Twist of Fate

1

She opened her eyes, met with an insufferable brightness, and the view of a tiled ceiling she'd never seen before. The silence and pain were confusing. Her body ached, a dull pain deep in her bones and a throbbing in her temple. It was like when you woke up after a night of drinking and realized you had blacked out. You're in your bed–but you have no idea how or when you got there.

That was kind of how she felt now, but when she looked around the room she wasn't in her bed. She was in a hospital room and it was silent:. there were no machine beeps, no buzz, no indistinct chatter of nurses. Silence can mean different things to different people. Peace, comfort ... unease.

No. There was a thump.

Aurora shot upright and immediately regretted it. She winced–the sudden movement was jarring. But then, faintly, she swore she could hear someone call out: "Nurse, Help."

She pulled the IV out of her arm as carefully as she could without looking at it, then pulled the blanket aside.

She made every movement slow and cautious. Honestly, she kind of felt like she was dreaming. She didn't know where she was or how she got there. She could only hope that this was a dream, and that the call for help wouldn't turn it into a nightmare.

She climbed out of the hospital bed–taking note that regardless if this was reality or a nightmare–she'd be running around in a hospital gown.

She swore she could hear water running. Then a door opened, and that sound was more distinct. But then she could hear movement in the hallway: something rolling and footsteps. That was real. This is real. Potentially.

Aurora dragged her bare feet across the room, trying not to flat-out fall over. For some, reason her body was unused to simply walking.

She slowly pulled down the doorknob and carefully edged the door open.

There was a man. But also, the lights were flickering, the hallway looked empty and there were papers strewn about everywhere.

"Hey!" The words died in her throat. God, she was parched. The only sound that came out was a rasp. She cleared her throat and knocked on the wall, managing to let out a weak, "Hey."

The man turned around and stared at her as she entered the hallway.

He had a thick bandage around his chest and he looked absolutely miserable.

"Hey!" His voice was as coarse as hers and he shuffled towards her. "Where is everyone?"

Aurora looked up and down the hallway in confusion, then at the man in front of her with growing uncertainty, because he had a thick southern accent. And well, she didn't live anywhere near the south. "I just woke up, where are we?"

The man tilted his head in confusion–clearly, they were in a hospital. The poor man looked even worse up close. He probably didn't know anything more than she did.

Do you shake hands in a situation like this? She outstretched her arm anyways, "Aurora Brennan."

He slowly grabbed her hand and shook it, the action looked uncomfortable. Figures, the man had a massive bandage around his midsection. "Rick Grimes. Kings County Sheriff's Department."

It was her turn to tilt her head in confusion, "I'm sorry? Kings County Sheriff's Department? Where are you from? I swear they're only called that in Texas."

"Georgia," he stated.

Georgia? Aurora had never in her life been to Georgia.

This was a moment when she could have dramatically fainted. She didn't know what it was like to faint though, and she would probably scare this man to death. So instead, she laughed in confusion and nodded her head in contemplation as if it would help her situation. "Cool. Anyways," she gestured around them, let's figure out what this is, yeah?"