Withering Rose

Chapter 2 - Procedures

It felt warm and cozy, similar to putting your hands to a lit bonfire when roasting marshmallows on sticks. But at the same it felt extremely uncomfortable once the feeling was setting in, like a fever? A cold sensation ran down her legs and that made her shiver uncomfortably, that wasn't good.

As April slowly blinked her eyes opened and shut, she winced at the bright overhead light that sat five feet away from the bed directly but it still seemed so bright. April slowly placed her forearm over eyes, her other clutched the sheets of the bed she found herself in. April inhale slowly, hoping she hadn't been kidnapped again somehow-

Putting down her forearm, April dragged herself up to a sitting position and let out a pain sound as her body felt sore and was aching beyond belief. When she dragged her hand against her neck, she cringed at the tender skin that was still present there. Ghosting her fingers a few centimeters above caused another shiver to come to her nerves. And that cold sensation that ran through her body but was most prevalent to her legs. It felt as if she was experiencing hundreds of small pins pushing through her pores. But at the same time she felt warm and hot.

Definitely a fever.

Letting her eyes adjust to the bright light was when April started to finally focus and recognize her surroundings this time around.

White paint or material of the wall lined the room on each four sides. There were two doors, both wooden. One with a small mirror that was quarter size of the door and one without, presumably to a bathroom from that. On the far left was a window that took up half the wall and looked out to Redwood Park. April guessed from the tall birch tree that she could barely see from where she was. Next to the window was a fabric chair with armrests on either side, there was a dent in the center that indicated someone was sitting there for a long time.

In front of April was a 20 to 55 inch TV that was hoisted up onto the wall, the screen having nothing shown on it. Turning to her left where the windowed door was again, April turned her head more - ignoring the pop sound that came - and noticed two other things. A wooden nightstand with two remotes placed on top, her glasses, and a metal stand with an IV bag hooked onto it. April looked down to her hand as she noticed the bag, now realizing the tube that was going through her arm and the medical tape that was keeping it down.

April groaned - not particularly being too fond of the needle going through her. Bet the doctor or nurse who got it through didn't have too much problem though with how visual her veins are. Still, she hated it. She then reached over and took hold of her glasses and placed them on the bridge of her nose.

Another look around and April wasn't able to see any other equipment in the room or indicating other people and looked back at the remotes. One was a black three-inch rectangle with various buttons ranging from channel, volume, HDMI, and power. A small red button was in the right corner with a power symbol. The other was white with a circular end and had something that looked to be a speaker but April slightly doubted that was what it was for. Underneath the speaker's a red button as well, Instead of the power button it was a person with a small cap, on said cap was the cross sign of a hospital. Underneath that were various numbers and other icons.

April picked up the white remote and turned it over slightly, trying to see if there was any indicator of what it was as she didn't quite recognize it. From the symbol, likely some kind of call button to a nurse but that didn't quite explain the speaker of it, then again she never saw the call button in a hospital before. She contemplated for a few minutes pressing the button but decided against it due to her foreign knowledge of it and placed it back onto the night stand.

Now looking at her marks, April was somewhat content to find some of the less severe burns had significantly faded to a more pink color but still felt warm to the touch. The one she was most worried about was on her shoulder, carefully pushing up the light blue robe she was now wearing. April saw that the area where the 3rd degree burn was still very much damaged. Little progress seemed to have been made but some color had returned. What terrified her was that, unlike the first and 2nd degrees she had sustained, she couldn't feel the 3rd one due to the extent of its damage.