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Part 72: Where All Journeys Grow

Chapter 12: Hospital

V2.0 – 10/06/2025

I awoke into a fog. I slowly blinked my eyes to allow my vision to clear and take in my surroundings. I was laying on my back under a white blanket in a hospital bed. I was propped up slightly to allow me to see the whole room. To my left was a window that spanned the entire wall. The curtains were drawn open and sunlight poured into the small room. To my right was a dividing curtain.

Memories flooded back to me… I remembered the interstate, the demonic attack, the sword in Kris’s chest, the swerving… I closed my eyes tight against the memories of the car accident. I let them pass by and opened my eyes again. I took inventory of my body. I felt no pain. I wiggled my toes on my left foot and then my right foot. Both moved at my will underneath the sheet. Good, not paralyzed.

I lifted my left arm and flexed my left hand. It obeyed. I lifted my right arm and flexed my right hand. It obeyed me as well. Everything was moving as it should. I reached up and felt my head. Nothing felt injured or out of place. I felt relief wash over me and instantly felt shame at my relief when I thought of Kris’s family.

What happened to Maranna and the kids? I had to know.

“Hello.” I tried to speak through my dry and sticky mouth, “Is anyone there?” I croaked.

I heard a man’s voice beyond the dividing curtain call out, “He’s waking up! Nurse?!” The voice must have belonged to another patient, my roommate beyond the divider.

I heard footsteps enter the room and saw a young woman dressed in purple scrubs round the curtain and come to my bedside. She smiled at me and felt my forehead, glancing at the monitors that stood next to me. She felt my pulse, holding my left wrist in her hand.

“How are you feeling?” She asked me.

“I’m thirsty,” I said, then asked, “What happened?”

She looked down at me with pity and replied, “I’ll let the Doctor fill you in.”

She finished examining me and brought me a cup of water. I drank it down quickly and asked for more. She filled the cup a second time for me. I drank that cup down as well.

“Rest now. I’ll send the Doctor in when he’s free.” She told me then left the room.

“Who’s there?” I asked the man beyond the dividing curtain.

I heard him struggling and then he pulled back the dividing curtain to reveal another hospital bed. It occupied the other half of the room. In the bed lay a young man with red hair and bright white skin covered in freckles. He was smiling at me. Half of his head was bandaged. His right arm was in a cast as well as his left ankle.

“What happened to you?” I asked him.

He scratched the unbandaged part of his hair and replied, “Motorcycle accident. It wasn’t my fault. Wrong place, wrong time I guess.” He touched the bandage on his head and asked, “You?”

“Car accident.” I answered him, “We rolled off the interstate.”

“Ah.” He said and then asked, “Were you alone?”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “No, I wasn’t alone.” I replied. The faces of the family that had been so kind to me haunted my thoughts.

“I’m sorry man.” He offered.

A tall man with brown hair wearing a doctor’s coat entered the room. He walked around both beds and came to stand to my left. He smiled down at me reading my chart, then said, “Hello Andrew. I’m Dr. Vince Murray. You’re at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia. You’ve been in a car accident on the interstate. What do you remember?”

I tried to sit up but just managed to push myself higher in the inclined bed. The Doctor helped by adjusting the bed so that it angled more upright allowing me to sit more than lay.

“I remember my friend Kris slumping over while he was driving and the car losing control. It rolled off the road before I could get it under control…” My words trailed off as flashes of the accident assailed me. I shook my head and asked, “What happened? There was a woman and two children in the car. Where are they? Are they OK?”

His face told me everything. He paused, then replied, “It appears that Kris had a heart attack and that’s what caused the vehicle to lose control and crash. I’m sorry, the woman and children didn’t make it either.”

Tears filled my eyes. I blinked, sending them rolling down my cheeks. Images of their faces flooded my mind again, their laughter resounding in my ears. “No.” I whispered. Grief flooded me. I sank back in the bed and closed my eyes. I felt his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry Andrew.” He said, then added, “It’s a miracle you survived and survived without any injuries. They had to pry you out of the vehicle. You were unconscious but unhurt. I think you passed out from the shock and trauma of the accident. You’ve been asleep since you were brought here.”

I glanced over to see the man in the other bed’s sad expression as he listened to our conversation. I wished I was alone. I turned back to look up at the Doctor.

“How long have I been here?” I asked him.

“Three days.” He said, “You’ve been asleep since you were brought here. We feared you were in a coma, but your brain activity was normal.”

I sat there trying to take it all in. The Doctor looked over the chart again and asked, “Is there anyone we can contact for you? To let them know where you are and that you’re OK?”

“No, no one.” I replied.

He looked saddened by my reply but said nothing. He sighed and said, “Well, I don’t see any reason to keep you here. I’m going to process your discharge, and the nurse will bring your papers by in a bit. She will help get you out of here. We’ve been so busy lately we need every bed free, hence your roommate.”

I nodded to him and said, “Thank you Doctor.”

He smiled at me and left the room.

“Were they family?” The man in the other bed asked.

I thought about his question for a while, then said, “Yes. They were family.”

“I’m sorry man.” He offered.

I gave him a smile of thanks. There would be time to think about everything later. I hated hospitals and desperately wanted to get out of here. I didn’t have the energy to be spiritual right then, so I decided to just rest while I waited.

I closed my eyes again and let myself sink back into sleep.

I awoke sometime later to being lightly shaken by the nurse. She had a stack of papers for me. I signed my discharge papers. She helped me stand and put my clothes back on. She had brought a wheelchair for me to ride out in. It was standard practice; she told me as she helped me sit in it.

“Get well soon.” I told the man in the other bed.

“Good luck man.” He replied with a smile.

The nurse wheeled me down the corridor and into the elevator. We rode in silence to the ground floor. She wheeled me to the exit and said, “Here we are.”

I stood and took a few steps. “Thank you.” I told her. She smiled and rolled the empty wheelchair away.

I walked out of the hospital into the sunlight and found a nearby bench to sit on. I held back the storm that raged in me. I forced myself not to think, not yet. I took out my phone and looked up nearby hotels. I found one that was reasonably priced and called it. I booked a room with the lady that answered. I called for an Uber. It arrived and took me across town to the hotel.

I checked into the hotel and took the elevator to my floor. I walked down the hallway and found my room. I opened the door and closed it behind me. The floodgates opened and I collapsed on the floor weeping. Grief and rage washed over me. I wiped the tears from my face and stood. I took a shower and climbed into the bed. I stared at the wall and loneliness consumed me. I had too many questions and none I wanted answers to at that moment.

I waited silently.

Sleep finally claimed me again.

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