The Institution

Chapter 12: Say What?

The next time I woke up, I remembered where I was.

I opened my eyes with ease this time, because the room was dim. I shifted my head to the side, expecting to see my mother sitting beside my bed, but there was no one. I was alone.

There was a steady beeping noise coming from behind me, and when I looked down at my body I saw tubes sticking out of my left arm. My right arm was in a cast. I tried to wiggle my fingers and sighed with relief when I saw them twitch. I couldn't see my legs because they were covered by a thick blanket. I looked down at my chest and saw that I was wearing a hospital gown. More tubes and wires were protruding and twisting around my torso.

My head felt much heavier than usual. I carefully reached up an arm, the arm with the IV, and felt at my hairline. There was a thick turban of bandages wrapped around my skull. I lowered my hand and knocked it clumsily against a tube that had been stuck up my nose. I frowned and dropped my arm heavily back down onto the hospital bed.

I felt oddly numb. There was no pain whatsoever, not even in my broken arm.

I turned my gaze to the room, taking note of the sterile white walls and tile floor. There was a door to my left. There was a window to my right. The blinds had been drawn, but a gap in the side showed me that it was nighttime. A table under the window was covered in flowers, baskets of candy, and cards. I wondered where they'd all come from.

I tried to recall what had happened to me but my mind came up blank. I had no idea how I ended up here.

I tried to make a noise but all that came out of my dry throat was a low whine. I wondered where my mother was. I wondered where the nurse was. I wished someone would come back, so I wouldn't have to be alone in this unfamiliar place.

I settled my head back, and, fighting exhaustion once more, fell into a light doze. Strange images flitted through my dreams that made no sense; a blur of colors, the flashing of lights, the squealing of tires. A wet road. A glowing hand. A blast of warm air.

I was roused from the light sleep by a low rumble of voices. I blinked my eyes open again and turned my head. The voices were coming from behind the closed hospital door. I heard my name.

The door opened and a familiar dark head poked through the doorway. She had a cup of coffee in her hand- I could smell it from the bed. She quietly closed the door behind her before turning around. She did a double take when she saw that my eyes were open and that I was watching her.

"Ethan!" my mother cried, and she hurried to my side. "Oh honey, I was so worried." She tightly grasped my left hand. I squeezed back weakly and tears welled up in her eyes. "How are you feeling?"

I wanted to tell her that I felt like a sack of freshly unearthed potatoes but my jaw was stuck.

She saw me struggling to speak and squeezed me on the arm. "Hold on, let me call the nurse-"

She pressed a button on the side of the bed. Seconds later, the hospital door was opening again and a nurse wearing blue scrubs scurried into the room. When she saw that I was awake, she smiled warmly and said, "It's good to have you back, Ethan!"

My confusion must have been palpable, but she paid it no mind as she walked around the bed and began poking and prodding my injured body. I had no idea what was going on, but I allowed her to work without complaint- not that I could have complained if I wanted to, seeing as I still couldn't really talk. My mom held my hand throughout the entire physical examination. Distantly I realized I probably should have felt embarrassed by this, but my current range of emotion was fairly muted.

When the nurse was finished checking my vitals, she procured a clipboard from the wall and scribbled down some notes.

"I understand that you're probably very confused right now, Ethan," she said kindly, as she put away the clipboard. "Do you have any recollection of what happened?"

I slowly cranked my mouth open. It felt like it had been stuffed with cotton while I was asleep. "No," I croaked.

"You were in a car accident," said the nurse, coming to stand at the foot of my bed. "You were knocked unconscious upon impact."

I stared almost drunkenly at the nurse. I was in a car accident?

"You fractured your right arm, broke your left leg, and sustained severe head trauma. You had what is called a cerebral edema- do you know what that is?"

I shook my head. To my left, my mother wiped at her eyes.

"Your brain swelled inside your skull. There was some bleeding too and the combined mass of blood and swelling put too much pressure on your brain tissue. You've been in a medically induced coma for almost two weeks."

I made another funny little noise of dismay at that, but found that I couldn't dwell on it for too long- my thought process wasn't making too much sense.

"You're lucky to be here, Ethan. You had a ten percent chance of survival but you've managed to pull through. I'm happy to tell you that you are now on the road to a full recovery."

I blinked tiredly. It was all too much for me to take in.

The nurse eventually left the room after reassuring my mother that she would continue monitoring me throughout the night. I relaxed back into the pillows, allowing the morphine to subdue my chaotic mind, and listened to my mother talk about everything and nothing.

It wasn't until she mentioned how quiet life had been without me at home, and how she loved hearing about all of my adventures at school that I remembered something important. I struggled to sit up.

"No, Ethan, you need to lie still," she said, her hand pressing into my shoulder.

I shook my head. "No," I managed to rasp, and she looked very concerned. "Who... else...?"

"Who else what?" she asked, her eyes wide and confused.

"Car...."

Her face melted with emotion and my heart was seized with terror, a terror that overrode the morphine. I only knew of one person who might've been in the car with me at the time of the accident.

"Ar'tur...?"

There was a moment where I was convinced that she was about to deliver the worst news of my life. But instead she smiled gently, with tears in her eyes once more, and patted me comfortingly on the arm.

"Arthur is fine, honey. He was the one driving but he escaped with only a few cuts and bruises."

I deflated in relief, the numbness returning.

"He's been here several times to visit you. I'm so happy you've discovered such a close friendship in him."

I wanted to snort at that but I was too tired. Arthur, my close friend? As if....

I fell asleep soon after that, this time dreaming of happy things, like warm coffee, sunny days, and a steaming plate of Ovid's French toast.