A night in the hospital

After a brief but awkward silence that felt longer than it actually was, I finally broke the ice.

“So, do you use any texting apps?”

“Ah, yes, CactuCall. Why?”

“Well, I thought we could add each other?”

David seemed surprised but also happy to hear that.

“Yeah, of course. What’s your username?”

“It’s ‘Jinko Saido’.”

“Okay… I just added you, so you can accept it now.”

“Yeah, I accepted it.”

“Nice.”

After we were done with that, yet another awkward silence followed. This one was fortunately cut short almost immediately. This time, David spoke first.

“Anyway, I should go if I want to get home at a reasonable time and still get something done.”

“Yeah, I won’t keep you here forever. Oh, on your way out, could you call a nurse? I need to ask a few questions.”

“Okay, will do. By the way, I better not see you at school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“Okay, bye.”

“See you later.”

David left and a nurse came soon after.

“Hello, I see that you’re awake. What do you need?”

“Yes, I just wanted to ask about my situation and how long I’ll be staying.”

“Of course. You seem to be almost recovered, but as it is a head injury, it would be better if you would agree to stay overnight. Can we call your parents and ask?”

“Okay.”

I handed the nurse my unlocked phone. After the nurse was done, she informed me that my parents had agreed, and that the hospital would be releasing me at 7 am the next day.

“7 am? I can probably make it to school. But I don’t have the books I need with me…”

The nurse just handed me my phone back, smiled, and left the room. Then an idea hit me.

Maybe I can ask David to bring them to me? If I give him my key, he can get to my apartment and grab the books I need for tomorrow.

I picked up my phone, opened CactuCall, and called him.

“Hey, David?”

“Yeah, it’s me. What’s up? Why are you calling me when I just left?”

“I have a favor to ask.”

When I explained the entire situation and my request, he let out a loud sigh.

“Did you not hear me when I said, ‘I better not see you at school tomorrow’?”

“Is that a no?”

“No, I can do it. As long as you live close by.”

“Yeah, it’s just half an hour from school by bus. My roommate should be home, but I’ll give you my key just in case. You can return it at school. Are you still nearby?”

“Yeah, I’m just a few minutes away. I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Okay. Oh, and I’ll text you the address after the call.”

*

It was time for bed: 10 pm. The hospital was still active, but the section I was in housed overnight patients, so it was relatively quiet.

The room I was in wasn’t actually a single room, but a double room. Sometime after David left for my house to get my schoolbooks, another patient came in, also with a head injury. He seemed to be in worse condition than I was, though. He, too, had his head wrapped in bandages, but he also had to wear a neck brace to keep his head from moving.

Although I saw him only for a couple of seconds, I took note of his appearance. From the little hair that wasn’t covered by bandages, I could see that his hair was blond, somewhat of similar to David’s, but darker.
But unlike David, this guy had green eyes, whereas David’s were a very dark brown, almost black.

He was also noticeably tall, but unlike me, he had a muscular body while I was on the skinny side.

A curtain separated us, so I didn’t see him after he was brought in, but I could occasionally hear him moan in pain. Part of me wished he could be moved to another room or leave the hospital entirely so I could sleep in peace.

I knew that wasn’t really an option given his condition, but around 11 pm, his cries of pain got really bad. It got to the point where even a doctor had to rush in to check on him. After the doctor and a nurse hastily discussed what to do with him, they placed him on a stretcher and moved him somewhere else.

Wow, now I feel really bad. I didn’t actually cause this… right? But his condition worsened, and he had to be carried away on a stretcher. Did I somehow curse him?

“Haha, no, that’s impossible...”

But I still couldn’t help but feel guilty about it. Because of it, no matter how quiet the room was, I just couldn't fall asleep.

*

I checked the clock, and it showed exactly 0:00.

It’s so late already, and I still can’t sleep.

I rolled to the right side of my bed and reached for my phone on top of the nightstand. I was about to start watching a random reaction video when I remembered.

I forgot to search online for any possible hobbies. I should do it now before I forget again.

My first search was: How to find new hobbies?

A number of results came up, but all of them suggested essentially the same thing: try a variety of activities.

I kept searching, but the results were all the same.

A few minutes later, I gave up, realizing it was pointless. So, I put my phone away and tried to fall asleep again, but to no avail.

Not only am I still wide awake, but now I also need to pee. Great.

Annoyed, I got up, left the door to my room wide open, and went to the bathroom in the hall.

When I was done washing my hands and was about to head back, I saw someone walking across the hall.

They don’t look like hospital staff. Are they also a patient staying the night?

What I saw next made me freeze.

Why are they heading into my room? There’s no way it’s the guy from before, right? This person is way smaller in both height and size. Did someone else get assigned to my room while I was in the bathroom? But I was only in there for about five minutes. It can’t be a thief, can it?

It didn’t really make sense for someone to rob a hospital, so I quickly brushed off the thought. But I still had no clue why anyone would enter a random hospital room in the middle of the night.

I stood still, wondering if I should go in or not.

I’m sure it’s nothing, probably just somebody that entered the wrong room by accident. What am I getting so scared over?

After convincing myself it was just a silly misunderstanding, I finally moved and went to my room. As I was about to step in, I suddenly got goosebumps all over my skin.

“Brrr. Did they turn off the heating? Why is it so cold all of a sudden?"

I mumbled to myself and stepped inside. It was eerily quiet and freezing inside, sending a chill down my spine.

Geez, why is it so damn cold? Did a blizzard just sweep through my room?

I wasn’t putting up with this, so I turned around and went to find the nearest nurse and told her about the situation. But when we returned, the temperature had gone back to normal, almost as if it had never been cold at all. On top of that, there wasn't anyone else in the room but the two of us.

I definitely saw someone walk in here. Was I seeing things? But it looked so real...

 The nurse forced a smile, but I could tell she was looking at me like I was a crazy person.

After the nurse left, I lay back down and tried to sleep.

*

I eventually fell asleep, but I was soon woken again up by strange noises. It sounded like someone hissing, like a low groan of pain, from behind the curtain. Still groggy from being woken up, I got up and went over without thinking, but when I pulled the curtain aside, the bed was empty.

Hmm, it must have been my imagination.

I simply went back to bed, and this time, I fell asleep instantly.