Walk

{if Pics=True}{endif}

You decide to stumble on homewards, trying to walk off the worst of the drunkenness. How many did you have? "Too few!" you laugh to yourself.

The street is quite deserted. Not much traffic to speak of in this direction. After a quick piss in the bushes, you stumble back, trip on a rock, and hit your head. Hard.

The world turns black.

"Hello?"

(to someone else: "I think he's waking up now.")

{if Pics=True}{endif}

The brightness burns your eyes. You find yourself in bed, in a room with white walls and women dressed in white. Looking around, you see other beds behind privacy curtains. A woman, maybe in her late 40s, tries to talk to you. She's busty, and has a warm smile.

"John, how are you feeling?"

"Uh, not good," you say, sitting up slightly.

"I'm nurse Annie," she says and helps you by raising the upper part of the bed with the controls.

"Where... I'm in the hospital?"

"Yes, someone found you on the pavement without consciousness. Doctor Robinson says you have a slight concussion, and you are quite drunk, so you need to stay the night."

"Damn. Have you contacted my wife?"

"She has yet to pick up."

"Oh, she's probably in the club. Her college friends are in town."

"Please relax, and let me know if there's anything I can do."

Annie leaves. She's not ugly, but when you looked closer, you saw that her age and the stress of her job has not done her any good. She looks late 40s, but is probably ten years younger.

Anyway. The world spins around when you close your eyes. You feel tired, but the spinning makes you sick, so you try to stay awake for a while longer. You decide to get up and walk around a bit. You're wearing a hospital shirt and your boxer shorts.

There are four beds in the room, all occupied. You peek around the first curtain and see a younger man with his leg in a cast. He's snoring gently.

You look at his watch. {if Time>=480}It's 3am.{elseif Time>=450}It's 2:30am.{elseif Time>=420}It's 2am.{elseif Time>=390}It's 1:30am.{elseif Time>=360}It's 1am.{elseif Time>=330}It's 12:30am.{elseif Time>=300}It's 12am.{elseif Time>=270}It's 11:30pm.{elseif Time>=240}It's 11pm.{elseif Time>=210}It's 10:30pm.{elseif Time>=180}It's 10pm.{elseif Time>=150}It's 9:30pm.{elseif Time>=120}It's 9pm.{elseif Time>=90}It's 8:30pm.{elseif Time>=60}It's 8pm.{elseif Time>=30}It's 7:30pm.{endif} You've been gone for an hour.

Around the other curtain you find a middle aged woman. She looks up, annoyed. "Yes?"

"Sorry," you say and quickly turn back.

The last bed contains a very old man. He looks frail, with bruises everywhere. Has he been in a fight? Who would fight an old man like this? Robbers, maybe? His belongings, on the table next to him, seem to be limited to broken glasses, an empty wallet and a golden ring with dirt on it. Maybe it fell off his finger and onto the ground?

You hear a faint song, coming from the direction of the ring.

Is it... is it calling you to pick it up?

You hear footsteps.