Therapy (Jalex)

Session 25

Patient: Alexander William Gaskarth

Notes: no appointment this week

-Dr. Bassam Barakat

-

I woke up to what sounded like the beginning of The End. by My Chemical Romance.

Except it wasn't a song. It was the actual machine.

I was in a hospital room. The bright lights seared my eyes, and I was hooked up to an IV. I felt weak, and my body ached. I couldn't breathe from my nose, so I could only inhale from my mouth. It hurt to breathe, and when I could, it was a raspy, wheezing sound that ended with a painful bout of coughs. My wrist was in a cast, and when I looked down, there was a foreign colored blob. A nose splint, I assumed.

Now what? I asked myself. Do I let a nurse know that I'm awake?

I awkwardly shifted in my hospital cot, trying to make some noise to subtly let people know I was awake. No response. I cleared my throat.

"Hello?" I called out, almost embarrassed. The door opened, and a slender nurse walked in. Her eyes enlarged when she noticed I was awake.

"Oh, you're up," she said, scribbling on a clipboard. "How do you feel?"

"Um, not that great," I admitted. "Everything hurts and I can barely breathe."

"Yeah, well you have pneumonia, a broken wrist, and a broken nose," the nurse stated. "That's pretty good considering you were thrown out your car and left in the snow for days."

"Wait, what?" I didn't remember a thing about being thrown out of a car. By whom? I didn't know anyone that hated me that much.

"You got into a car accident on a country road, and when your car hit the tree, you flew out the window on impact. We didn't find you for two days." The nurse was solemn, and my mind was reeling. I didn't ever recall that happening, but I guess I didn't remember much when I was high. I was kind of glad I wasn't found before two days. If I was found earlier, the drugs could've still been in my system. Damn.

"Oh." I took another wheezing breath. "When am I allowed to leave?"

"Now that you've woken up, we'll let you go day after tomorrow. You're pneumonia has to get better though."

"Okay..." Where were my parents?

Oh, my parents. They were going to kill me. The thought of facing them made me want to slip into a coma. Heaven forbid that they're here.

"Okay, so do you want anything?" The nurse asked. "Food? I've been told that the hospital pudding is really good."

I tried to laugh, despite my lungs. "Sure. Can I have a pudding?"

"Absolutely. I'll be back. The remote to the TV is on the table."