FRAMED - Cowboy Bebop fanfiction

Session 35

Every now and then, Quinn hoped her heart would stop beating. She didn't want to die of course, but she did want the irritating beeping of her heart monitor to stop. The sound was pushing her limits, and Quinn wondered what would happen once she reached her edge. For all she knew, she had already reached it- or even gone past it. Maybe she was already dead; the hospital room felt like hell anyways. The bed was uncomfortable, the air was always slightly too warm, and despite how much pain medication she was on, Quinn had a perpetual migraine that tormented her all hours of the day. But anyways, whatever she was, dead, alive, in a limbo between the two, she knew she was unhappy, irritable, and desperate to get back on her feet again.

Quinn was trying her best to think optimistically, but the ability to produce a coherent thought was something she had been struggling with for days due to her medication. She enjoyed the numbing feeling it brought, but she hated how blank her mind was. For many, this high would've been enjoyable, but for Quinn, she was miserable. She wanted to think, she wanted to concentrate, she wanted her brain to work, but for all her waking hours, her head swelled with nothing but misty fog.

Despite the hell Quinn was living through, her recovery was going relatively smoothly. The cut she endured was nearly fatal, and the surgery she had to undergo was a tricky operation. Her stomach had been sliced open, and, as one could imagine, her entire digestive tract was affected because of it. From what Quinn heard, she had received a complete gastrectomy. It wasn't a common procedure, but the wound was so deep and so near fatal, it was impossible to simply stitch her up. Understandably, Quinn had been asleep for the entire process, and it was a miracle she had survived long enough to make it to the hospital.

For the first week and a half after surgery, she slept. All day and all night, she slept. There was no reason for her to be awake anyways; she couldn't eat, drink, or think.  For that first period of time, Quinn survived through a feeding tube in her stomach, and after the first week and a half of this, Quinn was able to be awake. Her body was still adjusting to her new organ, but it was adapting quickly. Soon she'd be able to eat and drink on her own. Quinn, although awake, was only awake for short periods of time. However, when she was awake, her medication made it incredibly difficult to concentrate. But, in between her constant undesirable head rushes and perpetual boredom, Quinn, although unable to hold coherent conversations, was able to accept visitors into her room. Even though communication (on her end) was limited, Quinn enjoyed the company from her visitors. Listening to her friends talk was almost therapeutic, and it always gave her something to look forward to when she was conscious.

When Spike visited, he was almost always completely silent. Sophie on the other hand, never shut up. Jet visited once or twice alongside Sophie, and when Faye came to visit, which didn't happen frequently, all she seemed to do was complain. Faye, formally unbeknownst to Quinn, was incredibly petty; more so than anyone Quinn had ever met in her life. But as annoying as she was, her rants were peak entertainment. If Quinn didn't know any better, she would have figured Faye was a wealthy socialite, ranting about everything and anything her money couldn't fix. It was amusing to say the least, and despite the occasional annoyance her guests brought her, Quinn was ultimately grateful for their company.

...

Thankfully, due to the advancements in healthcare, Quinn would be fully recovered within a month or so, and considering she had been in care for three weeks now, she was anticipating the day she'd be able to get up and walk again. Luckily, now that it had been three weeks since surgery, the doctors had lowered her medication doses and she was no able to think, speak, and concentrate. But now, more than ever, Quinn was bored out of her mind. Maybe she had taken the mediation for granted. 

...

"You could do more than just stare at me y'know," Quinn mumbled as she lifted her head up from her pillow.