Dormant

Chapter 2 - Awakening

Opening her eyes, Paige was blinded by the fluorescent lighting above her head. She tried to move her fingers but couldn’t. She tried to wriggle her toes, but was unsuccessful in those attempts as well. As her heart began beating rapidly in her chest, Paige realized she was terrified. Had the attacker hurt her so badly that she’s now paralyzed? She wept silently as she thought of Oliver and his reaction to an invalid fiancée.  About the time she took a break from the speculation, she heard a noise coming from her right and tried to lift her eyes in that direction. A nurse stood just outside of the room, visible through the window’s glass panes, and was talking to Oliver. No!  She hadn’t even had a chance to see Oliver yet before that wretched nurse made Oliver turn away! Suddenly, and unexpectedly, Oliver leaned forward and hugged the nurse and began audibly crying. Every fiber within Paige’s body ached. She loved him so much and it killed her to not be able to comfort him. Paige was so enamored in watching Oliver that she hadn’t paid attention to the attendant who came in the door on the other side of the room.

“Yeah, Reggie is gonna’ score at least 12 this weekend.” The young, exuberant and audibly animated attendant said to no-one in particular.

“Well I think his team will lose by 12 this weekend.” A bored sounding female spoke from somewhere within the room.  Out of line of sight, the responding female’s presence startled Paige.

“Well, whatever, we’ll see on Tuesday who’s the winner.” The male orderly said without enthusiasm; clearly offended. The female attendant came into view and Paige looked at her in the face. She looked kind, but she seemed tired. “Is it normal for the crew to leave them with their eyes opened?” She asked while maintaining eye-lock with Paige. “Yeah, sometimes they miss that part.” The male attendant’s gloved hands came down from somewhere behind Paige and gently closed her eyes. Immediately she began to panic again because she couldn’t open them once more. She sat there unable to move anything on her body and having nothing left to do but to listen to their continued conversation.

“I wonder what happened to her,” The kind female asked.

“Heard she was attacked in an alley. Multiple lacerations to her carotid artery. She bled out before the doctors could save her.”

Paige felt tears slipping from her eyes and was disgusted that these people think she’s dead. What incompetent pieces of…

“So sad… she’s got an engagement ring on. Do we know who to notify?”  The female interrupted Paige’s line of thought.

“Not our job. The social workers do that part. We just make sure that we catalog everything she has with her.”

With no further adieu, Paige felt the bed underneath her being engaged and slowly began to roll in an unknown direction.  She felt the soft fabric of a sheet covering her body and suddenly felt very cold and alone. She tried to swallow, her throat being so dry it hurt, but was unsuccessful. Every single part of her body was against her. She began to allow dread to enter her mind. What if these people really believed she was dead, would she be buried alive? Would they begin to autopsy her and find out she is very much still alive? Would they stop in time or would they kill her? She felt her heart beat quicken once more and her eyes popped open again. She could see nothing but the white opaque sheet over her body and instantly felt claustrophobic. But, despite trying to shake it off, she still struggled to breathe. She wasn’t suffocating. Her thoughts are as clear as they were minutes ago but not once could she recall taking a breath.  She tried to close her eyes to help soothe her but, her body still being against her, she couldn’t. She had to relax, she told herself. She tried to wriggle her fingers again and managed to lift her thumb up enough that it touched the fabric. She tried yanking the sheet but her thumb had already resumed its pointless existence next to the other fingers. She tried to move her toes and other fingers and was unsuccessful. She tried with all of her might to move her head when all of a sudden she managed to pop her head from its right side on the pillow to laying forward, eyes facing the ceiling. Feeling successful, Paige relaxed and focused on the things around her.

“Morgue is in the basement, B1 through B3. Autopsy room is B4-B6. Since this is a suspected homicide, she will go to autopsy first.”

Paige couldn’t believe her ears. This was something straight out of the twilight zone. She spent the next few minutes in contemplation as her gurney was traversed through the hospital. She heard an intercom buzz and then the clicking of doors being unlocked. She felt cool air stir the sheet covering her body and heard the clinking of metal to metal. She strained her ears to listen for anything other than that awful metal clinking sound. Nothing. She was alone. In a morgue. Presumed dead;  murdered.