The Hospital

The aftermath of the deer car crash...

Fly heard the sounds of a hospital as she woke up. She opened her eyes groggily and looked around her. All of a sudden she remembered what had happened and panicked. This was how her mom died. A car crash, a deer at night in Winter. She needed to find out if Michael and Jonathan and Jessica were okay. She thought her heart would burst into a million diamond pieces and kill her if she lost another person she cared about.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Fly heard her heart rate monitor speed up and a nurse burst into the room followed by a doctor.

“She looks okay,” the nurse said to a doctor trailing her.

“You can go, Linda, I’ll handle my patient,” the doctor notified the nurse, Linda.

“Okay, but I’ll be back as soon as she’s good enough to have some food,” Linda replied as she left the room with a smile at Fly.

“Now, tell me what’s wrong, young lady,”the doctor said once the door clicked shut. She focused on his name tag as she gathered her thoughts, Doctor William Barton.

“Umm, I woke up and freaked out because my mom died in a crash because of a deer and  I got scared that one of the people in the car died. I- I don’t think I could handle another person in my life dying,” Fly’s voice choked up a bit at the end,

“Oh, well that’s okay to worry about. But if that’s all then you have nothing to worry about, that boy Michael is perfectly fine and is waiting to see you. He came in a few times to check up on you. Jonathan and Jessica are fine too, although the both had minor cuts and scrapes, but nothing too serious. Although I can’t say the same for the deer, it was dead the minute it hit the car, which, by the way, is totaled,” Doctor William chucked at the last bit, but the laugh was gone as soon as it appeared, “I’ll send them in to say 'hi' in a bit. Do you feel good enough to eat? I can’t imagine how hungry you must be after three days.”

“Three days!” Fly exclaimed, “I was out for that long!?”

“Yes, the deer hit the passenger side of the car so you and Jessica got the blunt of it, but because you were in the back seat you got a pretty bad concussion,” Doctor William replied calmly.

“Oh okay,” was all Fly could manage, she was in shock after the whole thing.

“You’ll be in the hospital for a couple more days, but you’ll make a full recovery.”

The doctor pressed the nurse button on the edge of Fly’s bed and said, “Bring the patient in room 203 a meal and tell her companions they can come in now,”

“Right on it doctor,” a nurse on the other side replied.

“They’ll be right in, I’ll wait here with you so I can fill them in and then I’ll leave you to your own, okay?” Doctor William explained.

“Alright, sounds good,” Fly responded.

“So, uhh, the police got a formal statement from everybody about the accident, but it was your aunt and Michael who had contradictory stories about how and why you both ran away. Whose story is true?” the doctor asked, obviously wondering if he’d crossed a boundary. But Fly was glad, finally she had someone who would listen.

“Michael’s story is true! My aunt is a lying drunkard,” Fly said with zeal.

“My, my! Someone’s got strong feelings there. So do you not like your aunt? I don’t want to seem like I’m interrogating you, but as a doctor it’s my job to make sure that potentially pernicious people are not allowed near my patients,” the doctor said carefully,

“Of course I don’t like her! She was verbally abusive and mean. She gets drunk all the time and blames me for my dad’s death. She makes me word too hard in her cafe!” Fly retorted with relish.

The door opened and the doctor squeezed in one last statement, “Okay, I believe you and I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you never have to see her again.” Fly was deeply comforted by those words, maybe that was part of why she had freaked out when she had woken up.

“Hey, I heard you were awake!” Michael cried as he gave her a hug, “I’m so glad you were okay!”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Michael. Now can you let go, you’re crushing me!” Fly joked.

“Oh, sorry! I forgot,” Michael replied with a laugh.

Just then Jessica and Jonathan burst into the room with huge, relieved smiles on their faces.

“I’m so sorry, Fly! I hope you’re not mad!” Jonathan said.

“Oh, of course I’m not mad, Jonathan! No one can predict a deer! It’s not like you weren’t paying attention or speeding. Also, how did you know my nickname? I don’t remember telling you,” Fly questioned.

“Michael told me,” Jonathan replied.

“And good news, honey, the police have brought your aunt and Michael’s uncle in custody. After the statement Michael made and your confirmation and strong words on your aunt set in in concrete. As soon as you’ve had a meal and the shock wears off, they’re going to get a statement from you too. We’re all just glad you’re okay. You go the worst of it, well besides the car and the deer that is,” Jessica said, giddy with excitement as she gave Fly a long hug.

Fly drifted to a place she’d long forgotten. For a minute she was back in her mother’s arm’s, safe and happy. She knew no one could ever replace her mother’s hugs, but Jessica’s were getting pretty darn close. She hoped she had children someday, Jessica would make a wonderful mother.

“I hope you have kids someday, Jessica, and Jonathan too. You’d make wonderful parents,” Fly told Jessica.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Jessica said with a fake smile.

“What is it, Jessica?” Fly asked in dismay at Jessica’s sad demeanor at the question.

“It’s nothing, Fly. You just focus on getting better,” Jessica said, eager to move on. It was obvious Fly had hit some sort of nerve. Once she was better and she and Jessica were better friends, she’d ask her again. She wanted to help her friend, whatever the problem.

“Well we should go, so you can get some rest and take a shower, eat maybe,” Jonathan announced. They all nodded, obviously wishing they could stay but knowing they shouldn’t, as they filed out the door. Michael went last and before closing the door he turned around and gave her a tight smile. The look in his eye, however hard he tried to hide it, gave away the fact that he knew more than she did. Maybe they would tell her later so she had time to adjust to all that had already happened.

