The Rebirth of Harleen Quinzel

II.

"Tell me again, what's he like?" I ask as I leaned in with my head propped up on my hands. My clipboard shifted as my elbows rested on it from above my knees.

He sighed as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Well Doc, he's more forgiving than others. But uh... There was a time where he never took the wheel, but just recently for some reason, he wanted to be the captain. So, I let him."

My heart fluttered and I couldn't help but think that I had some sort of influence on him.

"But unfortunately for him," he continued, "The others aren't so fond of him. So there's times where he just... drowns. And just like that, they become captain."

The atmosphere suddenly seemed somber, but ironically, he smiled. And to my surprise, I smiled too. For the first time in about an hour, he tilted his head to the side and looked straight into my eyes. I felt like he had strapped me down to the seat I was in and kept me in place. I couldn't move, but I was still smiling. And so was he.

...

"Quinzel?"

Mista' J?

"Miss Quinzel? Can you hear me?"

I tried to open my eyes, but they felt like they've been closed for centuries. I only saw a dim blue light from behind my eyelids.

"Miss Quinzel? You're moving your fingers, are you aware of that? This is showing me that you are conscious. ...Miss Quinzel?"

"Mm..." I tried to speak, but only a sound came out.

"Good, I'll run the next few set of tests and I'll be right with you. We'll have an RN, Ms. Hampton, come in to accompany you in the mean time. I'll be right back."

I heard foot steps and then the sound of a door slowly close.

I felt my brows furrow as I tried to open my eyes, but my entire face felt so numb. I felt an ache in my right arm and that gave me enough strength to finally open my eyes. I squinted and saw that I had been clenching the blue and white sheets at my side. I slowly released my hand and felt a very annoying cramp as I did so.

How long was I squeezing? Gee'...

I looked up and saw that I was surrounded by flowers and 'get well soon' cards. I knew that I was in a hospital bed, but the reason was completely unclear to me.

Knock
Knock

My eyes darted, slowly but surely, towards the door and a tiny woman cracked the door open.
She opened it widely after seeing that I was looking at her and she walked in.

"It's so good to see that you're awake Dr. Quinzel." Ms. Hampton smiled and closed the door behind her.

What hap-

"Whh.. Wh..." I tried to speak, but my tongue felt like it couldn't move.

What the hell? Can I not speak?

"Wwh.. wh-"

"Uh, Dr. Quinzel, you will probably not be able to speak for a few hours, maybe even until tomorrow. Do you remember what happened yesterday?" Ms. Hampton asked.