Compound 41

Chapter 3

"I'm here, Evelyn" came her mother's voice beside her. Evelyn turned her head and could see her mother sitting next to her, holding her hand, but she couldn't feel it. The machines next to her began to beep faster in response to Evelyn's elevated heart-rate.

"What happened, Mom? Where am I?" Evelyn asked, choking back tears.

"You're at the clinic. You had a seizure" her mother said trying not to let her emotion control her voice. "They had to give you a sedative in order to give you your regular injection. They want to keep you here overnight for observation."

"Mom," Evelyn whispered between a few stifled sobs. "I can't feel my hands."

"The Doctor said that might be a side effect of the sedative. You also may not be able to sit up for a few more hours. But they don't think there's been any other significant damage. They are just concerned about the possibility of seizures becoming more frequent."

"I'm sorry, Mom. It's my fault, I was late. I should have left work and come on time or this wouldn't have happened" Evelyn said, feeling a slight sense of relief that she would hopefully regain the use of her arms. She had accepted a long time ago that she couldn't use her legs, but was terrified at the thought of losing any more mobility than what had already been lost. "Is Dad here too?"

"Yes, he went down to the cafeteria to find something for you to eat when you woke up, he should be back any minute."

"Evelyn" came the stern voice of the Doctor as he entered the room. "How are you feeling?"

"I can't feel much of anything below my neck" Evelyn said bravely, trying not to show the Doctor how upset and scared she really was.

"I expect you to regain your usual levels of feeling in a couple of hours at the most" he said to her without any compassion or feeling. "You need to understand how sensitive your condition is. One missed injection could lead your body into a downward spiral of degeneration. We've been able to combat your disease with the treatments you've been receiving, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to be consistent through this process. Don't be late again, or the effects may not be manageable."

"She gets it, Doc" came the voice of Evelyn's father at the doorway. "Evelyn knows how sensitive her situation is, and I'm sure this won't happen again."

"I'll give you all some time alone together, but Evelyn needs her rest. Visiting hours end in 20 minutes" the Doctor said, and then left the room.

"Hi Dad," Evelyn said softly, appreciating how her father was always willing to stick up for her, even if she had gotten herself into this mess by being irresponsible.

"Hello Princess" said her father as he set some food down on the nearby table, and gave Evelyn a gentle kiss on the top of her head. "That guy is just in it for his research, don't worry about how grouchy he gets. He's always been like that, even when you were a baby."

Evelyn's father had never been a fan of the doctor. He didn't like the way that the Doctor spoke to Evelyn and he didn't like his bedside manner. Everything about Evelyn's situation and dependency on this clinic, and only ever this clinic had always bothered him, but he could never put his finger on why. It all felt so orchestrated to him, but he wasn't willing to risk Evelyn's health by arguing about something he knew nothing about.

When her parents left for the evening, Evelyn closed her eyes, but wasn't able to sleep. She was exhausted, but the feeling had begun to slightly return in her arms and hands. It ached and tingled, much like when one's limbs have fallen asleep and the blood flow is returning to normal. She tried a few breathing exercises to distract herself from the discomfort and that's when she felt something she'd never felt before. It was like she wasn't alone in her own skin. As if somehow there was another presence, or like some part of her inside was waking up.

It wasn't like she was hearing voices, but more like new sensations inside of her were trying to come to the surface. She closed her eyes and trying to focus on the feelings that were bubbling up inside of her. It was like she had been stuck in a dream for a long time, and somewhere inside she was finally starting to wake up and see and feel the world in a new way that she never had before.

As Evelyn focused on this feeling, she felt like everything was different. She could smell things that weren't in her room. There was a strong scent of honeysuckle that seemed to be coming from outside of her window, even though she knew there was nothing but a parking lot out there. Beyond the heavy clinical medicine and disinfectant smells of a hospital, she thought she could smell the perfume of the woman down the hall, and the cigarette smoke on the jacket of someone nearby. She could hear things it didn't make sense for her to be able to hear. Voices outside of her room sounded like they were right next to her and it all felt normal, like it was supposed to be that way.

The next thing Evelyn knew, it was morning and she was waking up. She didn't remember falling asleep and she couldn't feel the new sensations she had felt last night, but she remembered them, wondering if it had all been just another dream as a result of the seizures. The normal feeling in her arms and torso had returned, and Evelyn felt back to normal, or at least what normal had been for the last couple of years. She was glad to have not done further damage to herself and that she hadn't lost more of her capabilities.

Evelyn decided she wasn't going to tell anyone about her dreams or what she had felt last night. Even if she had been able to describe it in words. Everything had felt so real, and she wanted it to be all her own, and not dissected and discussed with the Doctor. And for some reason, she felt that talking about it with anyone would somehow be betraying herself to let anyone else know about them.

When Evelyn's parents came to pick her up, Evelyn was back to her normal chipper self, just happy to be leaving the hospital.

"Evelyn," came the Doctor's voice as she was being released. "In two weeks, we're going to need to have you come and stay for 48 hours. After this seizure, I'd like to run a few tests. We may even have an updated treatment plan after we get the results from that."

"Ok" Evelyn said, unhappily. She really did appreciate all that the Doctor had done for her, and that they were working toward a cure and treatment for her condition which was pretty rare and underfunded. She just hoped that what they learned from treating her would be helpful to others like her in the future. "I'll see you next week for my regular appointment."

"Please be on time" the Doctor said pointedly with a piercing stare, and then he hastily walked away.