A few moments after the door clicked shut, a nurse popped in with a great smelling tray of food in her arms.

“Well, you’re looking better,” said the nurse. A quick glance at her name tag revealed that she was Linda from before. She pulled up a tray that had been concealed by the arm of Fly’s bed at set it up in front of Fly. She placed the steaming tray of food in front of her and then proceeded to remove the many things attached to Fly.

She removed the vital signs monitor on Fly’s finger and then, most thankfully, she removed the IV and drip in Fly’s wrist. Fly had always had a problem with needles, and the prospect of a large one in her arm for 3 days did not help her phobia.

She placed all these things on a tray and wheeled the whole contraption of things out of the room.

Fly looked at the food and couldn’t decide what to eat first. There was a roast beef sandwich, a steaming bowl of veggie soup, 2 slices of buttered bread, a fruit cup, and a brownie for dessert.

Fly decided to skip the soup and just eat the sandwich. She took the first bite and the flavours overwhelmed her. The meat juices flowed over her tongue and the butter added to the flavours. She chewed slowly, enjoying a good meal.

Before she knew it, Fly had finished the entire sandwich. She was disappointed but knew more food was to come. After being on the run for 2 days and in the hospital for 3, the bread and butter tasted like heaven. She dipped the edges in the soup and the broth soaked into the crust and made them much, much better. She did this with both slices: she would dip the crusts into the soup and eat those, then she would eat the soft insides plain. Fly was just on the cusp of being full when she was ready to eat the brownie. She picked it up and took a bite. It was wonderful! It practically melted in her mouth. She finished it off, licked her lips and leaned back in her bed with a contented sigh.

Now all I need is for Linda to come back and tell me where I can take a shower, Fly thought. She looked at the array of buttons on the armrest of her bed. One of them was a ‘call nurse’ button. She wondered if she could use it or if it was just for doctors. She supposed it was for her since it was on her bed, a very convenient space for a patient to use.

She pressed the button and a nurse on the other side said, “How may I help you Charlotte,” Fly almost didn’t answer, she was so used to being called Fly that she almost didn’t respond to her given name.

“Can you please send a nurse in to take my food tray and help me take a shower,” Fly responded.

“Sure, sweetie,” the nurse said. Fly heard the intercom switch off and she let her finger off the button.

Fly sat back and thought about what was to come. She’d have to talk to the police about everything that happened, that she knew for sure. But what would happen to her? Now that she had no one to take care of her would she have to go to an orphanage? She hoped not. She didn’t want to get pitied all her life, and if she went there, no one would adopt her, she was 14 after all. No one adopts you after you are 12 years old. At least, that’s what Cecile had said. She was in an orphanage until she was 6. She didn’t remember much but she did know that the little babies had lines going around the block for them but the older kids were practically shunned by possible adopters.

She was still thinking about this when Linda reappeared in the door.

“How’s it going?” Linda asked.

“Good, just finished eating and I was hoping for a shower,” Fly replied.

“Well that’s good, you’re getting back to being yourself. You have a personal bathroom over there,” she pointed to a door on the left wall, “and there is a shower, bathtub,a few towels,  soap, a hairbrush, shampoo, and conditioner in there. Jessica and Jonathan also brought you some clothes they bought,” She handed Fly some comfy looking jean shorts, a cute purple t-shirt, underwear, and (thankfully) a bra.  

“Do you need my help or are you okay?” Linda asked.

“No, I should be fine, but thanks for taking my tray,” Fly said.

Fly swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up slowly. She felt much better than she expected and walked briskly towards the bathroom door.

She opened the door and was amazed! There was a shower head over a large bathtub! She decided to take a shower then take a soak in the tub to relax.

She undressed and stepped into the tub, she twisted the handle and hot water sprayed out the shower head and onto Fly. it felt so good, the hot water washed away all Fly’s fears. She just enjoyed the water for a few minutes then began to wash her hair. She squeezed a glob of shampoo on to her hand and lathered it into her hair. She rinsed off and did the same with the conditioner.

When the conditioner was in, she picked up the brush and began to comb out her hair. She’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be clean. She ran her fingers through her long, chocolate brown hair as she rinsed off.

Continuing her shower routine, she picked up the bar of soap and rubbed some on a handy washcloth. She lathered up her whole body and rinsed off yet again.

Finally, she was able to sit down. She watched the dirty water flow down the drain as she put the stopper in and filled the tub with hot, relaxing water. She filled the tub to its brim, she switched the water off and leaned back, closed her eyes, and relaxed for the first time in what felt like forever.

Half an hour later, Fly realised with disappointment, that it was time to get out of the tub. She sat up and pulled the plug on the water. She stood up and reached for a towel from the basket and wrapped it around herself.

She stepped out of the tub and began to dry off. When she was done she put on her new clothes and pulled her hair into a ponytail with a hair tie Jessica had conveniently provided her with.

She grabbed the door handle that led out of her room and she was about to open the door when she heard a gunshot.

Fly locked the door to the bathroom and stumbled over to the toilet where she vomited up all that she had eaten in the last hour.

Really, universe!  She thought, My life has been going bad enough lately, now a freakin’ gunman!

Getting up to rinse her mouth out, a plan began to form in her mind about how to stop a person from getting in her room.

Author's Note

Ignore grammar and spelling problems, I only want reviews on plot, charaters, etc.