EDIT: Name change, in case some of you get confused! This will be corrected in the edited version, but I realized that Dr. Sarrel's name sounded slightly familiar . . . :O So his name is Dr. Richmond! Okay, enjoy the rest of Lucid! :)
Chapter Forty Four
I felt like I had been transported to another body – a body wrapped in blankets and sheets, resting on a warm bed with the smell of soap. My entire body felt numb and, of course, drugged. I felt like I was struggling to keep my eyes open as I scanned the area around me; I was in some sort of room created by nothing but pale green drapes. I could feel numerous suction cups attached to my chest and stomach, monitoring my heart from a machine next to my bed, giving off a consistent beeping sound.
An I.V. needle with connected to the bag of clear fluid’s was still stuck in my arm, and I noticed a thick Band-Aid on the area on my wrist, probably where they had injected some sort of anesthetic along with the gas mask that had first put me under.
“You okay?”
I opened my eyes to an old, female nurse standing by my bedside.
I looked at her, my mind thick with fog. “Uh . . . how did the surgery go?” I couldn’t even tell that I sounded like an idiot.
The nurse sighed with a weak smile. “Well . . . the surgery was successful. But something definitely unusual happened while you were recovering.”
I tried to sit up, though my limbs felt like wobbly strands of pasta. “What . . . do you mean . . . by unusual?” I clutched my head, still wrapped with the thick layer of gauze. “Why is there a monkey hugging my forehead?" Then I remembered, through all the haze and fog that clouded my mind, the breif period in which I was dead inside my dream-world. "My heart . . . stopped?"
She smiled, shaking her fluffy auburn hair. "You need to rest.” Thought I was filled with drugs, I could definitely tell that she was just trying to keep me from worrying. She looked at the screen that was monitoring my heart. “Your heart is absolutely fine. The doctors said it was no big deal.” I knew that what she was saying were just excuses; although I couldn’t really process the information she was giving me, I knew for a fact that anesthetics couldn’t stop a person’s heart rate. As far as I knew, the doctors hadn’t overdosed me on the drugs. Not only that, but I had practically died, and the doctors were probably bustling about, shocking me and shouting, “Clear!”
But I knew the real reason why my heart had mysteriously stopped beating. I thought of the creator of my nightmares, nothing but a mere shadow in my dreams. However, I had underestimated its full potential, and it could’ve even cost my life. The moment I had woken back up in Ellie’s arms, flying on the sky serpent, was probably when the doctors had been able to regenerate my heart’s beating.
“There’s a team of doctors outside,” the nurse explained. “They wanted to keep all eyes on you.”
“No . . .” I murmured. “Believe me, I’m fine.”
The nurse laughed. “Just rest. Dr. Richmond explained how you and Ellie had a bit of a crush on each other, so I know that’s what’s on your mind.” I felt my cheeks redden with embarrassment. “Don’t worry, you’ll be moved back to your room first thing in the morning. The doctors just want you to stay here over night so they can make sure nothing else happens.”
I sighed, realizing for the first time that my eyes were wet with tears. When I touched my wet eyelids, I asked, “Had I been crying?”
