Deep Asleep

Chapter 2 : Sister

Max was bored. She kept channel-surfing without finding something interesting. So many channels and so few things to watch, how was it possible!? She gave up and switched off the TV in a long and annoyed sigh. She looked at the window, hoping for the trees to do something cool, or an attack of birds, like in movies, but nothing of these happened. It was just the second day, and she already wanted to leave, to skate again and spend some time with her friends. But no, she was stuck there, waiting for a surgery she wasn't even sure to have the day following, and not sure it would be the only one. Her knee was hurting so much that she was sure they would amputate her leg. Well, she wasn't sure, but she wouldn't be surprised to wake up without it. At least, she was sure to wake up, not like her boring roommate; she couldn't even count on her to entertain her. And she couldn't even leave her bed to walk around, her nurse would certainly kill her for this.

But some movements were heard in the corridor, catching her attention. The door opened and three persons entered, including two nurses who immediately left. A white-skinned tall young woman with very short blonde messy hair was standing there, watching the bed of the other girl. She wasn't very feminine, wearing wide red shoes, too large black jeans, a white tee-shirt with a strange drawing on it, a black jacket, and a red cap in her hands. She sat on a chair next to the unconscious girl without looking at the redhead and began to talk to her. Max pouted; she couldn't hear what she was saying. She had nothing to lose.

- "Can you talk louder? I can't hear from here!"

- "...No! Why would I do that!?" the blonde woman answered with a frown.

- "Because I'm bored and you're my only entertainment!"

- "I'm not here to entertain you! Watch TV or cut your veins, I don't give a fuck, I just wanna talk to my sister!"

- "That's not very nice, I could be depressed."

- "Don't talk to me then, I'm not in the mood."

- "You don't prefer talking to someone who can actually answer you?" Max insisted.

- "...You don't have friends, have you?"

- "Four, it's enough."

- "I wonder how they can bear you."

- "They don't."

Max didn't really appreciate this exchange; she was a bitch. Okay, maybe she didn't begin the conversation in a good way, but it wasn't a reason to be unpleasant like that! She just wanted to talk, nothing more.

- "What's your name?" the woman asked the blonde woman.

- "Um, Max."

- "That's a boy's name."

- "Like if you cared, you look like a boy!"

- "...I know."

- "What's yours?"

- "Constance, and this is (shows the bed next to her) Jane."

- "Okay, nice to meet you Jane! I guess we're both stuck here for a moment, it will be fun!"

- "Oh my god, you're always this annoying!?"

- "I was going to ask you the same question! See, we already have something in common."

Constance scoffed before shaking her head in disbelief. Max knew it was the end of the conversation, she got her upset, and she could blame only herself for that. Why did she have to be like that!? She was so bad in social interactions, but the pain in her knee was blocking any form of good sense. It was unbearable so she decided to take the button and to call for her nurse, insisting a lot on the button. The nurse arrived a few minutes later in the room:

- "I'm here, stop calling!"

- "My knee hurts a lot; you have nothing to stop that!?" Max asked with a tone sharper than she thought.

- "Let me see. (raise the blanket) It's swollen, I'll give you something to reduce it and the pain, okay?"

- "Yeah, I won't say no."

The nurse went back in the corridor before coming back with the meds. After giving them to Max, the woman turned to Constance with a smile:

- "Hi, Constance, how are you today?"

- "I'm good, and you?"

- "I'm good too; have a good day."

- "Thank you, you too."

The nurse smiled more to her before leaving the room. Max tried to relax, knowing the meds would help her to feel a bit better.

- "Constance?"

- "Yeah?"

- "What does she like?"

- "Jane?"

- "Yeah, I'm curious to know if we could have been friends in another life," Max said with a calmer tone.

- "I, I don't know what to say!"

- "What did she do in her life? She was in school? Working? Studying?"

- "Well, she was studying History, and to pay it she was driving a horse-drawn carriage in the park of Madison."

- "Oh! It was her!? I was wondering why it had disappeared for two months," Max told.

- "Really!? They needed two months to find someone else!?"

- "Apparently. She is irreplaceable."

- "Yeah, she is," Constance said with a sad tone.

Max didn't rekindle the conversation. Constance was sad, and she wasn't good to cheer people up; she was better to make them feel worse than they already were; it was her best talent.

- "She loves playing chess," Constance continued.

- "Really? There are people who actually like playing this?"

- "Yeah, and she is very good at it; she participated at a competition for junior when she was ten years old."

- "She won?"

- "Almost, she finished second, but she was very happy."

- "Loser," Max joked.

- "She won the next year."

- "Ok, I take that back."

- "You have nothing in common with her, have you?"

- "No, not really, but it doesn't mean she wouldn't have been my friend. I mean, I don't know everything about her yet."

- "Yeah...(stands) well, Max, I hope I won't see you again next month."

- "You come only once a month?"

- "Yeah, I work, I don't always have time. Good luck."

- "Thanks, you too."

Constance put a box of chocolate on Jane's nightstand before leaving the room. Max was alone again. But this time, she knew the name of her roommate. Maybe she would talk to her, at least, she wasn't going to judge her for her shitty life. The meds began to work and to get her to sleep. She didn't fight and let the meds taking her to her dreams.