Lydia- The Pet Communicator (Wattys13- Finalist!)

Chapter 1

Lydia- The Pet Communicator

Chapter 1

I was woken from my sleep by the beeping of some medical instrument. The same nurse was checking my fever, and I still felt terrible—my body seemed lifeless, and the left side of my head felt as if someone was hammering a nail into it.

“Ouch!” I said and moaned.

A doctor came in quickly. He started checking my pulse, heartbeat, and then my eyes, too.

"Doctor, she has a high fever. Do you think she’s all right?” said the nurse.

“Yes, she’s doing much better now. Her body temperature will rise and drop, but that’s nothing to worry about. Call her parents and inform them that she’s woken up.”

“Woken up? Did I fall asleep in the hospital? What am I doing here, and how long have I been in this room? The questions kept replaying in my head.

“What happened here, doctor? I mean, why am I here?” I asked politely.

“Good question. You’ve been in a coma for six months after sustaining a major injury. We thought it would take you longer to wake up, but it seems our treatment has worked well on you. You just need more rest, seeing, as you’re not still stable.”

I sighed and grumbled to myself. I guess that’s why my body hurts like hell and I still can’t move too easily.

Just as I was about to ask another question, the door burst open. My mom and dad came running toward me breathlessly.

“Lydia, my baby, we’re here! Thank God you’re awake!” my mom cried out and hugged me tightly. My dad just held my hand and kept staring at me as if he hadn’t seen me for ages.

Finally, my dad broke the silence by saying, “I knew you’d make it. You’re a strong girl, not to mention, Daddy’s little angel.”

Almost immediately, a puppy came running in.

“Aww, look who’s here,” my mother chirped. “You wouldn’t recognize it, but this is the little puppy you saved just before the accident. Ever since that day, it hasn’t left our sides, so we gave it some space in our shelter. It’s your new pet now.”

The puppy climbed onto my bed and started licking me. I wished I could pick it up, but my body had no strength of moving.

After a while, I heard it say, “Thanks for saving my life.” It must have sounded like barking to the others, though, since no one reacted but me.

What the hell is going on? I can actually hear and understand these animals, it seems.

“Dad, can animals talk?” I asked.

My dad looked at me with surprise and asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, can animals talk? This pup just thanked me for saving his life, and the pigeon at the window earlier said it was happy, since it was getting some sticks to make a nest.” 

My dad chuckled, and my mom rolled her eyes at me.

“What? I’m asking a serious question, okay?”

My dad walked out of the room without saying a word. After some time, he returned with the doctor who’d examined me before, and the doctor began checking for fever and monitoring my blood pressure. Apparently everything was under control.

“She is fine, sir, but I’m afraid she still needs to undergo some brain tests,” the doctor mumbled.

My dad gave the doctor a slight nod and came closer to cup my cheeks in his hands. He kissed me on the forehead and whispered, “Everything will be fine, my daughter. Papa loves you.” He removed the puppy from my bed and pulled away.

My mom sat in a chair next to me and said, “You’re too obsessed with these animals. You see what happened to you just because of that dog? Do these animals ever do anything for you? What do you get in return?”

The puppy barked, “Your mama is a crazy lady! She doesn’t do anything except yell and taunt others, especially me!”

I looked at the puppy in shock and told my mom, “He’s really talking! He’s saying that you taunt him? And it’s not his fault that I got hurt, okay? I was the one who decided to save him.”

“Peter, I think she’s lost her mind,” my mom whispered to my dad, sighing in disappointment.

The puppy barked again from its position on the floor. “You can understand me! Yes, you can!” it said with delight. “You must be a superhuman. I’ll tell all my friends about you. Hurray!”

I smiled at the puppy, then asked my dad to take me home. I really missed my friends and my pets, and I just wanted to see them once. Still, it was impossible with my condition, and my father said I’d be under observation here for a week.

Just then, I remembered about the exams I was supposed to have taken on the day of the accident.

"Papa, what about my exams? Are the results out? The doctor said I’ve been here for six months.”

At first he was tightlipped, not sure what to answer. He got up from the chair he was sitting on, then sat next to me on the bed and asked my mother to drive the puppy home, since pets were not allowed in the hospital. They’d made a special case for me, but the rules weren’t meant to be broken.

"I don't wanna go home with this lady! She’ll curse at me the whole way!" the puppy barked. I looked at it quizzically.

Finally, my dad spoke, as my mother left: “My dear, just hear me out carefully, and wait until I’m done.” I simply nodded, giving him a half smile.

“Your final exams were Physics and Chemistry, if you remember,” said my dad. “On the day of those exams, you were hurt saving this little puppy here, so you missed both of the exams. Your school marked you down as absent for that day, meaning you got F’s in those two subjects.”

"What?” I cried out in frustration, trying to hold back tears.

My father continued: “Yes, I’m afraid you’ll have to repeat the board exams next year to accomplish your dreams.”

I tried to sit upright in my bed, but It was difficult to move, and the long sterile tubes attached to my IV drips troubled me. Even so, I attempted to do it with the little strength I had.

“What are you doing, Lydia?” My father frowned and grasped my shoulders tightly.

“Lying like this is bothering me. Can I sit up for a while? My body hurts, and I feel like a mummy!”

My father helped me sit up, and then propped me up with a pillow behind my back. After he arranged the IV lines properly, I felt much more comfortable.

“Well, Dad, I guess I wasted a whole year huh?” I said, trying to break the silence.

My dad simply nodded, not knowing how to answer me. His phone rang soon after, and his eyes widened when he saw the name on the phone screen.

“Ricky?” he exclaimed.

At that, I began to grin, a picture of Ricky’s beautiful face appearing in my mind.

 My dad sighed. “We forgot to tell your love that you were awake,” he mumbled. “Sorry.”

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How was chapter 1? :) I hope you liked it! Picture of the puppy on the right :)---> *Thumbs up* 

If you keep on reading, you will understand this story better. Prologue and chapter one don't give much information to anyone, just some idea.. You know! Be good readers and support me in writing more. As you know a writer is nothing without their readers. Especially someone who is unproffesional, like me :P :P Blah!