VIVIAN
I was only partially aware that I’d been drifting in and out of consciousness. It all felt like a dream. Snippets of conversation held in low, concerned murmurs. Bright lights overhead. The beeping of heart rate monitors and the whir of various other equipment. The smell of latex and the calm blue of nurses’ scrubs.
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. Days. Weeks. Months. In the end, it didn’t matter. The second I thought I was alert enough to return and face reality, I was hit with an almost euphoric level of relaxation. It was probably the medication, but I wasn’t ever awake long enough to piece together what was going on around me.
I didn’t dream of anything while I was under, though I did occasionally hear a voice. Sometimes it would talk to me. Sometimes it w
