Bodies

trente-trois

When Milan came to, her nose was first filled with the smell of strong antiseptic. 

As her senses began to return to her one-by-one, there was a consistent beeping next to her. Next, she noticed her arm had been restrained to the bed. A heart rate monitor and IV drip full of a clear bag of liquid also placed near her. 

The arm that was restrained was the same one her IV was connected to. As she looked her own self over, she was in a hospital gown. Immediately with her free hand she felt herself for her under garments, and to her mortification... she was definitely naked under the gown.

"Yo ass is finally up." 

A man's raspy voice spoke up causing Milan to jump and turn towards their direction quickly.

She relaxed when she was able to see that it was Malcolm, the guy who went by "X" for short with Ramses. Malcolm was sitting in the love seat near the window of her room. He looked pretty comfortable like he'd been sitting there for hours. 

He had a pink thermal blanket wrapped around him, bright yellow hospital socks on his feet. His white air forces were neatly placed right beside the chair and his black WhiteSox hat was sitting comfortably on the window sill. 

"How...How long was I out?" Milan croaked. Reaching to the nearest styrofoam cup of water on a small stand next to her. Malcolm saw her struggling and immediately got up to help pass the cup to her. 

She thanked him before bringing the cup to her lips. 

"You been out about 'leven twelve hours. I know I spent the night here, that's fasho. Ramses ass damn near rocket bombed my shit the way he had people bangin' my door down to come see 'bout you. You done had about three visitors too." Malcolm animatedly clued her in on what had been happening after the accident. 

Her throat was slightly soothed by the water in the cup, but her mouth still tasted like blood. Sitting back in her bed, Milan raised the back of it some with the remote on the bed. While the whirring of her being lifted up lulled slightly, Milan gestured for Malcolm to keep talking. 

"One visitor was Daya. She beat me here actually 'cuz she's the only favorite on your phone's contact list the police could reach at the scene. Once they had took you up to surgery—"

"Surgery?!" Milan couldn't help, but burst out. She immediately regretted the outburst by the way her abdomen protested.

Immediately she looked under her hospital gown through her neck hole and saw that she indeed had a wound on her lower stomach. Its wound dressing had been freshly changed she saw.

"What the fuck happened to me?!" Milan tried her best shout, even though what came out sounded more like a cat stuck under a car. Her throat was still so raw. 

Malcolm looked mildly annoyed at her dismay. "Girl, you gon' have to get that screaming under control. Shit, it's 6 o'clock in the morning."

The statement caused Milan to look out of the room's window, and it seemed Malcolm was indeed correct with the way the light from the rising sun was just beginning to peak into her room.

"But anyway," Malcolm continued, approaching her bedside and resting his arms on the railings of her hospital bed. "Your appendix burst during the accident. That's what the surgery was for. Other than a bruised rib and some cuts and scrapes, you're good. Doctors said yo' ass a Christmas miracle."

As the information washed over Milan all she could do focus on was the dark egg shell wall in front of her.

The sounds of her car being slammed into playing in her head. The blaring of her car horn coming back to her and it made goosebumps spring up across her skin.