I felt a strange tingling sensation in my arm. I felt something? I awoke with a start and nearly fell out of the bed. Luckily the bed's railing caught me before I did a tumble onto the floor. Apparently, I wasn't dead. A loud screech broke out to my right and I turned to see a heart monitor machine go flat line. I looked down and saw that one of the leads from the patch on my chest was pulled out. I reached for it when two nurses and a crash cart barrelled through my room door and a doctor followed them in.
They looked about as stunned to see me sitting up in bed as I was about being alive. We all just stared at each other for a minute and no one said a word. The doctor was the first to come to his senses and told one of the nurses to shut off the monitor while the other one came over to me and reattached the monitoring patch. The first nurse turned the machine back on and the steady electronic beep it emitted reassured everyone that everything was fine.
The doctor told the nurses to take the cart out and to give us some privacy. Well, he didn't say the privacy part; but, that was what he meant. How do I know? I'm a lawyer. It's my job to read between the lines. I also read his name tag.
“Well, Ms. Scott. How are you feeling?” Doctor Wilson asked.
“Besides a tingling in my arm, I feel pretty good, actually.” I said. I stopped and thought about what I'd said. I was being a bit flippant; but, now that I was concentrating on how my body really felt, I was surprised. I really did feel good.
“That's good.” He said it like he didn't believe me.
“Well, I'd feel better if this thing...” I held up my arm and pointed to the IV tube, “...was not stuck in me anymore.”
His eyes roamed over me in evaluation. “You were severely dehydrated when you came in, Ms. Scott. I highly suggest you leave that in and replenish your fluids.”
“Severely dehydrated?” Was he kidding me? “That was all that was wrong with me when I was brought in?”
“Well, no. You were also suffering from a slight case of over-exposure to the elements.”
“No cuts, bruises, lacerations, punctures, or anything?” I pleaded.
“Nothing like that was on your chart. You were fine, as far as the staff available at the time could see.”
“How long have I been in here?” I said.
“Almost a week, now. Are you okay?”
I had to think about the answer to that one for a minute. Was I okay? Did I just imagine that whole thing with the wolves and Cerberus?
“Cerberus!” I exclaimed. “Where's my dog?”
A smile spread across the doctor's face. “Don't worry. Your secretary Alice, has been taking care of him. She's been in here every day by your side. I'm sorry we couldn't let your dog in to your room. It's hospital policy to keep animal visits limited to the visitor's area.”
“Alice?” I said, wonderingly.
“Yes, she's been a big help with your recovery. In fact, I tried to get her to sign up for a permanent position here. She flatly refused, saying that it was her job to make you well, not to make everyone well. Or something to that effect.” He waved his hand in the air like he was trying to swat an errant fly that was bugging him.
A call from the hospital that said Alice was in trouble was what had gotten me onto the main road in the first place. How is it that she's fine and taking care of Cerberus? I had some serious questions that need to be answered and it didn't look like I was going to get them while I was stuck in the hospital.
“Well Doctor Wilson, when can I get out of here?”
“Since you just woke up, I'd like to keep you here at least overnight for observation, just to make sure that you don't slip back into a coma.”
I nodded. “Seems reasonable. I'd like the IV removed, though. I can take liquids normally now that I'm awake.”
The doctor looked a bit skeptical, then he just shrugged and nodded.
“If you can be reasonable, I can be reasonable, too. It's rare to find that in a patient these days.” He smiled. “I'll just get the nurse.” He said as he turned and left the room.
The rest of the day passed as slowly as molasses flowing uphill in wintertime. The staff poked and prodded me and ran pretty much every medical examination that mankind had ever thought of. Or it felt that way, at least. The night seemed a bit longer than usual, but I think that was more anticipation than anything else. The doctor said that it was only for the night that he wanted to observe me, so I was getting out tomorrow. Even if the good doctor doesn't want to let me out, I was out of here.
The doctor let me out the next morning, with no muss and no fuss. I was a bit surprised at first, then he reassured me that it wasn't a trick and that overnight observation was standard policy. Plus, in my case, since I was only dehydrated and sunburned, despite the short coma he saw no reason to keep me any longer. Of course, he made that determination after consulting the multitude of test results from the day before.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
I agreed with him one hundred percent... especially since my week long stay in the hospital was going to cost me an arm and a leg anyways. I was just glad that I had a good sized nest egg saved up for a while now and I should be able to cover the cost without putting too much of a dent in what I've saved. It was supposed to be for emergencies only.
I was also glad that I didn't have to use any of it up until now. My life did not need any more emergencies, thank you very much. This one was quite enough, assuming I didn't just imagine it all in a sun-bleached delusion. Was it a delusion? It happened at night and there was no sun, right? It did happen, didn't it? I looked down at my arms that I thought had been chewed on by wolves and they were fine. Did it really happen? Doubt filled my mind and I pushed it aside for now.
