Just don't go

Chapter 2- Hospitalised

I sat up in a sudden shock. My head spun, attempting to understand my surroundings. A hospital. Bleep. Bleep. Bleep. The sound of the machine beside me shot into life. The once silent and dreading atmosphere of the room had been lifted and the machine's screams awoke the stillness. My mother was crying, her head slumped over my limp body. She heard the sound. The sound of hope. Her numb body rose and her eyes met mine. Her tears seemed to freeze on her cheeks, much like the branches of the oak in my vision. She yelled in disbelief, crying out my name again and again. 

"Elizabeth, oh my god! Elizabeth, you're OK! Liz! Oh my... Liz! My baby, my poor baby!"

Her cold fingers stroked away my chestnut hair and her tears began to flow some more. 

"Stay with me, Liz! We have you back, don't leave me again! Never do that to me again..."

Her voice drained off and she hugged me in delight. Her arms clasped around my shoulders and a sudden pain shot through me like a rocket.

"Careful mum, I'm fragile"

She let out a strangled laugh, for my sake more than hers, and released me from her grasp. Half a dozen nurses came bundling into the room, obviously alert to the sound of life on the machine beside me. I heard many voices asking me questions, but couldn't make out which one was worth the pain of speaking for.

"Are you OK?" "Can you feel this?" "Can you breathe?" "Speak to me..." "You're okay now, dear"

My mother was ushered out of the small room and I was soon surrounded by several young nurses who were awaiting my reply.

"I'm fine. Can I please go now?"

They seemed surprised by my reply, but I just wanted to leave this sanctuary and get back to my normal life. Besides, I'm a teenager. I don't need to be in this hospital, I can fend for myself - and, considering I just awoke from the dead, I think I can self-repair pretty well too. 

"We'll just run some routine tests and you can be out by early this evening"

From what I could tell, it seemed to be about midday.

"Can I see my mother again before then?"

The nurses seemed sceptical.

"If you have recovered by then, I don't see why not" 

The nurse who spoke seemed like she was in charge, and the other nurses nodded in approval.

After they had tested to see if I was well, they decided I should stay the night before leaving - they thought it would be most appropriate considering I almost passed away. I hadn't yet fully remembered why I was here... why I was in this hospital bed. 

As I stared blankly at the ceiling, I tried to remember what had happened to send me to this hospital. I carefully felt my body, trying to discover what exactly I had injured. From what I could tell, I was fine - besides my heart feeling like it could stop any second and my back hurting whenever I touched it. My mother asked me what I was doing and if I felt any better, and I told her I was fine. 

"You don't need to stay here, mum. They have cameras on me 24/7 and they will be alerted if my heart stops. Anyway, if I do pass away in the night, you won't notice because you'd be asleep. They'd know before you do"

My mother stared at me and shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you. You won't 'pass away in the night', don't be silly Liz. I love you and I'm not going anywhere until you leave in the morning. They think you're fine. After a good night's sleep, you can leave."

 I sighed heavily and watched as she got comfortable in the plastic seat she was assigned to. She reached into her handbag and got out a book which she then began to read. The silence of the room felt comforting and I was secretly glad she stayed with me. The doctors only let her stay because she refused to go anywhere. I thought about my brother and sister at home, and my friends at school. Then I (once again) tried to remember exactly why I was here, why I wasn't externally injured, and why I don't remember it at all.