Demons In My Bed

Waking

Tick. Tick. Tick....

Electric blue eyes slowly flickered open, offering a hint of life that had previously been presumed snuffed out. Slowly, the young woman peered around the room as shapes and images began to make some sense.

"I'm in... a hospital?"

It was true, she was lying in one of those beds hooked up to various wires going to different monitors. The walls had been painted a lovely shade of sky blue: the theory being that light colors like this were supposed to be calming for patients. It was not after suddenly waking up somewhere strange. There was what looked to be a closet type thing in front of the bed with drawers, a TV mounted on the wall above that, a couple of semi-comfy looking chairs off on either side of the bed, a small end table next to one of the chairs by the large courtyard windows, and another portable table sitting just next to the bed on the other side. It looked like there was another small room next to her bed and then a door which she assumed led out into the main hallway. The only other clue to help shed some light on the current situation was a whiteboard on the wall that said Realm General Hospital and information describing the attending doctor and nurses for that day.

Realm General Hospital

Room 333

Date: 10/31/2023

Patient Name: Ferrow Undergrove

Status: COMA SINCE NOVEMBER 2014

Attending Doctor: Dr. Westover

Attending Nurse: Lilly

One more quick surveillance around the room and her eyes finally locked onto their target: the nurse call button. Her hands and skin had become extremely pale over the years and she almost looked like a specter reaching over to push the big red button on the control panel. So, I’ve been asleep almost 9 years... Just as Ferrow was doing the math in her head, a short round woman came bursting into the room, followed by a tall slender man in glasses and a white coat, and an entire entourage of other people wearing scrubs that matched their bubbly leader.

“Miss Undergrove you’re awake! After all this time, you’re finally awake!”

It took no time at all before the short bubbly woman was on her right fussing over cables and blankets trying to make sure everything was in place now that her patient was awake. The tall slender man with glasses and the white coat took her left while the rest of the posse settled at the foot of the bed for closer observation.

“Please, Mrs. Watkins, don’t disturb the patient too much. She must be quite confused and will need time to process everything properly.”

Long narrow fingers reached up and delicately pushed the wire frame of the glasses further back up the arch of the man's nose before he grabbed a pen from his pocket and began scribbling something down on the clipboard in his other hand.

The nurse only smiled and hurried back out of the room with promises to return shortly after fetching more necessary equipment. Once the doctor finished scribbling whatever onto his clipboard, he looked back down at Ferrow and smiled.

“Miss Undergrove, I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of time for answers later. As for now, I will be submitting an order for something healthy but light for you to eat. We will need to run some tests and do a few scans of your head later and I want you to be in the best condition for them. Please relax and maybe watch some TV while you wait. Your nurse, Mrs. Lilly Watkins, is only a push of the button away if you need anything else. Welcome back and I look forward to monitoring your progress further, Miss Undergrove.”

With a click of his pen, it seemed as quickly as the man and the entourage had appeared they were gone again.

The rest of the day felt like a blurry nightmare come to life. Ferrow didn’t know what to think about everything that had just transpired. The doctor was right, she had a lot of questions and it frustrated her being unable to get the answers. Just as her thoughts had begun to stray, the bubbly nurse in purple scrubs from earlier came bouncing back into the room with her arms full of more supplies. A young man with a small cart quietly filed in behind her and set the tray of food on her bedside table before exiting again without a word.

“Now, Miss Undergrove, I’ve brought you some extra blankets, another pillow, a clean gown and socks, some toiletries I will stock in your bathroom here,” Mrs. Watkins said before floating off to do so.

Looking over to the table with the tray of food, she could feel her stomach rumble. When was the last time she had real food? Perhaps almost nine years ago before the coma? Electric blue eyes snapped back up to the nurse's oval face once she returned from stocking the bathroom.

“Now, is there anything else I can get for you, Miss Undergrove? Please, eat your lunch! More staff will be here soon to take you for your tests the doctor ordered.”

Lilly gently pushed the table from the side of the bed so that it was now hovering over her lap and she could clearly see the spread of goodies that had been bestowed on her. A cup of pudding, a fresh mix of strawberries and blueberries, some jello, a couple of different kinds of juice, and what looked to be some type of chicken salad.

“Mrs. Watkins, actually...”

“No! Call me Lilly. I’ll have none of that, Mrs. Watkins nonsense from you. Now what were you going to ask, dear?”

The nurse's warm smile helped settle her a little inside, but she could still feel a storm brewing.

