Listen To The Universe

Part 3: Hospital

      Ali woke up how they always say you do, to the beeping of machines and the blue blurs of doctors and nurses. For some reason Ali didn't know, she was laying on her stomach, covered in a thin white sheet. Through her blurry vision she could make out what she thought was a hospital room and a nurse attending to something on her back. What— am I doing—in a hospital?? The last thing Ali could remember was black, and before that pain, so much pain on her back. Ali was able to croak out a "What—am I—here for?" and at the scratch she felt in her throat "Can I—have some— water?" The nurse, who was attending to the burn on her back, clearly startled, replied;
"Oh, I didn't know you were awake" duh I just woke up, Ali thought."You're here for a large 3rd degree burn on your back and a concussion."
"A concussion?"
"Yes, when you blacked out you fell and hit your head on the arm of a chair." The nurse said and poured her a glass of water and picked up a clipboard.
"Do you remember the events leading up to this injury?"
"Yes" Ali said and took a sip of water.
"On a scale of 1-10 what is your pain level?"
"Um, 5" Ali said realizing her back felt much better.
"How dizzy do you feel on a scale of 1-10?"
"4"
"Ok great, do you have any questions for me? If not I can go get your grandma and grandpa, they are filling out paperwork but I'm sure they would love to hear that you're awake."
"Ok thanks....nurse...um..?"
"You can call me Regina, darling. I will be back with your grandma and grandpa in a few." Ai laid her head down, doing the best she could to get comfortable on her stomach. Ali reached for the remote on her bedside table and turned on the TV. It automatically turned to the news channel and Ali was surprised to see 2 female reporters already talking about the plane fire she had been in.

"A few hours ago at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, a disastrous event occurred. A plane coming in from Florida caught on fire right as it was approaching the airport. Luckily, everyone survived. 5 people were hospitalized and about half of the flight passengers sustained small burns. Here we have some photos from the wreck." Ali watched as the newswoman motioned towards a large screening with pictures of the wreckage on it. She was caught off guard to see a picture of her and Lewis running into the airport. Her hair was wild and tangled with lots of soot and debris in it. The clothes they had been wearing had some holes in them, most likely from ashes from the fire. Wow, was all Ali could think I'm on the news and also I'm on the news and I look terrible.

"Oh, sweetie pie! We're so glad you're awake!" Grammy Ellen said as she burst into Ali's hospital room. "How ya feelin?"

"I've been better."

"We're just so glad you're okay. You could've died!" Way to be subtle Gram, way to be subtle.

"Yeah, I'm glad I'm alive too," Ali said as Grams folded her into a bear hug. Grandpa Paul patted her on the head lovingly.

"We've got some more paperwork to do and I'm sure you've had a long day so why don't you get some rest and we'll come see you in the morning. Ok, kiddo?" Grandpa Paul told Ali.

"Sure, but won't my mom want a call first?" Ali insisted.

"Don't you worry about your mom, we took care of her." Grandpa said with a wink. Only he could understand that Ali didn't want to have to listen to Christine's worried shrieks over the phone.

"Thanks Gramps." Paul moved with Ellen towards the door.

"We—we don't have to leave her now...do we?" Grammy Ellen asked.

"Come on Ellen, let the kid rest. She clearly needs it"

"Ok, fine, but you call us if you need anything? Ok Ali?"

"Yes, Grams. See you tomorrow."

"Love you, goodbye." Grammy said as Gramps dragged her out of the room, and with that Ali let herself give in to the tiredness is her eyes and went to sleep.