Drowning in the East River by Kimberly Pierce

straps.
     
    He squeezed his eyes closed, searching his brain for anything to cling to in his fuzzy memory. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, and how he had come to be in the hospital.
     
    Settling back down, the pain faded and David was left listening to the sound of his own raspy breathing. The bodies in the crowded room were oddly still, projecting the overwhelming shadow of death over the ward. Other than the painful sound of his own breathing, the only other noise was the occasional shuffling of someone moving under their covers.
     
    "Excuse me," David asked, closing his eyes against the anxiety bubbling in the pit of his stomach. Hearing no sound or movement in response, he tried to raise his voice a little more. “Anybody?”
     
    The searing pain in his throat every time he spoke was agonizing. Despite projecting his voice to shout, the sound escaping from his mouth was barely more than a raspy whisper. He swallowed back his pain and tried again. "Is anybody there?”
     
    He blinked, pushing the tears clouding his vision down his cheeks as he tried again to swallow. All he wanted was to moisten his parched throat.
     
    "You're okay.”
     
    David refocused, his eyes falling on a boy propped up awkwardly in the bed next to him. "Wh-" David started to speak, but stopped as a coughing fit hit him. He gasped, sucking in shallow breaths between coughs, the spasms feeling like razor blades slicing his windpipe. He gripped the sheets at his side, trying to get control of himself.
     
    "Paris," the boy replied, his voice dropping to just above a whisper as one of the sleeping men stirred in one of the adjacent cots. Looking at him, he couldn't have been much older than eighteen years old. A large bandage was tightly wound over one of his eyes, blood was starting to seep through the clean white cloth. Half of his face had been destroyed, probably by a bomb blast. His deep voice was strangely calming in the unsettling darkness of the room. His accent was British. "This is a military hospital just outside of gay Paris.”
     
    "How long have I been here?" David croaked, he closed his eyes and dropped back against the pillow. Each sentence took a herculean effort. He white knuckled the sheets, expressing his pain through his fingers. He exhaled sharply.
     
    "Two or three days ago, I expect. Someone said you were in a group that came off the German front?"
     
    David nodded, shifting his gaze back up towards the ceiling. He closed his eyes, letting memories flood back into his mind. His tongue tripped over the words as he continued. "My trench was overrun... The last thing I remember..." He paused, swallowing the frog in his throat.
     
    “Looking at you, I’d say gas?”
     
    "We had to go up and over to escape it." David said, looking through the darkness. "The Germans were just waiting for that."
     
    "That's what the nurses said."
     
    "Why am I tied down?" David asked, he tugged at the thick leather straps keeping his wrists locked at his side. The room was becoming increasingly clear as the minutes passed, and David could feel pain building in his muscles as his body woke from its drowsiness.
     
    "To keep from scratching the blisters I expect," the boy said. He stopped, gingerly scratching his bandage, which was digging into the side of his forehead. His voice was weighed down with exhaustion as he looked around the room, his eyes scanning for a nurse. "Just breathe..."
     
    "It hurts," David croaked, tugging on the straps. He squeezed his eyes closed, anxiety surged through his muscles. He blew out a shaky breath, speaking through clenched teeth. "I feel like my lungs are on fire."
     
    "That's good. I'd be more worried if it wasn't hurting," a nurse seemed to materialize out of the darkness above him, her white uniform shining angelically in the darkness. Her American accent stood out in the David stared up at her, as she quickly busied herself working over him. She slipped a thermometer under his