Behind Sanity

Chapter Fourteen

                                                                    Behind Sanity 

                                                                 Chapter Fourteen 

                                                                              1 

                The hospital room was peaceful and silent now as Alice leaned back against her pillow, and around her the walls and ceiling were the same.  She took a breath and exhaled, filling the room with air as outside the snow continued to fall.  A week had passed.  Morgan was still lost in unconsciousness and Alice had seen nothing of that White Rabbit.  For someone who was so punctual, he certainly knew how to keep a girl waiting.  But even though she was not at home, the bed was still comfortable and this room was not a cell.  She was getting along alright, even if she couldn’t say that she wasn’t getting a tad impatient. 

                "How are you?" came a voice from the door, and she recognized it quickly as John’s.  She snapped out of her thoughts immediately and turned to him as best she could, the brace around her neck hindering her slightly.  He’d been in and out as company for the past week, and Alice had to admit that she found it was always a pleasure to see.  They still hadn’t had much conversation about Wonderland, but she’d felt grateful to him ever since he’d loaned her Victor’s journal.

                "You do like to show up unannounced, don't you?" she teased.

                "Of course.  If I told you every time I was going to stop by, I would never know what you were really up to," he shot back at her.

                She smiled coyly.  "I am plotting full worldly corruption, you know."

               "Just as I suspected," he said, crossing his arms, his voice so serious that he might have not been joking.

                 She looked at him a moment in silent consideration and then smiled laughingly.  He dropped his friendly play and converted to a doctor’s tone.

                 "How's that neck?" he asked, approaching the bed.

                 "As well as can be expected,” she sighed.  “Still a little sore."

                 "No trouble breathing or swallowing?"

                 "No.  Just sore."

                 She was surprised that it still troubled her after so many days, but she did suppose that the bruises had been severe.  Still, she hadn’t said her neck was still sore in a complaining manner.  Truthfully, the dull ache had begun to escape her attention days ago.

                John took hold of her neck, gently taking off the bandages.  She watched him for a few moments – as well as she could watch him with her neck so stiff – before deciding to release the amusing comment inside her mouth.

                 "I thought you were just a mind doctor," she said coyly.

                 "I'm a man of many talents," he assured her, never taking his eyes off his work.

                 "Ah.  A jack of all trades."

                 "No, not quite that.  It’s true that I can do many things, but none of them extremely well."