It was bright. Far too bright. Blinding. But somehow, he could still see. No, not see, it felt more like feeling. A vision through touch. Light pulsed in around him in a seemingly random yet beautiful, interconnected web. There were hundreds, no thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands. The longer he stared at it the more beautiful it became. It’s intensity was overwhelming, but he remained focused on it. The light was singing to him. He’d never heard such a beautiful song. It spoke to him, revealing whispers of the truth of all existence, as though it were a part of its very foundation. He wanted to hear it for longer. He needed to.

Max’s eyes flew open and the song vanished, replaced by pain. He cried out, his body burning. He contorted trying to escape the pain, but it only grew worse with every second. His arms stung, legs burned, and jolts of pain shot through his entire body. Max’s hands shook as he stared down at them, unable to breathe. It hurt from the inside out, the source of the pain burrowed deep within his skin. He blinked spots out of his eyes, silent as he tried to ignore the pain. What the hell was happening to him?

He looked up, his eyes watering. He was in a hospital bed. Why was he in a hospital bed? What had happened? He’d been working and then… nothing. He couldn’t remember. The pain was clouding his memory.

“Help” he mumbled. “Help”

Where was Cathy? Was she not here? She was probably just out at the moment. If he was in the hospital she was definitely here somewhere. He turned to the call button, reaching for it. It sparked at his touch and a wave of pain shot through him again. He roared, lurching backwards as every nerve ending in his body screamed, etching the sensation of pain deep into his brain. The sensation faded quickly, leaving him gasping as he pulled himself up. Fucking hell; that’d hurt. Max winced as a slightly lesser pain bit at his body, coming and going throughout.

He took a second to gather himself, trying to ignore my pain. The sound of the door opening made him glance upwards. A nurse and doctor stepped inside both sharing a look.

“Hi there Mr… Dillion” the doctor said, glancing at the clipboard she held in her hand.

“It’s Dillon” he replied shakily.

“Ah, sorry” the doctor said stepping forward.

“I’m Doctor Madden. I’m just here to make sure I know how you received your injuries. It’ll help us determine what’s wrong with you” she said. He paused, trying to ignore the pain as he wracked my brain for memories. Flashes of stuff came to him and he spoke.

“I was just cleaning in one of the labs, I work at an Oscorp facility, and – ow – the lights went out then I was on the floor, and everything was hot. Then… then I was here”

The doctor made a face.

“Right. And any pain?” she said.

“It hurts, everywhere” he responded, wincing. The doctor frowned and motioned for the nurse to move. The nurse stepped aside and the doctor stepped forward.

“Lean forward for me” she said. He leant forward, wincing. She looked over his neck and back. She pressed a point on his spine and he gasped as a wave of pain shot through him. It took a few seconds for him to recover.

“Sorry about that. Well I’ve looked at you and you probably have some form of neuralgia. It should fade given time, but I’ll refer you to a specialist if you’d like and w-”

“Won’t that take time? Isn’t there anything you can do now?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Well we could have you go through a few scans, but I doubt you’ll be able to cover the costs. So I recommend taking some aspirin, until the effects subside.”

“What? My insurance… I have good insurance. One of the perks of my job”

“I’m sorry Mr Dillon. We checked and have any insurance. Maybe there was a mistake.”

“What? There -ow!- there must’ve been a mistake. I do. It’s one of my employment benefits”

“We can check again?”

“Please”

The Doctor nodded and left the room as the nurse stepped forward to examine him. Max continued to wriggle about in pain, but his mind was elsewhere. No insurance? That was one of the only reasons he’d taken the damn job. Oscorp was a lot of things, but it had damn good health coverage. He took a second to centre himself, breathing through the pain. The nurse removed the blood pressure band and handed him a cup of water. He downed it quickly, hands still shaking. Cathy. He needed to call Cathy. He snatched his phone off the counter and speed dialled her. The phone rung repeatedly before going to voicemail. Weird. They always picked up each other’s calls.

