Was he Never Real?

Chapter 3

“Ugh,” I whined out. “How am I supposed to pass the time with no phone, no books, and not even a television in this room?”

I kept looking around the room, trying to think of something to keep me occupied, but came up short of any ideas. After about twenty minutes, I pushed the call button to get a nurse in.

When a short lady with nearly paper white skin and light brown hair walked in with a warm smile, I figured she must be my nurse.

“Hi Emma, I’m Ari, your main nurse until nine o’clock tonight! How are you

Feeling?” She sounded very sweet. I like her already.

“I’m alright, a little sore, obviously,” I responded, laughing a little at the end of my statement.

She laughed a bit too and checked over my vitals and all the other nurse-y stuff she had to check. “So what can I do for you, Emma?” She asked sweetly as she finished checking over everything.

“I need to use the bathroom, but I think I’m going to need some help getting in there…” My voice trailed off at the end as I was a little embarrassed to ask.

“Oh, of course! Here, I’ll walk you and pull your cart.” She walks over to my left side to help me up without hurting my broken arm. She leaned my bed up enough that I could lean forward without too much pain in my ribs, wrapping an arm around my back to support my weight as I worked my way off of my bed.

She helped me hobble to the bathroom — and yes I mean hobble, I haven’t walked in almost three weeks, and it felt like I was learning how to use my legs all over again.

When we finally made it to the bathroom, Ari pulled my cart in. “Just let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll help you back to your bed.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at her before she shut the door.

I used the bathroom and went to wash my hands, catching a glance at myself in the mirror. My hair was knotted like crazy, no makeup left on my face, and I was so pale it looked like I hadn’t seen the light of day in at least two years, not two weeks. There were a few cuts and bruises on my left arm and a small bump on my head along with a scrape on my cheek, but nothing serious, and it looked like they were all healing.

I stared at myself in the mirror for a few minutes and zoned out while washing my hands, thinking about how different I look now. Standing in this bathroom mirror, I almost don’t believe I’m the same girl that usually has semi-tan skin, freshly tamed wavy hair, and light, natural makeup.

I finished washing my hands, grabbed a few paper towels to dry my hands and took one more quick glance at myself in the mirror before hollering to Ari that I was ready. She came in and walked me back to my bed, getting my cart situated back in place and making sure I was comfortable.

“Is there anything else I can do for you, Emma?”

“Could you see if they can bring in something for me to eat? I’m starving!” I ask, feeling bad about asking so much so soon. It’s not out of the ordinary though, right? A lot of people need help getting to the bathroom and everyone needs to eat if they’re staying in the hospital.

“Of course I can. Do you want a small snack or something a bit heavier? You shouldn’t eat a full meal right now because it might upset your stomach, but I can get you some soup and juice? Or Jello?” She listed a few more options, but I didn’t pay much mind because the soup sounded great.

“I’ll have some soup please,” I responded, hoping that she was done talking because I wasn’t really paying attention anymore. I was so hungry that I couldn’t even focus on her talking once I felt my stomach rumble.

Ari left the room to get me soup and I looked back at the clock.

2:12 P.M.

There’s no way I’m going to survive here until Mason gets back. I will literally go insane in the next hour. I need something to do.

I sat in the bed, looking around and ended up staring out of the window for about ten minutes before Ari walked back in with my soup.

“Here you go, Miss Emma! Is there anything else I can do for you?”

She’s so sweet, I wish I could ask her to stay in here and keep me company until Mason gets back. I knew she had other things to do though.

“No, I think I’m alright for now. Thank you though!” I responded with as much enthusiasm as I could even though I wanted to ask for anything to keep me entertained.

2:25 P.M.

I looked back at the clock and almost cried. It had barely been an hour since Mason left, yet it felt like it’d been at least three.

5:47 P.M.

I ended up forcing myself to take a nap while waiting for Mason to get back. I was so bored that even though I wasn’t tired, I fell asleep pretty easily. I heard the door slowly push open and looked over expecting to see Ari but was happily surprised to see not only Mason, but Kelsey right alongside him. As soon as Kelsey realized I was awake, she sprinted over to me and threw her arms around me.