Helios Beginnings (The Helios Chronicles #0.5) Read Free Page A

building. Andrew felt himself awaken. He could hear sounds around him and tried to move but couldn’t. His mother was screaming and crying in the other room. He suddenly became aware that he was now on some type of bed. He listened as his head turned in the direction of his mother’s voice. There were two men in uniform trying to help her but she was swinging her arms.
    “My moon is gone, my moon is gone,” she cried inconsolably.
    “Ma’am, you need to let us help you. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”
    Andrew closed his eyes again. His mother had always called his dad the moon and him her sun. Apparently the well-being of her son wasn’t nearly as important to her as her husband. Andrew’s heart ached. But this ache was worse than the actual pain she had inflicted on him. He suddenly wished that she had been successful, that she had killed him. He felt hollow inside, the emptiness overwhelmed him at the reality of what was going on.
    “Can you tell me your name?” The paramedic asked Andrew, but Andrew’s eyes wouldn’t open.
    The man continued talking to him but Andrew couldn’t hear him that well over his mom's wailing. He was aware that the man was holding something to his chest. Obviously trying to stop the bleeding but all he could hear was his mom screaming for his dad. Sadness enveloped him at the stark realization that she didn’t care about him or what she had done.
    “Andrew,” he finally said, or at least he thought he said it.
    “Relax, Andrew. You’ve lost a great deal of blood but we’re going to help you, okay?” The voice said kindly. “Can you tell me what happened?”
    Screams, blood curdling screams. That was all Andrew heard before he passed out again. The paramedic frowned when the young man became unresponsive. He checked the monitor. His heart was beating slowly, but it was still beating. He glanced in the other room and saw that the other set of paramedics had stabilized the woman. She was clearly in some sort of psychotic state. His partner came up to him and they loaded the young boy into the ambulance. He was extremely weak and would likely not survive the night. His slammed the door closed as his partner sped through the streets towards the hospital. He gently pushed a piece of hair out of the boy’s face thinking he looked like an angel.
     
    One week Later
    Andrew awoke startled. He felt himself coming back from a long and fitful dream. In his dream he was suffocating, unable to breathe. There had been a heaviness consistently pressed against his chest as if he wore a weight around his neck. He saw his parents, but they were blurry and indiscernible. He wasn’t sure where exactly he was but the bed was comfortable, which was at least pleasant. He heard the sound of people talking nearby and laid perfectly still, he needed to hear what they were saying.
    “He’s severely malnourished but his electrolytes are much better now. He’s slept well for the past three days and seems to be recovering better than expected.” A soft female voice stated.
    “That’s good to hear.” A second female voice replied. “Do you think he’ll be…” there was a pause that led into a sigh.
    “Better?” the first voice asked.
    “Yes.”
    “I think he will heal from his injuries, but the rest I don’t know.”
    There was another pause before the second voice continued. “I found a place for him.”
    “He has family here?”
    “No. We’ve been informed that he has no living relatives and none of his records indicated any next of kin. But I found a really nice family that’s willing to take him.”
    “That’s wonderful news.”
    “Yes, it is. I was surprised I was able to find a placement so soon. From the looks of things, it appears that he and his parents have been homeless for some time now. We’ve found no school or medical records, but if we can get him placed right away, then we can at least get some sense of normalcy in his life.”
    “I’m sure he could definitely