No one, it is the middle of the night

After a while you rise from the darkness of unconsciousness once more, this time the light in the room is dim, it appears that night has fallen, but a quick glance to the window shows you that there is still snow outside, so it is safe to figure that not much time has passed since you last woke up.

For some reason, you fell like getting up, but first you will have to get rid of a few things. Groaning you start to remove the tube around you nose and then bit by bit you take out the infusions, you want to get out of here, as soon as possible. Even though it seems to take an eternity you finally manage to rid yourself of all the tubes in your upper body. Then you try to get out of bed, which proves to be an ordeal in itself, but finally you manage to slowly, carefully swing both your legs out of bed. Yet as you try to put your weight onto your feet you almost fall over then and there. In what feels like several hours but probably is only a couple of minutes you finally manage to stand up straight.

You look back at the hospital bed one last time, wondering how you ended up there when the memories come rushing back. They take a while to sort through, but when you do only one thought comes to your mind. Melody, you almost shout out her name, how is she now? Has she forgotten you? Does she harbour regrets? You decide to look her up as soon as you get back to somewhere familiar.

Slowly, carefully you take one step after another towards the door, every five paces or so you have to lean on the wall, as your muscles have become weak in the years you haven’t used them. As you get to the door you can hear voices from the other side. Two nurses seem to be talking outside your room. Since you need a break anyway, you decide to listen in.

“Come on Honey, you know that Nancy is only pulling your leg, there is no chance in hell that he has woken up this noon, you know that as well as I do.”

“Doesn’t matter, I will be in there, you can page me if you need to, I will do the rounds as usual, but I will wait with him.”

“I don’t get it, why are you ruining your health worrying about some comatose guy? You haven’t taken one day of since you started working here and you’re always working all night. You’re working yourself to ****, girl.”

“So what? I feel better when I get to check on him ok?”

“Alright Melody, if it makes you happy, I will come check on you later though ok?”

Melody? Probably some other Melody. The Melody you know would never work as a nurse in a hospital. Well you might as well wait here half way to the door if that nurse is gona come in anyway. Carefully and quietly the nurse opens the door, you can only see her silhouette, since there is more light outside on the corridor than in your dark room, but you can make out that she is quite thin, almost anorexic. You can also see that she has long red hair, like your Melody.

“Jack? Oh my god, you’re awake!”

The nurse rushes to you and embraces you immediately. Slowly, reluctantly you embrace her too.

“Ssorry, dho I nnogh youu?”

Your voice is raspy and sounds like that of some cheap horror movie character. Her voice is shaky and she is sobbing as she moves her face in front of yours again.

“Jack, please, you must remember, it’s me Melody!”

It takes a few moments for you to recognize her, she looks bit older, obviously, but that would not keep you from recognizing her. What did is that her face is incredibly thin, her cheeks are hollow and her eyes sit deep in their sockets. Her appearance, most of all the terrified look in her eyes frighten you. What has happened to the happy, energetic young woman you knew?

“Yes I remember you, how could I forget.”

You draw her into an embrace again, she holds on to you with a surprising amount of strength, as if she was afraid of losing you again.

“I missed you Melody, I am glad that you are here.”

You can hear her sob, and she clutches onto you even tighter.

“I missed you too Jack, I missed you too.”

Slowly she guides you back to your bed, sitting down beside you after she closes the door and switches on one of the lights. In the light you can tell that not much of her once so sexy figure remains, you can hardly see any curves through her uniform even though it is not exactly loose. It seems like she has lost quite a few pounds.

“Care to tell me what happened? It seems I missed a lot in these years.”

“What happened? Well ok, where do I begin…”
She begins her tale with all the great world events you have missed in your absence as well as all the smaller scale events of this community. After a while she proceeds to tell you about how you barely survived, how she waited beside your bed for you to wake up for a couple of months and subsequently fluked her finals. How she went on to start an internship as a nurse in this hospital just to be close to you, how much she regretted what she did every day of those three years without you. She also answers any of your questions concerning your mutual friends and your family. In the end she starts rambling on and on about how she will work to make up for what she did, how she will do anything for you, how she knows that you hate her after what she has done to you. After a while you simply tell her to shush.

“I am glad that you are here now that I am awake and I am not mad at you Melody, I am only mad at me, it was my mistake and I paid for it, dearly. But what happened to you? You seem to have lost way too much weight girl, tell you what once I get out of here we will go to a good restaurant and have a nice dinner together ok?”

You try to give her a confident smile, as she puts her arms around you again. You are about to settle into her embrace when you notice a cross shaped scar on her wrist.