Connection

Beep..... Beep..... Beep.....

That sound is annoying. Like my alarm every morning during weekdays.

‘Yes... Yes... I’m up now...’ I said in my head. I attempted to move my arms. Argh... I can’t... Tried to open my eyes but no facial muscles reacted to any of my attempts.

Out of nowhere, I heard muffled voices. As if they were in a glass enclosed space.

“Brain activity increasing. I think she’s awake.” someone said. I have to think of what to do. What I can do to move myself. I willed myself to focus on my right hand. Just a small movement should suffice. I can feel the warmth creeping from my neck and travelling to my right arm. I’m almost there.

“She’s…. What is she doing?” a man said in confused tone. Ha! It’s working! I continued whatever I am doing. I heard more beeping sounds.

“Why?” another man asked.

“Electron scanner is sensing a strong activity.” I heard one of them say.

“Which region?” more button pressing and beeping can be heard. I sighed in frustration as the warmth stopped creeping past my elbow. They hushed in silence. Did they hear me?

“She’s ready.” a deep voice of a man said. I think this guy now has the authority. And a bit later, I hear a slow release of air. Then a soft lick of warm air touched my uncovered face and I suddenly can feel everything. There are about six warm bodies (if my calculation’s right) at about 20 feet away from where I am. My nose tingled at the mixture of scents invading my sense of smell. I can smell more of metals, wires, and the smell of warm machines (you know, like the smell of the back of the CRT when it’s been running for about 5 hours).

I can feel the cool touch of the flat bed that I am on. Although covered in some sort of synthetic material, the coolness is keeping my body cold. I can now feel the needle stuck in one of my veins on my right hand. I wish I know where the tube’s connected though.

A bit later, trying to observe everything around me, a warm body (one of the six) is walking towards me in a careful manner. I can smell the linen the person is wearing and it smells like more chemicals.

He’s getting warmer as he got nearer and stuck another sharp needle on my right arm. A slow seep of colder liquid entered my system, I shivered as it slowly crept up to my elbow past my shoulder and spread out to my entire body. I felt as if I am slowly being pulled again back into the darkness. No! I wanted to scream.

Seconds later, I hear his voice: “See you later, Samantha.” and I blacked out.

Have you ever tried waking up after a long sleep? It makes you so tired, right? I read before that the optimal sleeping range for a teenager is 8 to 10 hours per day. So I guess I went way past the optimal range. My muscles feel so weak. I tried to observe everything without opening my eyes. I am now in a different room. More of a hospital room now. I should know the feeling of how being in a hospital room as I have almost lived in a hospital almost half of my life. My bed feels a lot comfortable and warmer now. I am covered in a soft blanket and my head is inclined for about 40 degrees from the bed. I can still hear the beeping sound but now it’s nearer my bed. Several things are now connected to my body but fortunately no more needles stuck. Just small suction cups on my chest, my temples, and a clip on my left pointing finger. I can feel someone getting near me and stopped just at my right side.

“Hello, Samantha.” A woman is now talking to me.

I willed my eyes to open. Slowly at first and I was flooded with soft bright light. I blinked and tried to adjust my vision to make everything clear. I moved my head a little and I saw the woman who spoke to me. She has a dirty blonde hair tied up in a bun. Her face devoid of makeup and looked as if she haven’t got any sleep based on the dark shade under her eyes. Her brown eyes are somewhat looking observant and attentive, clearly studying my face. Her lips are full, her cheeks a little bit plump and light specks of freckles cover her either cheeks.

“I am Dr. Martin. How are you feeling now?” her voice is a bit raspy and somewhat reminded me of my former teacher in Social Studies.

I opened my dry mouth and tried to speak. “Tired.” I mumbled. My throat is really dry. “Water.” I whispered. Dr. Martin placed a tube against my lips and I felt the smooth drops of water caressing the inside of my mouth. It reached my throat and I felt like I was energised by it. I steadily drank the water she is transferring in my mouth and slowly licked my lips as she removed the tube.

“Where am I?” I asked softly.

“You’re in the observation room.” She replied. “Can you try to move your fingers on your right hand?”

