Insanity

Insanity Part 1

I wake up in a cold sweat. I try to catch my breath and get out of bed, but I can't. I look down and see my hands are handcuffed to the bed. A hospital bed. Where am I?

The cuffs look old and rusted, like I could easily break them. I pull against them and the bed creaks. I keep pulling but nothing happens. I look around the room for clues as to where I am. I've concluded the obvious, I am in an abandoned hospital.

I've been sitting here for what seems like hours when I hear some movement by the door. That's when I see the notice in the window: Now Hiring! Nurse for night shift. Then the door opens and a tall, thin woman walks in holding a clipboard. Her nurse outfit is unusually white, crisp and clean, compared to the room.

"Now, Alexander, how are you this morning?"

I look at the lady, "My name's not Alex, where am I?" I try and peer out the door into the hall.

The lady looked at me with sympathy, "My dear, you've forgotten your name! It must be the pain medication." She starts fussing with the IV in my arm. That's weird, I didn't feel that before.

"Ow!" A sharp pain goes up my left arm. "I'm not Alex! My name is Noah. Could you please tell me where I am?"

The nurse adjusts her hat and starts mumbling about one thing or another. "Hm, this last entry is over two years old. Oh, these doctors! I tell you, they see one patient and move onto the next forgetting to check on their patients."

"Excuse me, but why am I handcuffed? Are there more patients here?" I shift in the bed to face her. She has a small scar above her right eye.

"No dear, only you. As to why you're handcuffed, you'll have to ask the doctor. He has his methods." She rolls her eyes.

I look at the nurse again, and the room starts to spin. My head flops over to one side. I look at the sunlight shining through the window. It makes a funny shape. I laugh.

The nurse puts a warm blanket over me. The inside is soft and smells like coconut, but it feels scratchy on my skin. "You'll be a bit loopy for the next few hours. But you'll be back to normal in no time." She puts a white hand comfortingly on my knee. I am wondering why she's tickling me, I can't seem to stop laughing.

As the nice lady heads for the door, I notice my jacket hanging on the shelf. There were no other coats or hats in the hall. I wonder if it's because my jacket was mean to them so they took mine away.

************************************

I shoot straight up in bed. I feel awfully weak. I once again peer around the room and feel the chills running down my back. What on earth is happening to me?

I feel the handcuffs around my wrists, cruelly reminding me that I'm stuck here. "Yeah, I know." I say to no one in particular. The room is a lot darker this time, and there's an eerie silence surrounding the room.

The blanket is wrapped tightly around me, and I'm getting hot. I try to pull the blanket off using my teeth, but give up. I try and examine my surroundings more closely. The floors and walls are oak wood, and cobwebs are everywhere. I hate spiders.

I think about the strange lady from earlier today. Do I know her from somewhere? She seems familiar. Why did she think my name is Alex? My name is Noah. Noah from....where am I from? I can't seem to remember.

I wake up hours later to the same lady coming into the room. She swoops in with excitement and presses a bell on the table next to me. "Rise and shine Alex! Today's a big day!"

I peer from under my blanket. "My name's..not Alex." I yawn.

But the nurse doesn't seem to notice. She is immediately unlocking my handcuffs and taking out my IV. "Now, would you be kind enough to pop into the sitting-room on the ground floor and sign the book?" She smiles at me.

"What?"

"The book dear, every day we take a walk and you must sign the book on the main floor. My, my! You don't remember a thing, now do you?"

I start to wonder if I really did lose my memory, because as I get up, the nurse still rambles on about the same routine I've had for the past three years. Why can't I seem to remember any of this? And why the heck do I think my name is Noah?

To be continued...