HURT FOR ME

Chapter One - Defeated

"You will face many defeats in your life but never let yourself be defeated."

‒ Maya Angelou

Olivia Bennett

It's been seven hundred and twenty-nine days since the accident put me in the hospital.

I've spent every day lying in a hospital bed slowly decaying like rotten flesh on a dead body. It hasn't been easy adapting to this environment. Waking up from a coma and being told it's been two years since you were last awake can really take a toll on you.

Two years of my life have been spent asleep or gone, whatever you'd like to call it.

When my mother explained everything the doctors had done since the day I arrived here, my brain could barely take in all of the information. She told me about the family who came to visit, all of the flowers and cards that were sent but later lost and she bragged about all of the news reports I was featured in for my incredible story.

21-year-old Seattle resident, Olivia Bennett, is finally awake after TWO years!

The large text lined the top of the newspaper that lay on my lap. I couldn't wrap my mind around anyone's fascination with my situation, this wasn't an inspiring story, it was a tragic one.

A very sad, lonely, and tragic story.

"Olivia, you should see what they're saying about you!" She flaunted around the room with a paper in her hands with the biggest smile on her face.

"It's not that big of a deal, momma." I tried to tell her but my tone was far from convincing.

Her eyes darted from the paper in front of her to me and narrowed, "this is a big deal. You're alive, people all over the state of Washington are talking about you, and-"

I threw my hand up to shush her. I couldn't listen to her boast for another minute. Her lips pushed together in a firm white line before she returned to reading the articles.

A lot of them were false and completely irrelevant.

Olivia Bennett, the 2-year coma survivor, speaks about her experience in the unknown.

I haven't spoken to anyone, especially not a reporter.

A young Seattle woman spent 2 years in a coma and it's speculated her parents chose this for her.

It wasn't a choice and if it were, I'd never leave it up to my parents.

This next article really caught my attention.

Seattle resident, Olivia Bennett, is said to have experienced two tragedies at the same time.

This one was partially true. I continued reading the small text under the header wanting more information.

A young woman based in Seattle suffered from a horrific car accident and when she arrived at the nearest hospital, doctors revealed she had renal cell carcinoma.

I skimmed my eyes across the small writing intrigued that it was accurate.

She's recently woken up from a 2-year coma and is said to be the longest coma survivor in Seattle. Many residents and doctors are inspired by the support her parents gave her as they never lost faith in their daughter. It was a miracle.

Was it truly a miracle? In my eyes, it's just a sad story. A lonely girl was hospitalized and put to sleep for 2 years and woke up to doctors informing her about cancer in her kidneys.