Before I Wake [H.S.]

chapter 3

thyme: courage and strength

on my walk back to my small apartment, my mind was filled with thoughts about the poor man.

"this whole situation is just strange" I kept thinking to myself

I don't understand how not one person knows who this man is.

how old is he? he looks to be in his early twenties, not much older than me.

what does he sound like? I imagine his voice to be silky.

is he intelligent, or is he not so bright? he didn't look like an idiot. but, then again, what if he did something stupid in order to end up in a small town hospital bed where no one knows him.

then, my mind wandered off to his face.

what does he look like when he smiles?

what color are his eyes?

is his laugh as beautiful as the rest of him?

he sure was nice to look at.

but there was one question that seemed to be eating me up inside.

what is this man's name?

my mind just kept running wild with thoughts of the man, and before I knew it, I was in my apartment.

I knew I needed to get my mind off of the situation, so I changed into some old clothes and made my way to the garden to start prepping and planting flowers.

I've grown quite fond of them. after mom died, I hated flowers because they made me think of losing her. but now, they remind me of her.

the way she always smelled like dirt and flowers when she came inside to have some of mine and Mrs. Rita's lemonade.

I miss her all the time. and being in the garden makes me feel like she never left.

after planting a few seeds, my mind was completely free of the man in the coma.

I had probably been in the garden for a few hours when all of a sudden Mrs. Rita caught my attention.

"hey baby!" she shouted to me as she was getting closer. she was very out of breath from walking all the way from the café.

I laughed, "hi, Mrs. Rita. what brings you here?"

I already knew the answer, she was carrying a large pitcher of lemonade. just what I needed.

"well, I thought I was gonna be busy today, but I decided to clear my schedule so that I could visit ol' Barry. you know, 'cause family's important and whatnot. and I made you some lemonade as a thank you for going to see him" she said, taking deep breaths between sentences to stable her breathing.

"thank you. I was just thinking about drinking some" I said, feeling my tongue around in my mouth. it was really dry.

I stepped forward and grabbed the heavy pitcher out of her hands and set it down on the small picnic table next to the wall of the shop.

"my Barry feels bad about runnin' you off so fast" she said.

"oh, no, it's no problem at all. he needs his rest. I understand that."

"and he said that all the other patients liked the flowers you took him. maybe you could start goin' to visit frequently and givin' 'em all flowers" she suggested.

I thought about the sweet idea. I'm sure they could all use some kindness. and, I could go back and see the handsome man again.

is that weird? to think that an unconscious man is good looking?

"I think I will do that. everyone can use some flowers occasionally" I winked at her.

I thought about bringing up the man and asking her if she knew anything about him, but there's no use. no one knows anything about him.

"do you want a glass?" I asked her, gesturing towards the lemonade.

"no, no. I had my fair share of it while makin' it" she let out a belly laugh, making me smile.

"besides" she continued, "I'd best be makin' my way home, it'll be dark before you know it. you need anything before I go?" she asked.

"no ma'am, I think I'm all good" I reassured her. I was just ready to have a hot bath and some lemonade.

with a goodbye hug and kiss on the cheek, she was on her way home.

as the bathtub was filling, I stripped from my dirty clothes and lit some candles.

when it was ready, I got into the tub and let the warm water soothe my sore back.

and before I knew it, my thoughts went straight to the man.

"I need to stop referring to him as 'the man'" I thought to myself.

I remembered what the nurse had called him earlier: "John Doe"

"I guess he'll just be John Doe for now" I thought.

I continued to think about John until I realized that my hot water had run cold.

I slowly raised myself out of the bath and wrapped my body into a towel.

after drying off, blowing out the candles, and putting on a big t-shirt and underwear, I snuggled myself into my warm bed.

I grabbed my laptop from my bedside table and started watching The Office on Netflix.

yet again, I could only focus on John.

and I was eager to see him again.