seven that evening, somehow surprised that I had slept so long. Yawning, I crawled out of bed, stumbling to the door, still half asleep. Rubbing at my eyes, I slowly opened the door and exited the room. Trey was out of it on the couch, and I didn't pay attention to him as I wandered down the hall to the bathroom. Once I was finished there, I wandered back to the common room and glanced at Trey for a moment, and then shrugged as I entered my room. Just as I entered my room, Derek emerged from Trey's, stretching and yawning as he did so. Smiling, I stepped back from my room and nodded to him in greeting. He smiled at me and nodded, and then bent down next to Trey. I yawned and made my way over to him, bending down next to the couch like he was already doing. "You awake Trey?" he asked, but my roomate didn't answer, didn't stir. "Guess not," he murmured, then sighed. "He needs to wake up though," he said to me. "I was talking to some of the others, and they said he may have a concussion." I frowned. Concussions were never good; my uncle had died from one when I had been young, and I knew they could be quite serious. "Trey?" he asked as he grabbed his shoulder, shaking him slightly. Trey still didn't stir, and he frowned. "Strange...he's usually a light sleeper..." he took in a breath and shook him a little harder while I watched silently. "Trey, wake up. Trey," his voice became more authoritive, more serious. "C'mon, wake up..." he broke off when my roomate remained silent and still. He frowned worriedly, and I let out a small breath. "Well this isn't good...he's got a concussion alright..." he sighed and shook his head. "I should have looked out for it when he came back with that head injury...and kept mentioning that he had a headache..." he released Trey's shoulder slowly. "Well, looks like he's not getting up." he rose to his feet while I remained where I was.

"...He'll be okay though, right?" I asked quietly, glaring at the ground. If his concussion was like my uncle's had been, then he would most likely die from it, and I didn't want that to happen. He was nice guy; he didn't need to die. "Right Derek?" I asked again when he didn't answer.

He chewed on his lower lip. "...I dunno," he said finally, and I flinched slightly. "It depends. I'm not a doctor, kid. I don't know how serious the concussion is. The only people I know who might be able to help him are busy at the moment, helping everyone else." he shrugged. "So I don't know." he looked at my twisted expression and cracked a small smile. "Sorry Shadow...but I dunno...I'll see if I can get someone here to help him, but I'm not sure I can."

I sighed. "I understand..." I mumbled, and looked away, frowning to myself. "...How...How serious do you think it is?" I heard myself whisper, and then looked at him while I waited for an answer.

He frowned for a minute, and then said quietly, "I dunno...I didn't get a chance to check over his head wound." his frown deepened as he looked at the ground. "No, that's not true...I had a chance, but I didn't look it over. I dismissed it." he sighed. "I've never dealt with concussions before, kid, so you're asking the wrong person." he looked at me for a minute. "You ever dealt with them before?"

I frowned again. "My uncle died from one," I said softly. "But...that's all I've dealt with. I was little; I didn't really understand enough."

He sighed. "Well, let's hope he doesn't die, then." he began moving to Trey's room. I watched as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

I returned my attention to Trey, watching his chest rise and fall as he breathed. "Nah," I murmured to myself. "You won't die." I frowned. "No, you won't." I shook my head and got to my feet. I walked toward my room and gave one last look over my shoulder at him before I entered it and shut the door behind me. I crawled into bed, but I knew that I wasn't going to get anymore sleep. Lying in the bed, I stared at the ceiling for a moment, or at least it felt like a moment, but when I looked back at the clock it was a little past midnight. My eyes wide, I leapt out of bed and exited my room, frowning when I noticed that Trey was still in the same postion. But someone new was there, kneeling beside him, checking him over. Derek stood beside the person, watching with an expressionless face. "Um...hi?" I asked as I came over, and Derek and the person looked at me.

"Hello," the person, a male, said. "You must be Shadow." he smiled, his brown eyes tired, his brown bangs in his eyes. "I'm Carl." I nodded at him in greeting, and he went back to checking over Trey.

"...What are you doing?" I finally asked as I knelt down next to him.

He paused for a moment, and then said, "I'm looking him over. His breaths are a little quick and shallow, and his heart's a bit rapid, but other than that he seems fine, so I don't see why he's not waking up." he shrugged and rose to his feet. "He's got a concussion, and it's serious, but it shouldn't keep him out for very long. How long did you say he's been out?"

Derek shrugged. "I'm not sure. I got up a little after seven this evening, and he wouldn't wake up then."

"Hmm, so at least five hours." he shrugged again. "My guess is that he'll wake up soon, but if he doesn't, if his condition changes, call me or come get me, and I'll come."

Derek nodded. "Okay. Thanks Carl," he said as he led him to the door. The two of them exchanged a few words at the door, and then Carl was gone, Derek shutting and locking the door behind him. Turning back to face me, he sighed. "So he should be fine," he said, nodding at me.

I nodded slowly. "I guess so," I murmured. "So how serious is 'serious'?"

He frowned for a moment, and then shrugged. "I dunno. Like I said, I'm no doctor. But Carl said he should wake up soon, so I guess it's not too serious."

"...But what if it gets worse?"

He shook his head. "Don't think like that," he said. "Don't think negatively."

I frowned. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to..."

"I know. And if it gets worse..." he trailed off for a moment, and then sighed. "I guess he doesn't wake up, and we bring Carl back in."

I frowned, but he said no more as he entered Trey's room once more. I looked at my roomate's pale face for a moment, and then sighed as I turned to head back into my room.

Why did bad things just keep happening?