I stared at my hand and I felt the same warmth creeping from my neck down to my right arm. But instead of stopping at my elbow, it went straight to my wrist and spread from my palm to my fingers which moved all at once although slowly. I heard her scribbling something on her digital pad using her stylus. The glide of the metallic sensor against the screen of her pad is somewhat making my fingers itch. I stayed silent though. It doesn’t bother me that much but I am so curious as to why even the softest sound can be caught by my ears. I stared at her as she focused on writing. I have so many things to ask her but I can sense that she won’t answer anything unless it was about me being in this room. As I wait for her to finish, I slowly moved the fingers on my left hand and they felt the same although this stupid clip makes my pointing finger a bit heavier than the rest.I also willed my toes to move. Slowly, I can feel my other muscles come to life as I move my wrists very subtly. I stopped doing everything when I felt her gaze towards my face.

“How long have I been sleeping?” I asked.

She cleared her throat and smiled. “About 3 years.” My inner self lifted her eyebrow. That must be the reason why I feel so tired. Three years is definitely way past the optimal sleeping range.

“Do you remember ever going to sleep?” she asked. My brain went to thinking. I remember being in a hospital room. My parents are beside me, tears falling from their eyes. My chest was heaving heavily but I can’t remember why. I just know that I was so tired and I just felt their kiss on my hand and forehead as I closed my eyes.

“Not really, no.” I lied. I can’t tell her that. It feels too personal for me. And I might be wrong about it. She wrote something again on her pad.

“Do you feel any pain on your head or chest?” she asked again. I replied no.

“Are you hungry?” She asked again. I tried to feel my tummy. Do I feel hungry? It seems empty but I feel a bit full. My tongue feels as if I don’t really crave for anything but I know that I have to eat.

“I guess I could eat.” I muttered. She pressed something near my head board. Immediately, a nurse came in through the door.

“Please bring Ms. White the set A.” Dr. Martin said in authoritative tone. The nurse immediately went out. She wrote some more on her pad. It’s getting annoying.

“Dr. Martin, could you please stop writing?” I said. She hovered her stylus and looked at me. She glanced at her pad the last time and set it down at the table near her.

“Why did you ask me to stop?” she asked with confusion on her face.

“The sound of the stylus against the pad is annoying. It hurts my ears.”

She sat back and stared at me intently. Now what?

“What else can you hear, Samantha?” she asked. I closed my eyes and tried to listen to everything.

“I can hear the beeping of the monitor just at left part of my head board. I can hear your throat as you swallow some of your saliva. I can hear 4 people now passing through my door. I can also hear the people just past that one-way mirror.” I mumbled. I opened my eyes and saw her eyes wide. “If I am not mistaken, there are about six of them at the other side.”

“That’s interesting.” she leaned back and looked directly at the one-way mirror.

“How did you know that there are six people at the other side?”

“Unless they have multiple hearts, I can hear six hearts beating.” I left out the part that I can even hear them breathing. And now, I know that they are somewhat thrilled to what ever they are witnessing. “The nurse is coming back though.” I mumbled. And surely, the nurse got in as she pushed the trolley and set it just beside my bed. I finally got to see the nurse up close. She looked oddly familiar. But she wasn’t looking at me. She’s wearing the nurse’s uniform, her face a bit thinner and her burgundy hair tied in a bun with some hair pins and tucked under the nurse’s cap. She had a little bit of powder and blush on her cheeks that somewhat hid the dry skin of her pale face. Her caramel eyes looked tired but attentive, pretty much like Dr. Martin’s. Huh… These people do not seem to sleep.

“Do you ever sleep, Dr. Martin?” I asked as the nurse pressed something at my head board slowly increasing the height of the incline. I am now in almost sitting position and now I can see other things in the room. Just across the foot of the bed is a long white couch against the wall. At the corner of the room is a small table with a flowerless vase on top of it. The food on the trolley was covered in translucent plastic dome cover. The nurse lifted it and she turned around and went to the door.

“We… uhm… we do sleep, Samantha.” she replied after the nurse has left. The smell of oatmeal and pureed apple reached me. My mouth started to water. Dr. Martin seemed to notice my attention towards the food and immediately took the spoon from its cradle and scooped a small amount from the oatmeal bowl.

“Can I instead use my hand to feed myself?” I asked as she was about to press the spoon against my lips.

She hesitated. “Are you sure you can do that?” she asked.

“Of course.” I lifted my right arm with careful movement. Why does it seem as if they are bewildered with what they are currently seeing?

She slid the trolley across me and settled the tray just right in front of me. With steady hands, as if I have never been into 3 years sleep coma, I reached for my spoon and started eating.