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I blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision.
“Zachary, can you hear me?”
The fog started to clear and through the haze of pain, a face took shape. She had to be an angel. No human could be so beautiful. Clear blue eyes filled with concern. A soft mouth with full pink lips. Dark hair spilling around fair skin.
“Are you an angel?”
“What?” Her voice was so concerned. Almost panicked. “No. Sandra called 911. They’re on their way. Don’t move.”
I reached for her face and touched her cheek. I had to know if she was real. “You’re so beautiful.”
“Don’t, Zachary, you’re hurt. You fell off the ladder.”
The room around her wouldn’t come into focus. Everything was hazy and indistinct. It was as if nothing existed except this beautiful woman looking down on me.
“Wires shouldn’t have been hot,” I mumbled.
“What? The wires? Oh my god, did you get shocked?”
The edges of my vision darkened, like black clouds closing in on her. I reached up again, trying to cling to her. She took my hand and I couldn’t understand why it hurt so much.
“I think I’m going to pass out.” I hardly recognized my own voice. I almost sounded drunk.
“Stay with me, Zachary.” She touched my cheek. “Stay with me.”
I jerked awake to the sound of beeping. Everything was out of focus, my eyes watery. Where was I?
Vague memories of an ambulance ride came back to me. They’d taken me to the hospital. I’d been at Marigold’s salon and fell off the ladder. Why did I fall?
Right, the fixture. I’d been reaching up to finish disconnecting the old light and put my hand on the box. But nothing should have been hot. I’d turned the circuit off at the breaker. I’d tested the wires.
“Something must have been wired wrong,” I mumbled.
“It’s okay,” a soft voice spoke. “I’m so glad you’re waking up. They told me you would, but I was starting to worry.”
That voice. Stay with me, Zachary. “Marigold?”
She moved closer and her face came into focus. “Are you in any pain?”
I was in a ton of pain, but somehow it didn’t matter. “What are you doing here?”
“They brought you here in the ambulance and I followed. Do you know where you are?”
“ER?”
“Yeah. Do you remember what happened? They said you might not.”
It was hard to keep my eyes open, so I let them drift closed. “I tested the wires. Don’t know why it was hot.”
“So you know you were shocked?”
I nodded. That was a mistake. Hurt like hell. I groaned.
“You are in pain, aren’t you? The nurse gave you something but she said you might need more when you wake up. You have burns and you fell pretty hard.”
Opening my eyes, I tried to focus on her face. Burns. That was what I felt. My hands felt like they were on fire. So did my shoulder and chest. Current must have gone through one arm and out the other.
I was lucky it hadn’t stopped my heart.
