Two Summers Ago, the World Went to Shit

Chapter 5: Into the Wild

Chapter 5: Into the Wild

I was apparently almost two months pregnant, and I didn't even have a clue. It seemed like I was continuously full of surprises, and I was ready for some kind of normalcy in my life because damn. It really was always something.

I'd been staying in a room on the second floor of the hospital because I wasn't far enough along to need to be monitored by the labor and delivery unit. They had many different things going on to help me recover from this incident, and most of the time I was heavily sedated. They came in from time to time to check my cognitive functioning and to see how I was feeling. We hadn't accomplished much considering I still hadn't said a word to anyone. I don't know what I was waiting for. Maybe I was afraid.

For over a week I was hospitalized from the accident, a tiny baby growing inside of me. I was still stove up, bruised with two black eyes, and mentally unstable. Despite the progress I had and hadn't made, I couldn't stay in this hospital forever. I knew the only way I'd get out is by participating in the therapy and speaking when the doctor came in, so when he came in at his expected time, I tried to make an effort and see where I was at with my traumatic brain injury.

Caleb and Jackson had briefly stepped out to get breakfast in the hospital cafeteria like they did every day since I'd been here. The doctor knocked on the door before entering where he saw me lying in the bed, buried beneath about five hospital blankets. I was so cold. My body was shaking, and it felt like I was in an ice bath. Dr. Williams looked up at me, a warm smile on his face.

"Hey, Sammi. How are you feeling?"

"Not good," I choked out as his eyes lit up.

He walked over and took a handheld thermometer from his white coat, scanning the surface of my forehead as it beeped.

"102.1. You're running a pretty high fever. Can you look straight ahead for me," he asked as he clicked on the light in his hand.

"Follow the light for me."

I followed the light with my eyes as he moved it from left to right.

At this point, Caleb and Jackson had returned from their breakfast run, easing into the room when they saw the doctor had been in there. The two of them took their seats in the corner and gave their attention to Dr. Williams.

"Now, I'm going to show you several pictures of some items, and I want you to say what they are. Can you do that?"

I nodded.

He grabbed a small stack of cards from his pocket and held the first one out to me while Caleb and Jackson anxiously waited to see my responses.

"Can you tell me what this is?"

"A bird."

"That's good. And what about this one," he asked as he put the first card at the back of the stack.

"A, a," I said stumbling to speak the name of the picture.

"It's okay. Take your time."

I closed my eyes and moaned in frustration. I knew what the picture was, but I couldn't get my brain to tell my mouth what it was.

"Sammi, you know what that is," Caleb said supportively as he looked over at the image.

"Can we skip this one," I asked as I opened my eyes.

"Of course," the doctor said revealing the next image.

"An apple," I said quickly and confidently.

Everyone in the room besides me looked slightly concerned by my response.