"Ma'am!"
"Hello, Ma'am. Are you okay? Do you know what happened?"
When I open my eyes, two faces are peering down at me; they look official. Maybe they are the police or the paramedics; yeah they are paramedics. There is an ambulance where the bus usually pulls up. I wonder how I got here. I wonder what's going on. I stare up the two men looking down at me and blink a lot because the one on the left keeps shining a light in my eye. I don't know what they want from me and I don't know how to answer their questions. I hope if I just stay quiet and lie still they will eventually go away and leave me alone so I can figure out what's going on. Now the one on the right is pushing up my sleeve and wrapping some Velcro around my arm. I look down at my arm and think how strange this contraption is and how equally strange the thing in his ears are, it almost looks like headphones, but the other end is a metal circular shape that he pressed against my arm. It feels cold and I almost flinch at the unexpected chill but I stay as still as possible. I really want them to go away and stop touching me, but I don't want to say anything, I feel that once I speak it will all be over and I'll have to explain to them the things that I'm piecing together in my mind. Maybe I should write them a note and tell them that I'm OK and they can go away. The one on the right places his hands on my leg, one on my shin and the other on my thigh and bends my leg back and forth and then does the same thing to the other leg, then gently places it back on the ground. I hear them talking to each other and to me but I can't understand what they are saying. I wonder if they are speaking in a different language, but they are talking to me like I should understand. I close my eyes and let my head drop to one side. I hear loud sounds and feel clammy fingers try to pry my eyes open; I let them push my lids far away from each other and the light is back. I don't try to blink because I know I can't. I feel the Clam peeling my other eye open and the shining light hits the back of my head and this makes me remember that I hit my head multiple times. The Clam closes my eyes and I stare at the inside of my lids and feel grateful for my own private darkness where I can think and be and write and note. I gaze into the darkness and feel my body lighten up and float away from the ground. I smile and stretch my arms out and start flapping like a bird to see how high I can get. I'm soaring higher and higher and I open my eyes to look down below.
But when I open my eyes I'm looking up and the two men are looking down at me, but this time we are moving and my arms are strapped to my side and I'm lying on a stretchy cloth with a pillow under my head. There's a loud noise constantly blaring as the vehicle I'm in moves extremely fast but I don't know where we are going. The two men are still trying to talk to me, but I ignore them and retreat to my private darkness. Behind my lids, I feel safe, no one is bothering me and I can reconnect with myself and my thoughts. The next thing I know, I'm being wheeled into a room with lots of beds and different people are looking down on me. A girl stands and looks into my vacant eyes and writes notes on a metal clipboard as the two men talk to her.
"I need a name."
"She didn't give us a name. There was no identification on her."
"Miss? Can you tell me your name, please? Hello? Miss?"
"It's no use. She is non responsive. She has not spoken since we found her."
"Did she have any belongings?"
"She had these in her hand. It's nothing. These notes are all over the walls where we found her."
"Are these notes hers?"
"I doubt it. That's all we have on her. We need to be leaving now."
I want to go to sleep, I want to dream, I want to escape, I want to find comfort in my private darkness but my eyes betray me and continue to stare at the ceiling. I feel someone touch my arm and then a tiny pinch and then my my body melts into the mattress. Something courses through my veins and awakes me from the deaden trace I forced myself into, I try to resist it but I can't, so I just let it take over me, then my eyes start seeing and for the first time I am starting to understand. I look up and see a gentle face looking down at me and rubbing my arm. I make eye contact and try to smile.
"Hi there. Glad to have you back with us."
"Where am I?" My mouth feels very dry as I speak for the first time.
"You're fine, dear. You're in the hospital. You fell down and hit your head, but you're fine now."
"Then why am I here?" My voice sounds strange and distant, like it doesn't belong to me.
"The paramedics couldn't ID you, so they brought you here. If you tell me your name, we can start getting your discharge papers ready."
"OK."
"Hello, Ma'am. Are you okay? Do you know what happened?"
