Deep Asleep

Chapter 3 : Alone

When Max opened her eyes, she hoped to be in her own bedroom, but no, she was still in hospital, feeling her arm and her knee burning, with the Sleeping Beauty for only company. The constant beeps were sounding like gongs in her head; being hit by a car was funny only the first day! She was supposed to be operated only tomorrow, but she would have more operations for her leg and her arm; boring. She crossed her fingers and began to channel-surf on the TV. By luck, she found a musical channel. For once, it wasn't too bad.

- "Hey Jane, I hope you like it!" Max told with a big smile. "I'm the one with the remote so you're condemned to listen to what I listen! I wonder what kind of music you were listening when you were alive. Probably something like Mozart or Beethoven, that's what people who play chess listen to, right? That's a bit cliché, but clichés exist for a reason, right? It would be fun if you were listening to hard metal, or if you had a rock and roll style while doing your competition of chess, it would be so fucking cool. I've never played chess, we're not very intellectual in my family, if I can call us a family, we're more like a mess with four people who can't stand each other's presence, yeah...I shouldn't tell you that as you lost your parents in this accident, but your sister seems to really care about you, at least you can count on her, you won't be alone in this...ordeal. Maybe...maybe it's better if you don't wake up at all..."

Max felt a pinch in her heart. She didn't know how she was doing to bring everything to something sad; Jane obviously didn't need to hear that, even if she was still convinced that she couldn't hear her. In fact, she was sad because if something like that would happen to her, she didn't know if she would prefer waking up or staying asleep forever. Maybe she wouldn't be sad if her parents died in a car crash, or would she? It was hard to imagine. She switched off the TV, not in the mood anymore. She didn't wanna talk anymore. She was feeling stupid for wanting to come back at her home; they were certainly not missing her at all, and she wasn't missing them anyway. Why would she prefer her obnoxious home while she was better here? It didn't make sense, certainly a weird syndrome like the Stockholm syndrome or something like that. But she didn't want to finish like her mother, under the control of a man like Neil, she wanted someone who would respect her for who she was, that was the least she could have! Everybody deserved respect, even her. Anyway, she didn't really care right now, finding the "good man" wasn't her goal in her life.

- "I wonder if you had a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend, I'm not judging! Let's stay in clichés, as you're a chess player and you love History, you certainly like nerds or old people. Yeah, I know, this is stupid. I'm stupid...God, I really need to stop doing that! If you wake up, you'll already hate me. But maybe you would like my friends, they are nerds too, like you, well, I guess you are one, but maybe not."

Max sighed loudly with her nose. She was bored, she didn't know what to tell her, they had nothing in common. And talking to her about her own life was making her realize that she had a very shitty life.

Her nurse entered and walked to her to check her bandages and give her some meds.

- "I heard you talking to her, it's a good thing," the woman said.

- "I don't think it is, she can't hear me, and I don't like what I'm saying."

- "You don't say horrible things, do you!?"

- "No! Well, I don't think! But I've nothing to tell her so it's rapidly annoying."

- "At least you tried."

- "Can I ask you something?"

- "Sure," the nurse smiled.

- "How does she pee?" Max frowned.

- "Oh, uh, I wasn't expecting a question like that!"

- "It's because you don't know me well! So?"

- "Thanks to a catheter."

- "Really? She has a hosepipe in her pussy?"

- "Don't say that like that! She could hear you!"

- "It's to be sure she knows what's inside her body. And for the other side?"

- "You don't wanna know."

- "Too bad, it seemed interesting!"

The nurse playfully rolled her eyes and had an amused smile. Two other nurses entered the room and took away Jane with all the machines.

- "Hey! Where is she going!?"

- "They are going to do some tests on her, to have details on her constants, don't worry, she will come back."

- "Oh, okay. They do that often?"

- "Since she can breathe by her own, once a week."

Max nodded. The nurse finished to clean Max's wound before leaving the room, letting the redhead completely alone. Max pouted; she didn't know what to do, she asked her mother to bring her some things to entertain her, but she apparently didn't have the time, what a surprise! She thought it was stupid, but it seemed emptier without Jane, now, if she wanted to talk, she would sound crazy, whereas talking to an unconscious person seemed to be a "medical" thing. 

She wished her friends would be here, even Mike, she would have tolerated him, but they had other things to do. It was the beginning of Summer holidays, they were certainly enjoying the public pool. She found no one else in her mind who could possibly show up. She hoped Billy and Neil would never show up, she didn't need to feel worse. If her mother brought her her laptop and other things, she had no reason to go back to her home, she could stay in hospital forever, entertaining the cadaver in front of her. Maybe she would wake up, it would be so cool, she could know a bit more about her.