Molecule

Chapter 5: Dementia?

I wake up with a heavy head and find myself lying on a hospital bed. The environment is so white that it bothers my vision. My clothes are all folded on a chair next to me while I'm wearing a hospital gown.

We are five days away from our second wedding "monthiversary," and I'm just a few meters away from Ezra, with the endless fear of losing him. I slowly get up and sit on the bed. I quickly look around and spot a counter with a clipboard and my bag to the right. I get up slowly, remove the IV lines from my arm, struggle to put my clothes back on, and go to the counter with my belongings.

This is what I found in my medical record:

Patient: Violeta Fenomen Prüton.

Date of admission: 01/09/2019

Time: 7:37 pm.

And further down...

Observations: Patient found near her residence, fallen and unconscious. Anonymous report. Incident attended by the on-duty team of the 7th Police Department of São José dos Campos/SP.

"What? Found lying on the street?" This doesn't sound good to me.

I continue flipping through the papers below the medical record and see that several tests were performed while I was unconscious. Apparently routine blood tests. The name of the laboratory catches my attention: Infinity Laboratory.

I hear voices coming from the corridor. I leave the room. I look both ways and see some nurses walking around the hospital.

"Excuse me! Can you tell me where patient Ezra Martinez Prüton is?!" I ask, abruptly stopping one passing by me.

"You should ask at the counter at the end of this corridor" he instructs, pointing the direction.

"Thank you!" I thank him and quickly walk to the counter labeled 'medical inquiries.' "Ma'am, could you please tell me which room patient Ezra Prüton is in?"

"Sure... What's the full name?" she retorts.

"It's "Ezra Martinez Prüton" I reply while wiping the sweat off my hands on my pants.

"We don't have any admission under that name, ma'am." She lowers her glasses, giving me a suspicious look "How did you get in here, again? This area is restricted to patients and staff!"

"A federal agent brought me here in an ambulance" I take my cell phone from my purse and check the time" about two hours ago, more or less... And my medical record is wrong!

"What's your name, ma'am?" the nurse asks.

"Violeta Fenomen Prüton." 'Prüton' with a 'u' and an umlaut.

She accesses the system and makes some checks, but by the expression on her face, seems like she can't find anything.

"It's always the same..."

"Sorry, I didn't understand..." I ask, confused.

"About the medical records... They're always wrong, aren't they? Why don't you study to teach us how to fill them out?" she attacks me in a rude tone "you're not even registered as a patient being treated. In which room did you say you were?" she seems to no longer believe my words.

"Damn it! I don't know, ma'am! Some agents brought me here because my husband had a cardiac arrest, and I passed out! I want to know about my husband!" at this moment, I see nurses entering the room I was in.

"Could you show me the room where you were, ma'am?" she stands up and grabs her cell phone, announcing to the nurses in the adjacent room that she'll handle an issue.