Call Me Crazy

43.

I woke up dizzy and feeling dysfunctional in a hospital bed. White sheets, beige walls, cold metal, it was all there. The complete hospital look to make any patient feel unsettled and sicker than they already are. My arms were wired with tubes and vigorous beeps came from the machines scattered around the cot my body laid in.

I was alone. No parents, not friends, nobody. Just the sound of clicking and pumping with the occasional sliding of the machinery. But what I cared about most of all was not the fact that I had fluids pumping into me and blood being taking from me, but that I had no idea where Tyler was - the one who brought me here in the first place.

Where the hell is he?

"Oh, you're awake!" A nurse exclaimed as she pivoted on her heel into the room once she realized I've awoken from whatever deep sleep I've been in. She grabbed one of the tubes and followed it to where it connected to the monitor. There, she recorded all of the numbers blinking brightly on the screen.

"Tyler," I managed to get out as I looked up at the dim lights above my bed. "Where... Where's Tyler?"

"Oh honey," the nurse said as she placed the clipboard under her arm and grabbed a cup of water that had apparently been sitting next to my bed. "He's next door. He's going into surgery soon. After that I'll let you see him."

"No," I said as the breath left my mouth. "I need him... I need him now!"

Right as I got the power to lift the upper portion of my body to look at her dead in the eyes, he rolled by in a wheelchair.

Tyler.

He looked dizzy, almost as if he had drugs shoved down his throat in an attempt to make him sleep. His arms hung loosely around the arm rests of the wheelchair as another nurse pushed him past the door, giving me a smile and stoping only for a second, but long enough for me to see my tired friend. His head rolled to the side of the backing of the chair until his chin was propped onto his shoulder.

"Tyler!" I exclaimed as I launched myself forward in the bed, only for the nurse to hold me back down. He didn't move. His body stayed still in the wheelchair as he sat by my doorway. But even though he looked so drugged that he couldn't keep his eyes open, he still had enough energy to give me a small and shaky smile, accompanied by mouthing 'text me'.

And with that short response, I fell back onto the bed, tears escaping my eyes as he was wheeled away. The nurse just smiled and told me that it was going to be okay, that soon I'd be out of here and with Tyler. Although, I find that hard to believe.

She finally hooked up a new bag onto the machine before giving me a schedule of when she'll return to check on me before she left the room, closing the door behind herself.

I cried some more. Now, I felt even more alone. I didn't ask for this. If I knew that I'd be in a hospital bed a day before, I wouldn't have gone looking for him. Though, my heart is what made me do it, so in a way I should be trusting my instinct.

Through blurry eyes and tears I took the phone off of my bedside table that he nurse had thoughtfully placed there for me. I scrolled through my contacts until I reached his name. Then, with trembling fingers, I started typing.

"Hey," was the first text. No response.

"I'm still here." Nothing.

"I told you I would always be on he other side of the bedroom wall. I never thought it would come to this, but I promised. I'm still here. You'll be okay." And with that, I put my phone down and cried into my pillow until I fell back asleep.