He rung again. Voicemail. Had something happened to her too? He turned to the nurse.

“Hey, uh -ow!- was there a big accident or something at an Oscorp lab? Or was my thing the only incident?” he asked.

“I’m not sure if you’re the only one who got injured, but there wasn’t any big accident” the nurse said shaking his head. Max’s phone buzzed and he glanced down. Finally. A message from Cathy. He read the message and his blood ran cold.

I’m sorry

He stared at it for a few seconds, confused. Sorry? Why was she sorry? He called again. It rung but went to voicemail. He called again. Straight to voicemail. Was she avoiding him? Why would she avoid him? She was his cousin, she didn’t have any reason to avoid him. She shouldn’t have any reason to avoid him. We were the only family each other had left. Was she embarrassed she hadn’t shown up to the hospital yet? As long as she showed up it was fine. She knew that. Work was probably keeping her busy. Unless…

He glanced at the time. It was Friday. Friday night. When he’d gotten into the accident it had been a Thursday morning. She wouldn’t have taken this long to come to the hospital. Catherine was my boss; she’d be one of the first to know. She would’ve taken the day off on Friday to be here. Suddenly it hit him. The insurance. The text. Everything.

“No” Max whispered. Was taking someone off their employers health insurance registry even possible? That didn’t matter. Cathy wouldn’t do something like that. First off, it was illegal and secondly, she had no reason to. Still the sinking feeling grew as a low roar permeated his ears.

The door opened and I looked up. Doctor Madden stepped back inside.

“Mr Dillon I’m sorry but it doesn’t”

“No. No, no, no. This isn’t -ow- this, this can’t be real”

“It’s ok we can help you sort-“

“No!” Max shouted, breathing laboured. “I have health insurance. I work for Oscorp dammit”

“Mr Dillion calm” Dr Madden responded sternly.

He ignored her, burying his face into his hands. The pain was getting worse, drowning out other sounds and sensations. He’d been right. Somehow insurance. Was that even legal? Why would she do that? Why would Cathy do that? I’d gotten into a damn accident and she’d cancelled my insurance?

“This doesn’t make any sense. I… I work for Oscorp. They can’t just – ow!- they can’t just- I have insurance”

“I understand this is upsetting, but if there’s been some kind of employment error we can call someone for you”

“I tried calling!” he shouted, his breathing growing more frustrated. The doctor and nurse glanced at each other, taking a step back. Max sat unnaturally still, one hand gripping the left side of his face and the other his bedside. The lights flickered briefly and he winced again. He needed to get out of here.

He roared in pain ripping at tubes and wires connected to him. Max forced himself up, fighting through the pain as he stumbled, catching himself on the far wall.

“Mr Dillon just lay back down” the nurse said.

“No!”

“Mr Dillon please”

“I need to go. There’s someone I have to talk to so I can sort this out”

“Whatever it is you need, we can do it for you, you need to rest” Dr Madden said. He took a second, breathing heavily, before nodding through glazed eyes. Max pushed off the wall, stumbling back towards the bed, then shouted out falling to the floor in pain. He writhed on the ground as the lights above flickered, repeatedly. The doctor and nurse were at his side in a moment, but he could barely sense them. His attention was focused on the lights. They were bright. Far too bright. Blinding. But somehow, he could still see. No, it felt more like a feeling. A vision through touch. He could hear them too. Even if it was just a whisper, he could hear them singing to him. The singing made the pain fade, almost disappear completely. It felt amazing. Incredible beyond belief. He needed to get closer. Then all the pain would go away. He reached out, grasping desperately as though he could hold the chorus of angels with a mere hand. No he needed something that wasn’t physical. Focusing, he reached out with his mind and the singing grew louder. That was it. That was perfect. The light was brighter now. It had slowly begun to consume everything. And with it the song followed, filling his ears.