RETURN OF THE LEGENDARY CASSIAN MARKAVELLI

6- nightmares after nightmares

Cassian stirred, barely conscious. Every breath was agony.

Something wet and warm trickled down the side of his face—blood. His neck was stiff. His legs—gone. Not from sight, but from sensation. He couldn’t move them. Couldn’t even lift his head.

Cassian... Cassian!”

His mother.

She was groaning, stuck in the wreckage. Her arms trembled as she reached for him then towards her husband.

“Clarence! Please, wake up!" But he was not moving and there was blood all over his face.

Cassian blinked slowly, trying to make sense of what was happening. Everything was sideways.

His mother turned back to him.

" Get up, Cassian. Please. Everything will be fine... just try, baby"She cried silently, trying to get to him, her body trapped halfway beneath the crushed front seat.

Her face was bloodied, but her eyes locked onto his in panic and love.

“I can’t... move,” he whispered. “I can’t feel anything.”

He tried talking but the voice was all in his head.

He suddenly felt the urge to close his eyes.

She tapped his face gently.“No, no, no... baby, stay with me. Just breathe, baby, breathe...”

She pushed open the passenger door with everything she had left and, with a choked sob, pushed him out of the car with all the strength she had left.

He hit the ground hard, unmoving. His vision blurred. His ears rang. He couldn't speak.

He tried to cry out, but his voice was gone.

His vision blurred, fading in and out.

Through the haze, he saw her trying to revive his father. Her fingers shook as she pressed them to her husband’s neck.

“Clarence. Wake up. Please, honey, wake up!” she cried.

No response.

Then footsteps.

The driver of the trailer walked toward them.

Cassian’s heart pounded weakly.

The man wore a black hoodie, the hood casting shadows over his face.

“Please... help us! Please!”His mother cried out " My husband, he’s not breathing!”

The man didn’t speak.

He stopped beside the wreckage. Reached into his coat.

A lighter.

Cassian watched in horror.with blurred vision.

“No. No, no, please!” his mother screamed, voice breaking.

The man crouched. Lowered the lighter to the leaking fuel beneath the car.

“NO!” his mother shrieked. “Please don’t do this! Please, I’m begging you! We’ll give you anything! Don’t!”

The man crouched and lit a small flame. Taking it closer to the leaking fuel beneath the wrecked car.

Please!” his mother screamed. “We have money—we’ll give you anything!”

But the man didn’t listen. Then tossed the flame to the leaking fuel.

Fire swallowed the fuel containment of the vehicle immediately.

The man took down his hoodie and smiled.

" Drako!! ” his mother’s voice cracked, her heart breaking mid-sentence. “Drako, please… why? Drako, please!!”

The man stood. Didn’t answer. He turned, walked back toward the trailer.

Her screams cut through Cassian like a blade.

But he couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Could only lie there, bleeding, watching as the flames rose higher.

The man turned away and walked back to the trailer

“Drako?” she continued to scream, eyes wide with betrayal. “Drako, please... not like this... not to your own sister!!” she was crying.

The man got into the trailer and drove off, without a glance.

“NO!” she screamed, climbing toward her husband. “Clarence! Wake up! Please!”

Then the fire got bigger.

Cassian could feel the heat from where he laid.

“NO! CLARENCE! SOMEBODY! HELP!! PLEASE!!!” she screamed, pounding against the seat.

The flames spread fast. Smoke poured out in thick plumes and her screams ripped through the air.

Cassian screamed too, but no sound came out. He tried to crawl. His arms gave out.

“Mom…” he cried silently, tears falling freely. “Mom…”

And then,

BOOM!

The car exploded in a flash of light and fire.

The shockwave lifted Cassian off the ground and hurled him across the road like a broken doll.

That bright flash was all Cassian saw before his world went black.

Soon, Cassian began to hear noises all around him.

Footsteps.

Voices.

They all came at once, making everything seem too loud.

He slowly opened his eyes to bright white lights. The sharp, clean smell of the hospital hit him like a wave.

The voices came again.

“Pupils reactive! He’s coming to—Cassian, can you hear me?”

He closed his eyes and opened them again.

“Suspected thoracic injury... possible nerve damage... limited movement in the legs…”

" Prepare for surgery immediately!"

His eyes began to hurt and he had to close them.

He felt so weak and his chest rocked violently each passing seconds.

“Vitals dropping,” another voice said.

“BP’s low. Get the transfusion going now.”

A mask descended over his face—oxygen. The nurse’s hands were gentle, but rushed.

Cassian blinked. The lights blurred again.

He was slowly losing consciousness.

The ceiling spun faster.

Everything hurt.

He couldn’t move. Not his legs, not even his fingers.

Panic bloomed in his chest.

Before he knew it, his world went dark again.

****

Cassian’s eyes suddenly flew open.

The hospital room was bright, but the echo of his mother’s screams still rang in his ears. His body jerked violently in place, restrained by the tightness of the medical straps across his chest.

“NO!” he screamed.

Monitors beeped in alarm.

Doctors flooded in. Nurses followed.

“Patient’s awake!”

“Hold him down—”

Cassian started crying, gasping. The smell of smoke, the roar of fire, the sound of the explosion—it was all there again, like he never left it.

He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was broken noise.

“M-M-Mom… M-M-Mo…”

His lips trembled.

The explosion still echoed in his head, his mother’s scream tearing through him like broken glass.

“Cassian!” a nurse called, grabbing his arm. “You’re safe. You’re at North Valley Medical. You’ve been in a coma for two weeks. We’ve got you, just breathe, okay? Breathe.”

Doctors flooded in.

“Get 5mg diazepam, stat.”

“Vitals are spiking—stabilize him.”

“He's disoriented—possible PTSD episode.”

Tears rolled freely down Cassian’s cheeks.

His body was still. He couldn’t move his legs, couldn’t lift his arms. His throat tightened with fear.

The doctor leaned over him. “Cassian, can you hear me?”

His mouth opened again, trying to form words—but the stutter had taken hold.

“Cassian, you’re okay—you’re in a hospital. You were in an accident.”

“You’ve been in a coma for two weeks.”

“Careful with the vitals—BP is rising.”

" Bring in the supplements!"

Cassian’s breath hitched. He wanted to speak, to ask about his parents, to scream her name but when he opened his mouth, the words caught in his throat.

“H-h-h...m-m...mo—”

His voice cracked. Stuttered. His lips shook with the effort.

“W-wher... wh-where's...”

A nurse placed a hand on his shoulder gently. “Don’t strain yourself, Cassian.”

But tears streamed down his face.

He didn’t understand what was wrong with his voice. It was like it had broken inside him.

It felt like his throat was being strangled.

One of the doctors nodded to another. “There may be neurological speech disruption. Possibly trauma-induced stuttering.”

Cassian blinked rapidly. He couldn’t even move his arm to wipe his own tears.

And then, as quickly as he had awakened.

The monitors spiked.

His chest rose unevenly and his breath grew louder.

“Sedate him—he’s crashing again!”

Casdian tried to look up but his sight had gotten blurry.

The voices seemed so far away now.

Before he knew, the darkness slowly came again.

A tear dropped from his eyes before his eyelid went shut -