Her Name is Tilly

3: Hurt

Everything hurt when I woke up. Nothing was left to save me from the pain. From the top of my head to the tips of my toes it felt like I had been in the deepest conditioning of my life. My vision was blurry. It looked like I was wearing my grandmother's glasses.

Nobody was in my room so I tried to get up to no avail. My left leg was still broken even though I prayed for all of this to be a bad dream. Which seemed generally useless because I don't believe in God.

I sat up, "Nurse!" I yelled. Perhaps it wasn't the most polite thing to do but when your body feels like the Joker put your body in the washing machine on spin cycle for a week straight you tend to forget your manners.

Footsteps approached before Glasses showed up in the door frame. "Mr. Rider, what seems to be the issue?" He asked in a very dry voice.

"It's Jonah. Uh, can you do something 'bout the pain because I feel like fucking hell." My head was pounding and not the hangover type. It was the type that felt like your skull was an eggshell and someone had been stomping on your brain for hours straight.

He put up his index finger signaling me to give him a second where he ran out of the doorway and emerged again with a file. My file, I would presume. "We need some information filled out." He pulled over the tray and slapped the stack of papers on it along with a pen.

"What's your pain levels? Scaled one to ten?" He asked as he surveyed as he manually checked my pulse.

"Considering the broken leg and — oh what'd y'all say? Swollen brain...the, um internal bleeding is a fun one too. I'm gonna go with a solid one. No, no, no that's too generous—.7 seems more accurate."

"Mr—Jonah, what's your pain level at on a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst?" He asked again this time a bit annoyed.

"Eight. Nine." I groan laying back down. "Where's the doc at anyway? I have some concerns." I say grounding my teeth.

"She is with another patient, but I'll see if she can check on you soon." He pulled a binder from the foot of my bed scribbling down some notes before going to the IV. "We gave you a dose of morphine at morning rounds but I'll give you another dose to try and ease your pain." I nod as I sit back up filling out the basic paperwork.

As I scribble it out Glasses begins to talk, "The police are wanting to speak to you to take a statement."

"Oh," was my lackluster response. "Why do you guys need this information? Like, I told you my blood type and shit last night." I flipped through the papers.

"It's hospital protocol. Call it us saving ourselves from a lawsuit." He muttered before scribbling down some notes and taking the paperwork I filled out. Not before giving me a dose of whatever to barely take the edge off the pain. When he left the door clicked and I was left to myself.

I sat on the bed in excruciating silence for forty five minutes before Glasses poked his head in the door followed by Dr. Arian. Before that the police had been there. I told them the exactly what happened. The green light and how he must have been speeding because I didn't even see his car coming.

This time when the Doc came in I noticed how tired she looked. They closed the door behind them and she picked up my chart looking through what's happened thus far this morning.

"Hello, Jonah. How are we feeling today?" She asked smiling at me.

"Shit," I said.

"Well the good news is we are here to make you feel better. So I see you filled out your paperwork. We are going to take you in for surgery for your leg at two which is in around four hours."