Story 1: A Voice of a Friend

White, yellow, white and sometimes a tint of blue. A hospital room, I presumed. A creaky bed with blue curtains, a white drawer, that is next to the bed. Empty, without a bouquet of flowers or a “get well soon” balloon. Lower was my right arm wrapped in bandages, except for my elbow joint, where they injected me with saline and other liquids. A light blue blanket is over my body. I didn’t feel cold nor warm, but my right arm was killing me from the needle in my arm. I raised my left hand, it felt stiff like I hadn’t moved it in a long time. A feeding tube was attached to me. When I uncovered myself a bit, it made my hands shake more from the sudden stomach drop and feeling of fear and anxiety.

Why am I in this state? Why would they put tubes on me? Why is my body paralyzed and stiff?

A sudden opening noise, made me forget the questions and my head immediately turned towards the door, which made my neck almost crack from the knot in it. Three people came in. A doctor, a nurse and a young man with a scarf. My attention was on the man at first, but he didn’t look familiar. I looked at the doctor, who seemed content to see me, and he spoke to me with a harsh tone, he was definitely a smoker: “It’s nice to see you finally awake.”

What I understood, I was in a car crash, leaving me in a vegetative state for a month. As for my memory, I got diagnosed with Amnesia. I found out my name, Kaine Odun, the same as my age, address and that I had no extended family. Explains the lack of things in my hospital room. I had to do more testing, like an MRI, a few Ultrasounds and CTs. But for some reason, the man with a scarf was there with me for all of those tests. I didn’t engage with him at all, something made me want to stay away from him as much as possible. I clearly didn’t recognize him, but his curly red hair and blue eyes were eerie and a hint of familiarity hit me for a few seconds before it went back to this unknown feeling. For the next few days, I stayed in the hospital. He didn’t speak to me. I didn’t speak to him, it was like we were playing a waiting game.

After my release from the hospital, I took a cab to the address they gave me. I lived in a small apartment with barely any windows. As I analyzed it from outside my building, a voice spoke to me. I turned around and saw the same man who was in the hospital with me. He held some car keys and for the first time I heard his voice: “They let you out of the hospital so quickly, my friend.” That voice, his voice, it made my heart drop, I heard it before it was familiar, maybe too familiar.

“Who are you?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound cold and nonchalant, but I don’t know if it really worked as the stranger smiled at me. He tilted his head, still wearing that scarf of his, scoffing and finally answering me: “Oh, well, I’m your best friend, of course!”