When I open my eyes, two faces are peering down at me; they look official. Maybe they are the police or the paramedics; yeah they are paramedics. There is an ambulance where the bus usually pulls up. I wonder how I got here. I wonder what's going on. I stare up the two men looking down at me and blink a lot because the one on the left keeps shining a light in my eye. I don't know what they want from me and I don't know how to answer their questions. I hope if I just stay quiet and lie still they will eventually go away and leave me alone so I can figure out what's going on. Now the one on the right is pushing up my sleeve and wrapping some Velcro around my arm. I look down at my arm and think how strange this contraption is and how equally strange the thing in his ears are, it almost looks like headphones, but the other end is a metal circular shape that he pressed against my arm. It feels cold and I almost flinch at the unexpected chill but I stay as still as possible. I really want them to go away and stop touching me, but I don't want to say anything, I feel that once I speak it will all be over and I'll have to explain to them the things that I'm piecing together in my mind. Maybe I should write them a note and tell them that I'm OK and they can go away. The one on the right places his hands on my leg, one on my shin and the other on my thigh and bends my leg back and forth and then does the same thing to the other leg, then gently places it back on the ground. I hear them talking to each other and to me but I can't understand what they are saying. I wonder if they are speaking in a different language, but they are talking to me like I should understand. I close my eyes and let my head drop to one side. I hear loud sounds and feel clammy fingers try to pry my eyes open; I let them push my lids far away from each other and the light is back. I don't try to blink because I know I can't. I feel the Clam peeling my other eye open and the shining light hits the back of my head and this makes me remember that I hit my head multiple times. The Clam closes my eyes and I stare at the inside of my lids and feel grateful for my own private darkness where I can think and be and write and note. I gaze into the darkness and feel my body lighten up and float away from the ground. I smile and stretch my arms out and start flapping like a bird to see how high I can get. I'm soaring higher and higher and I open my eyes to look down below.
But when I open my eyes I'm looking up and the two men are looking down at me, but this time we are moving and my arms are strapped to my side and I'm lying on a stretchy cloth with a pillow under my head. There's a loud noise constantly blaring as the vehicle I'm in moves extremely fast but I don't know where we are going. The two men are still trying to talk to me, but I ignore them and retreat to my private darkness. Behind my lids, I feel safe, no one is bothering me and I can reconnect with myself and my thoughts. The next thing I know, I'm being wheeled into a room with lots of beds and different people are looking down on me. A girl stands and looks into my vacant eyes and writes notes on a metal clipboard as the two men talk to her.
"I need a name."
"She didn't give us a name. There was no identification on her."
"Miss? Can you tell me your name, please? Hello? Miss?"
"It's no use. She is non responsive. She has not spoken since we found her."
"Did she have any belongings?"
"She had these in her hand. It's nothing. These notes are all over the walls where we found her."
"Are these notes hers?"
"I doubt it. That's all we have on her. We need to be leaving now."
I want to go to sleep, I want to dream, I want to escape, I want to find comfort in my private darkness but my eyes betray me and continue to stare at the ceiling. I feel someone touch my arm and then a tiny pinch and then my my body melts into the mattress. Something courses through my veins and awakes me from the deaden trace I forced myself into, I try to resist it but I can't, so I just let it take over me, then my eyes start seeing and for the first time I am starting to understand. I look up and see a gentle face looking down at me and rubbing my arm. I make eye contact and try to smile.
"Hi there. Glad to have you back with us."
"Where am I?" My mouth feels very dry as I speak for the first time.
"You're fine, dear. You're in the hospital. You fell down and hit your head, but you're fine now."
"Then why am I here?" My voice sounds strange and distant, like it doesn't belong to me.
"The paramedics couldn't ID you, so they brought you here. If you tell me your name, we can start getting your discharge papers ready."
"OK."
* * * * * *
"Ms. Mime? Don't forget your sweatshirt."
"Thank you, and please call me Shannon," I say as I grab my hoodie and turn to leave the hospital.
"Ms. Mime? I mean Shannon? You didn't fill out your middle name. It looks like I have another Shannon Mime in the computer."
"My middle name?"
"Or initial is fine too."
"Oh, of course: it's L."
"Thank you, and please call me Shannon," I say as I grab my hoodie and turn to leave the hospital.
"Ms. Mime? I mean Shannon? You didn't fill out your middle name. It looks like I have another Shannon Mime in the computer."
"My middle name?"
"Or initial is fine too."
"Oh, of course: it's L."
The End.
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3 comments:
You are such a wonderful writer. I hope one day you get noticed. I loved this series.
Ah ha!
Oh ok. That was an awesome ending. Wonder if it was a car of bike accident? Heh, heh. xo
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