I wake up to a barely audible conversation. Practically a whisper.
My eyelids are reluctant to open, like someone stuck it with glue and a weight is over my head.
When I finally pry them open, the brightness stabs me viciously, a sharp pain digging in my head.
I feel nauseated for a moment but my body doesn't hurt anymore. A little respite after… everything.
I continue lying down, only it's not like hot asphalt, but rather a bed, not much softer and more cozy than asphalt.
Little by little my eyes get used to the light, and I can see what is happening around me.
"The sleeping beauty is awake?" asks a plump woman.
She is next to me adjusting a device full of wires, next to her a middle-aged man mumbles something and writes on a transparent clipboard resting on his abdomen, both are dressed in blue.
So my "super smart" brain realizes where I am. In a hospital. And I absolutely hate hospitals ever since the last time I was admitted for pneumonia.
I take a look around, I notice a girl in the bed next to me, I can barely see her, her blonde hair hides almost her entire face, and the rest of her body is under the sheet, not to mention that the inhaler covers what's left.
"You've made a miraculous recovery, so you'll be discharged soon. But the bruises and cuts will still be there for a while," says the plump nurse, interrupting my thoughts.
Then I look down, I too have the thin sheet and the hospital gown that is thinner than the sheet. I try to move my hands near my face and after a few tries I can see what she means. There's scrapes and cuts all over my body. As if aware that I saw them, they start burning like fresh cuts. The worst of all is the large, throbbing area that runs from my right cheek to my collarbone. I have a feeling this will take a while to heal, but that's okay, as long as the doctor recommends I stay out of school for a while…
My mind feels a little foggy, like I should remember something, but it's too far for me to catch those fleeting memories.
My throat is still raw, but the sleepiness that hits me is much more powerful, I feel my limbs going weak and I drop back in my pillow before I can ask for a cup of water.
***
"Hey, sleeping beauty, I'm so glad you're awake again! Gosh, it gave me a scare when you fainted making a face like that!" The plump nurse is still near the bed when I wake up again.
I try to speak but it's like my throat is inflamed by thirst, she notices me and goes to a jar near the window I didn't even see before.
The slight cold water is the best thing I ever tasted. I drink it so fast I almost choke, the nurse pats my back lightly with a worried expression.
"Thank you" I croak after she refills my cup.
"No worries, darling, tell me if you feel uncomfortable or want to go to the toilet, you have been out for two days now, I know it must be very difficult right now, you may feel your legs a little sore and weak, but it's normal and will go away soon." She is very gentle and it soothes me somehow.
"When… when I can go home?" I ask quietly.
She looks at me with pity, but before she can say something the door opens loudly.
"Hey girl, I have been so worried about you since they called my parents about the accident! It's a shame your parents didn't survive... And where's Sam?" Louise asks as she enters.
"Is that the way you talk with your friends? No tact!" The nurse frowns and chastises Louise.
Louise answers something and they argue but I can't hear a thing anymore, my ears start ringing and the images of that night are all I see.
The crash, the pain, the cries, the metal bending, the needle… Theodore… the flames…
It's gone…
My parents are gone.
The other shoe drops and now my eyes are burning for another reason, the tears drop and wet my cheeks, the cut in my face stings but nothing matters.
I lost it all.
No…
Not all. Samantha, she is still here, she's safe. She has to be.
She didn't go with us. She has to be safe.
I feel my face forming into a grimace and a bad taste sours my mouth.
She must be in full breakdown right now.
I need to get to her, and then we can think of what to do together. She must need me right now, I'm sure.
But… if she is all right, why is Louise the first here?
The nurse said I was out for two days, Samantha would be the first to be informed and be here…
My silent tears stop, I try to close the images of that night in a little compartment in my head, so I can function without giving in to the urge to simply hide and cry until everything is normal again.
The nurse is not in the room anymore, Louise is looking at me with a strange face.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be insensitive" she mumbles.
"It's okay. I haven't seen Sammy, didn't… she hasn't been in school?" I ask.
"Uh, no, the teacher even thought she was here in the hospital and didn't give her a warning notice, I thought she was here too. I guess nobody thought about confirming anything. I saw the police at your door but there was no one home." Louise says while approaching the bed and checking the monitors near me.
"Wow, what you're going through must be tough, right?" she says, collapsing on the bed.
I look at her, she's honestly acting strange.
Louise is my only friend at school (since kindergarten), I don't know if it's because we're so similar, or because we like the same things.
She's the same height as me, her hair is brown, but lighter than mine, we have the same deep brown eyes, the same fair skin, and we love music, books, and researching supernatural stuff, we both have been to some supposedly haunted places even.
People say we are twins separated at birth and then given to different families.
Today she's wearing her typical ripped jeans, black Iron Maiden t-shirt and boots that make her feet look bigger than they actually are.
"At school, everyone is talking about you." She suddenly looks directly at me and something flickers in her eyes but it's so quick I dismiss it as a light trick.
All I needed...
"Great. Now I'm the topic of the week, if you have anything else to tell me, you better tell me now before I commit suicide." I grumble.
"Hmm, you were in a coma for six weeks, so you have a mountain of pending assignments. Professor Janne assigned a biology project in pairs. Since you're in the hospital, I paired with Gregory, so you'll have to work with the new student. And then there are the midterm exams. Simple things, you'll ace them," he says with a straight face.
If I pretended to fall into another coma, would the teachers take away my homework out of pity? I highly doubt it.
"More reason to commit suicide, please, can I borrow your pocket knife to cut my wrists? And who is the new boy?"
"First, I won't let you kill yourself, dummy, so don't even try. Second, I don't know who he is. I only heard the teacher say he was your partner. He'll arrive the same day you're released to return to school. I think his name is Lucca Kingsford…'
I hope he's not an asshole.
The doctor enters.
"So, how's sleeping beauty?" he asks.
If I am the sleeping one, who is the beautiful one?
Probably the girl next door.
"Yeah... Doctor, when will Sleeping Beauty be able to leave?" Lou asks.
"Soon, she's been recuperating very well. Now, let me check how those scars are healing."
Lou looks uncomfortable for some reason, I just ignore it and let the doctor prod me however he wants.
I do hope I can leave soon. I hate hospitals so much...