CHAPTER 4 MEET JOHN DOE

CHAPTER 4- MEET JOHN DOE

The foyer has begun to fill up with people waiting for appointments with specialists. This hospital isn't a overly large one and most of the work done here is private. I walk outside onto the hospital grounds, the sun is up and it's warm outside. I breathe deep the scent of Spring. They're two hospitals here, one is an old building made of stone built in the late 1800's it had been converted into a high care facility once the larger modern hospital was completed. A few patients still reside in the old hospital it seemed nonsensical to move them.

They reside in the coma ward which was in the basement. I always saw this ward as human storage for broken equipment. The staff is limited and rarely present in the ward. I worry for anyone who would have to wake here and enter a different world to what they left. The ward isn't dirty and dank as you would imagine a basement to be, the walls are cream coloured and the rooms are drowned with fluorescent lighting. You can lose sense of time down here as they're no windows; it can feel somewhat eerie being hardly a soul around. I wandered down the hall occupying the whole of the narrow area arms stretched I'm running my fingers along both walls without fear of someone walking through me. Towards the end of the corridor an open door stood I walk into a familiar room and stood in front of three beds with three men in front of me lying in individual beds hooked up to monitoring equipment. None were ready to die which was sad, they were all stable but absent from reality.

I walked over to the first bed; a chair was already placed beside the bed from last I visited. An elderly man lay there with limited machines; he looked as if he were just sleeping. "Hello Albert..." I didn't know if that was the man's real name as he's been in a coma for fifteen years and his chart read 'John Doe' but it felt right.

"It's been a strange day for me and it's nice to see you. Nikolaus visited this morning, we watched the sunrise together which was nice, I guess. I really want some answers and I'm not sure how to get them from him. He doesn't usually stay here for very long which can be frustrating at times. I did my best to open up to him but it left me feeling frustrated. He's not very willing to talk to me." I sat in silence for a moment.

"Doctor Reeves is exhausted still. It seems as though he doesn't sleep in between his shifts. Nicole is still infatuated with him, she's found an excuse to talk to him but she has not used it yet." I sit back in the chair and twiddle my thumbs and think to myself "My whole existence is weird really; I don't really understand why I'm here. Kinda sucks..."

I knew Albert wasn't going to respond, which was fine. I just wanted to feel like I had a connection with someone. Voice my options and my feelings and pretend Albert is listening.

TING!

"I've got to go Albert, but I'll be back soon to visit." I smile at him, I receive no response.

TING!

I rose from my chair and close my eyes drifting out of the room and into another...