The sound was soft but held a steady beat that slowly became harder and harder to ignore. All Gwen wanted was to fall back into her undisturbed slumber but the grating sound of a machine continued to draw her back to consciousness. She was dazed and a bit confused as she lay there, eyes still closed, and wondered why the hell her alarm sounded so different. She didn’t remember changing it and she certainly didn’t remember setting it...
A flash of memories. A sword in her gut. Blood. Being carried by Scholomance.
Her eyes flew open, breath rapid in distress, as she looked around the stark minimally furnished room she was in. The whirring and beeps of instruments hooked up to her continued their monotonous tones, picking up her stress and indicating it with a faster tempo. Heaving a sigh through her nose she closed her eyes and worked to calm herself. I am in the hospital. Everything is fine.
She ran through that mantra a few times before slowly opening her eyes at the sound of someone entering her room. An older woman, obviously a nurse by the scrubs she donned, leaned over Gwen, brushing red hair away from Gwen’s face. The nurse was easily old enough to be Gwen’s mother and, in a way, that comforted Gwen. True, it had been years since she felt the comforting touch of her mother, but she never really forgot it. Those memories were ones she would never lose.
“It’s alright dear. Just relax.” The woman said as she withdrew her hand and fussed with Gwen’s blankets. “Your surgery went fine. You’ll be back on your feet in no time.” The woman offered Gwen a warming smile before walking over to check a few instruments.
Laying in the bed, Gwen attempted to shift herself and was amazed at the fact she felt very little pain. Unfortunately though, her movements caused a soft wash of nausea to overcome her and Gwen closed her eyes against it and willed the spell to end.
As if sensing what was going on, the nurse disappeared into the bathroom that was part of the two bed room, which Gwen was happy to note the other bed was empty, and quickly returned with a paper cup full of water. Holding the cup out, Gwen eyes it before shifting herself again to free her right arm from the blankets and take it from her. “Thanks.” She croaked out from a dry throat. Tentatively she sipped at the liquid as the nurse watched.
“You were quite lucky you were brought in when you were. If you hurt at all let me know and we’ll look into upping your pain medicine. Just be careful of the IV’s.” Again the woman reached forward to pet the top of Gwen’s head before taking the cup when Gwen indicated she was done with it. “I am MaryEllen.” She offered with a smile. “Now, I have to go get some other things taken care of. If you need anything there’s a button right there you can push.” She indicted a small red button that hung alongside the bed. “The remote for the bed is here.” She lifted the small remote that connected to the bed and would adjust it to however Gwen pleased.
After the woman left, Gwen was left to her own devices. She took the time to study the room. It was very similar to the one Isaiah had been in. Only the bare necessities of furnishings existed and all of it as sterile and unappealing as she remembered it being. The bed next to her was blessedly vacant. That probably means the hospital isn’t too full right now which is good.
Her eyes slowly shifted to a small table that sat beside her bed where the nurse had placed the paper cup of water. There, beside the cup, sat a familiar pink and grey cased cell phone. Bless whoever put that there. She had assumed it was lost or kept elsewhere but someone had the hindsight to think she’d want to contact people.
Licking her lips Gwen laid there staring at the device wondering if she truly wanted to move to retrieve it. It, would require a bit of a stretch considering it sat on to her left, and said arm was currently secured to her torso by some odd sling. It would be easier to just lay there and fall back into a sleep.
But she needed to text Isaiah.
That single thought was enough to spur her into moving. It wasn’t an easy affair by any stretch and resulted in Gwen laying in the bed panting at a strong bout of nausea raced through her along with the subtle pang of pain from her midsection. Still, her reach had been successful and the phone lay on her chest.
Riding out the nausea took longer than she wanted and she was not going to attempt to grab the cup in hopes that the water would quell it. Slowly it subsided enough that she dared open her eyes again to turn her attention back to her phone. Pushing the menu button brought the screen to life and Gwen glanced at the battery life which showed a mere 37% was left. More than enough to toss out a text to two but not enough to warrant wasting any more battery for anything else. Flicking a thumb over the screen Gwen glanced down at the IV in her right hand as she felt the odd sensation of the needle move. It didn’t hurt. It was just...strange to feel and the sensation continued on with each stroke and tap of the screen until she had a short message typed out.
Quote:
To: Isaiah
Sorry I didn’t call. Alright, but in hospital.
She pushed the send button and stared at the screen. a few tears began to form and glisten in her eyes as her mind quickly began to piece together how close she’d come to not seeing Isaiah again. Hell, how close she’d come to not seeing anyone again. She wrote another short message and sent it to him.
Quote:
To: Isaiah
I need to see you.
Sniffing back the tears and wiping at her eyes, Gwen tried to relax. The phone now lay by her hand on the bed as she slowly closed her eyes. It didn’t take long before she dozed back off to sleep, oblivious to any sounds from the machines around her or gentle vibration indicating a reply on her phone.
Word count: 1104