“Sorry. Lilly, do you think you could... you know, tell me what happened to me?”

Her voice sounded so soft and weak; she almost didn’t recognize herself as she spoke. For the first time since this woman had entered her room, Ferrow could see the smile leave the woman's voluptuous lips and become a frown, even if it were for just half a second.

“How about we wait until after your tests, okay? I wouldn’t want them to get inaccurate readings because I upset you right before.”

Somehow, she knew she wouldn’t get the answer she sought from her either, but it was still worth the shot. Lilly could tell there was only disappointment in her answer, but knew better than to let the truth slip just yet. Just as the nurse had started to fuss over the blankets and pillows again to distract from the previous conversation, a tall, beautiful blonde in pink scrubs came waltzing in with a wheelchair.

“Good morning, Miss Undergove. I’m your transport this morning for your MRI and other head scans. Do you think you will need help getting into the wheelchair, or would you like to try yourself?”

Wow. When was the last time I tried to stand? Or walk? Is it just like riding a bike? “I don’t know...” Ferrow looked down and could barely see herself under the pile of blankets. I guess a lot is going to be different now. I might have to relearn how to be... normal again.

The blonde in pink pushed the chair over next to the bed and pulled the blankets back from her body. Holy smokes! Every bit of visible skin was Casper white and covered in her naturally thick, dark brown hair that had been neglected to be tamed over the years. I don’t even want to know what the rest of me looks like.

“Why don’t you try yourself, and I will be right here to catch you just in case, okay?” she said, positioning herself in a way that she could easily catch Ferrow if she fell during the transition. Taking a deep breath, she nodded and attempted to slide her skeleton body over to the edge of the bed into a sitting position. After a few moments of pathetically weak struggling, she finally managed to prop herself into a somewhat sitting position on the side of the bed.

“Good job, Miss Undergrove! Let me unhook some of these lines and then let’s see you put yourself into the wheelchair.”

It felt good to hear some encouraging words, and the small break while the nurse unhooked her lines to free her from her eight-year prison seemed to be just what she needed for momentum to thrust herself off the bed and into the wheelchair seat.

“Wow, look at you! I can’t wait to see what your new scans look like.”

The blonde’s smile was just as beautiful as the rest of her, and with a few bats of her pretty lashes, off they were down the hallway of the hospital and headed towards the elevators. An overwhelming sense of emotion suddenly engulfed her as they reached the elevators and she almost burst into tears without any explanation. It took every ounce of her being to keep it together as the nurse pushed the button to summon their ride.

DING!

The sound of the bell signaling that their ride had reached its destination almost made her jump from her seat.

“Mrs. Undergrove! Are you okay?”

She only nodded her head yes and looked away as the blonde loaded them onto the elevator and pressed the button for floor 2.

“I can only imagine how overwhelming this must be for you. Just try to relax. The tests will be done soon and you’ll be back in your room resting peacefully again,” the nurse cooed, trying to calm her. It helped a little bit, but there was still a sort of uneasy sinking feeling rotting in the pit of her stomach.

DING!

This time she didn’t jump when they reached their new floor. Once the doors opened, Ferrow took a deep breath to try and help settle her stomach as the nurse took off on the next stretch of their journey. Down the hall they glided until finally they came to some double doors that appeared locked tight. With a quick swipe of her badge, it was almost like magic as both doors suddenly moved and opened for them to enter. Another group of nurse techs passed pushing some kind of equipment as they entered a different section of the hospital. Down the hall and to the left they went, passing different testing rooms. Some were obvious what they were, and then there were a few strange-looking rooms that simply marked Observation. At the very end of the hallway was the room marked CT/MRI. Here we go.

Once the nurses got her onto the table and hooked up to everything, Ferrow could feel herself fading out slowly. All of the fussing from the nurses over having everything ready and in the right place for the tests only sounded like background music at that point. She had no idea how long they kept her on the cold table as the mechanical rings moved around her body and head taking scans. At one point, she could feel a small warmth engulfing her body from some kind of dye they injected her with before she slowly lost consciousness...

Groggy, her eyes started to flutter again, signaling another sign of life returning. Suddenly, they shot open and she sat straight up in the hospital bed and locked eyes with her nurse.

“Oh my goodness, Miss Undergrove! You gave us quite the scare, we thought we had lost you again!”

Ferrow could feel an overwhelming surge of anxiety getting ready to rip her entire anatomy apart. The pain in her chest was growing and it felt absolutely suffocating.

“What the f**k happened to me!?!”