First Day

The next morning, John opened his eyes to see a plain, white ceiling above him. Things started to focus. Something seemed wrong, but he couldn't quite figure out what. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, and after looking around, it became clear to him that he was in a hospital room.

A nurse came in bringing an IV stand with her. She was initially trying to be quite, but then noticed that he was awake. "Good morning, Mr. Brady. How are you feeling today? Just let me change this and then I'll go get you some food. I'm afraid we have to stick to soft food for now, though. Don't worry, our kitchen is pretty good for a hospital."

One watery but not bad meal later, she returned with a wheelchair. "I'm here to take you to the tests the doctor mentioned to you yesterday," she said.

John shook his head lightly. He coughed a couple times, then managed to get his voice back. "What tests? I didn't meeting any doctor yesterday. I mean, I was running in the woods and then..." John stopped, trying to remember what happened next. "The next thing I remember was waking up just before you came in the first time."

Susan Williams was used to patients trying to avoid tests they didn't want to take, but this was an odd tactic. Pulling out her pocket penlight, she quickly checked his eyes to make sure everything seemed okay. He seemed fine, but he had been in a coma for three weeks, with a head injury, so it was possible something was wrong that she didn't know the signs for. "Do you really not remember waking up yesterday?" she asked him, becoming concerned.

Once again, John paused to think. "No. I really don't remember," he replied, somewhat worried.

"I'm going to go get a doctor. I'll be right back."

Over the next couple hours, several doctors and technicians tested and probed John. Finally, he was wheeled back into his room,and shortly after that, Dr. Mitchell came in.

"John, I wanted to update you on the results of the tests," he said. "The good news is that there doesn't seem to be anything major wrong with you. We aren't quite sure why you were out for so long, but none of the tests turned up anything dangerous" He shifted forward in his chair. "Now this morning, you seemed to have no memory of when you woke up yesterday, and you've said that you don't remember the actual accident. I want you to know that this is not that unusual for a case of head trauma, so don't worry. However, because you were under for so long, we would like to keep you here for a few days for observation."

"Well, I guess that's okay, if you think it's a good idea," John replied. "But, well, what about the bill? I'm just a college student, I don't have a lot of money..."

"No need to worry about that. Your insurance is covering all of it. Any other concerns?" John shook his head. "Now, I'm going to leave you in Nurse Williams' capable hands. I'll see you tomorrow," concluded the doctor, standing up and heading out the door.

Nurse Williams hung around for a bit, changing John's IV, getting him dinner, and making sure he was comfortable. John for his part enjoyed the attention, in no small part because of the nurse's almost skintight coveralls. She had an impressive, and from his observations quite firm, rack that was clearly outlined in her tight shirt. John figured she must have had to use a size or two too small today for some reason, but he wasn't complaining. It was too bad he couldn't do more than look.

After watching some mindless TV, John decided to turn in for the night.