Head Full of Ghosts

Chapter 20 - The Uninvited

Eli spent the night, somewhat ironically, in the hospital.

It turned out the room the welcoming committee had been trying to lead him to was a large shower room. They had him strip off his clothes and then he showered in front of them. To make matters more embarrassing, he found himself needing their help to really get cleaned off, because he wasn't able to move very well. Certain movements or stretches set off searing pain across his body.

When he was done, they gave him some new underwear and a hospital gown, then led him to some kind of mock doctor's office. Eli sat in a chair while the trio, who were soon joined by some new people, set about performing various checks on his vitals and other tests. Eli was somewhat thankful for this, as it was clear to him, at least, that his fight with Dr. Bennett had left him with more than a few injuries, and soon they were treating these wounds. One person, who had come later than the others, even told Eli that he was lucky to have survived with his injuries.

Eli laughed at her, looked around the room, and said, "Yeah, I feel really lucky."

She frowned and quickly left the room.

Eli had spent the night in the hospital on a couple of occasions before, and it was actually somewhat eerie how similar this experience was. It was almost as though the world hadn't stopped. He could almost close his eyes and believe that everything was normal again.

Except for the fact that he was the only patient in the building. At least as far as he could tell.

Somehow, this bit of normalcy was all the more devastating. Because, he realized, the world would never have this again. The world would never be like this again.

Finding sleep that night proved difficult. The empty, fully functioning hospital was just too eerie. Especially considering that the room he was left to sleep in was more of a long hallway, with beds dotting along its length every so often, but none of the other beds were occupied.

He tossed and turned all night, barely daring to even close his eyes. It did amaze him how little they checked in on him. Apparently they weren't too worried about him trying to run now. But where would he go? According to Cass' description of the place, and Eli saw this some for himself, the entire complex was surrounded by a river of zombies. Even if he made a run for it, found his way out of the hospital, and returned to the gate, he would very likely then have to cross dozens or even hundreds of zombies without getting bitten, scratched, or eaten alive.

And even if he found a section of fence that was empty of the creatures, Eli realized something else. Night was the time of the vampire. They probably didn't need guards at night. They were alive at night. The darkness was their element, in a way it could never be for humans.

Running at night was a guaranteed death sentence.

These thoughts didn't make it any easier to fall asleep.

When morning finally broke, the medical staff - Eli wasn't at all sure if they were doctors, nurses, or volunteers - returned and began working with him again. He soon learned that he'd be spending several days in the hospital recuperating. One of the staff explained to him that he had rather extensive internal damage. While not of it was especially serious, if he moved too much too soon before it had a chance to heal, he could risk making things worse in a way that could prove fatal.

They wrapped his stomach and chest in large ace bandages, and even made a cast for his right arm, which he was told had a small, hairline fracture in the ulna that could take a couple months to heal properly.

When the day was through and they had finally finished all their examinations, wrappings, and settings for the evening, they left him alone again in the same room as before. He was utterly exhausted, but despite that he found it every bit as difficult to fall asleep that night as he had the night before. He lay on his bed in the big empty room, staring at the ceiling in an effort to ignore the cavernous distances yawning at either side of him.