Short Words

Anesthesia

Genre: Thriller/Realistic Fiction/Science Fiction? (tbh I don't know what to call this, please help!)

Author's Note: So I wrote this right after I got my wisdom teeth out. Sometimes it takes a surgery in order to get great inspiration.

My first surgery, how exciting. Apparently my wisdom teeth were not giving me much wisdom. They instructed me to sit in one of the surprisingly comfy chairs in the waiting room. They had a huge, flat television with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory playing. I found it funny because I wouldn't be able to eat many sweets after the extraction. The walls were covered in soothing, tan wallpaper and a massive vase of flowers was the center of attention in the room. I looked around at the other nervous patients. A boy, about the age of seventeen like me, and his mother that sat across from me caught my eye. The boy looked annoyed at the childish movie while his mother smiled at the sweet factory possibly remembering when her little boy was still into everything sweet. The mother had short, blonde hair and I noticed her left hand had a distinct coloration of the skin. She suddenly looked over to me from the television screen and smiled. Startled by the sudden eye contact with a stranger, I glanced over to my own mother. She looked more nervous than me. Her hands were clasped in front of her and her head was bowed down watching her own thumbs fidget.

"Jessica Finn?" My name being called suddenly sent a jolt of energy through my veins. A small woman in light blue scrubs led me and my mom through a heavy door. A series of blue curtains were closed, except for one. Inside was a boy looking longingly at the wall. He sat there with his mouth open and his eyes were glazed over. An enthusiastic woman spoke from the television on a popular cooking show from within the room. The small woman leading us quickly yanked the curtain when she noticed me looking inside. She forcefully yanked open a different curtain and motioned us inside. She asked a few questions and then handed me a gown and a hair cap. They were matching blue. What is it with all the blue? The gown was too big and it was a struggle to get all of my blonde hair under the cap. I started to laugh nervously at the serious atmosphere. The small nurse instructed me to lay down on the bed. I gave my mother one last hug.

I was wheeled through a set of doors. A rush of cold air washed over my bare arms. Goosebumps pricked at my skin. My heart started to pound at my chest to escape. A machine beeped at my side. From the corner of my eye I saw a woman preparing something A mask was placed over my mouth and nose, my only way of sucking in precious air. I remember a few nurses standing over top of me and one was putting a significant amount of pressure to the mask. "We're going to take good care of you" she said before I sank defenselessly into the darkness. It was like a horror movie scene. A second later, I opened my eyes. My sight was blurred at first and I felt dizzy. I didn't wake up in the same room as the glazed over boy. I didn't wake up with my mother beside me. I didn't wake up with a cooking show on the television, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory wasn't on either. The surrounding walls were darkened at the edges as if the structure was once suffocated with fire and smoke.

I laid on a rickety cot with a wool blanket at my bare feet. My shoes were on the ground beside the bed neatly placed next to a glass of water. The room contained a cabinet and a small folding chair in the corner. The doorway only consisted of a thin piece of green tarp. Dark shadows of figures passed in front of the nearly transparent tarp urgently. I could hear muffled voices, my senses felt hindered by some unknown force. I was conscious of everything around me. I could hear the blood rushing through my veins, I felt the electricity of  messages through my brain, and felt every particle on my skin, even between the ridges of my fingerprint. Abruptly the tarp of the shack was pulled to the side by an uncomfortably cheery looking woman. She looked startled when she saw that I was awake, "Good morning, I'm Gretchen." She picked up the untouched glass and reached for my head to prop me up. Paralyzed with fear, I did not fight this strange woman from moving my body for me. I could faintly hear her blood rushing through her body too. She brought the glass to my lips and insisted me to drink. When I took the glass in my own hands, I noticed a mark on her left hand as she pulled it away. My mind flashed back to the waiting room. I looked up to her to see if my identification was correct. Gretchen had short blonde hair and her smile pushed me over the edge.