I found my personal effects in the drawer beside the bed and they gave me back my cell phone at the nurse's desk and I ignored their offer of a wheelchair. I got a hold of Alice right away and she agreed to come and pick me up at the hospital's main entrance. Since my car was pretty much totalled in the crash, I was going to have to rely on her for transportation for a while. She would be my designated driver at least until I arranged for some kind of replacement vehicle.
I just hoped it didn't turn out to be a bigger headache than I thought it was going to be. My hopes were dashed not long after I made a second call to my insurance company. The representative I talked to said that the damage to the car looked somewhat suspicious and that there would have to be an investigation. I asked how long that would take, and they said that they didn't know and that they would get back to me as soon as they could.
I also asked if the emergency rental clause in my contract was still active while there was an ongoing investigation, and they said that it wasn't valid if the accident's cause was still in question but that they would reimburse me any costs I incurred if it turned out to be a legitimate claim. Well, isn't that just great. The costs are going to come straight out of my pocket for now. I hung up my cell phone just as I saw Alice's car pull into the hospital's parking lot.
I walked over to where she was trying to park and flagged her down. She stopped the car and unlocked the door. She told me once that locking the car doors was a safety precaution that she always used, no matter who's car she was in, or where she sat in it. I didn't comment on how impossible it was to get out of the vehicle if there was an accident while she was still locked inside it. But, to each their own.
“How are you feeling?” Alice asked me as I opened the passenger side door and got in.
“According to the doctor, I'm fit as a fiddle and got a decent tan to boot.” I smiled.
“Hey, stop kidding around.” Alice frowned at me. “What did he really say?”
“He said I was fine. Really. Even with the over-exposure I got. Okay?”
Alice nodded, put the car into gear, and we pulled out of the parking lot and into the street. I knew she wasn't done asking questions, but I had a few of my own to ask.
“How's Cerberus?” I said, cutting her off as she opened her mouth.
She gave me a sideways glance, then she looked back out the windshield at the passing traffic.
“He's fine. Not a scratch on him. I don't know what happened to you two, but neither of you seem to be any worse for the wear.”
I stopped what I was about to say and looked at Alice more closely. What she had just said told me that she knew more about what had happened than she had let on during the time she had visited me in the hospital. I listened to her breathing, and it seemed a bit faster than a normal person would breathe if they were relaxed. How I knew that, I didn't know. I just knew it. She was nervous.
I took a short inhale of breath through my nose and I caught a whiff of something. I couldn't tell what it was, so I took an even deeper breath. There was some kind of smell coming from the backseat. I turned around and I didn't see anything. I leaned between the seats a bit to see if there was anything on the floor and I didn't see anything there, either. I shook my head and sat more comfortably into the passenger seat.
I closed my eyes and just sat there and didn't say anything. I took some deep cleansing breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. I could still pick up whatever that smell was, then forced myself to relax and let any suspicions go for now. Alice was my personal assistant and she would never do anything nefarious.
We arrived at my place not too long after we left the hospital. I didn't know if Alice was trying to set a new land-speed record; but, it felt like we had passed it a few miles back. I didn't comment about it to her, especially since it didn't actually bother me. Now, I'm usually a great stickler for following the speed limit, and you'd think that after my accident that I would be even more prone to stick to the rules of the road, but for some reason I was fine. In fact, I kinda liked going faster than we were supposed to.
We pulled into my driveway and when Alice turned off the car I could hear Cerberus banging the door from inside the house. He knew I was there and wanted to greet me as soon as possible, I guess. I got out and ran to the door to unlock it. I didn't want him to hurt himself trying to get to me through a solid wooden door. I barely turned the knob and was tackled by a big furry mass.
Alice came over behind me and was laughing so hard she was almost crying. I, on the other hand, was covered in dog slobber. I tried to push him off of me, but he was having none of that.
“Eewww!” I exclaimed between licks and Cerberus just kept licking me. “Cerberus, now that's enough!” I managed to squeak out before he drowned me in even more doggy drool. “I'm fine!” I said when I finally managed to push him off and started to laugh myself.
When I got myself standing again and looked at him, he was completely unrepentant and panted happily at me. Apparently, I had just gotten my reward for coming back safe and sound. We all went inside the house after receiving Cerberus's welcome home gift and we all tried to relax. It felt really good to be home, so I enjoyed it as much as I could.
Alice hung out for a little while and we shared some ice cream, double chocolate fudge of course, and she filled me in on what had happened while I was in the hospital. I needed the update, and I thanked her for taking care of the business while I was in the hospital and for watching Cerberus for me. She made up an excuse after a few hours for having to leave, something about paperwork having to be filed the next morning, when I knew full well that she only filed paperwork on Mondays. I walked her to the front door and gave her a big hug.
“Thank you.” I said and then I smiled at her.
“Uh... um... you're welcome.” She stuttered while she glanced at her feet.
“I'll see you in the morning at the office.” I said. “Goodnight.”
“Um... night.” She whispered as she turned towards her car.
I closed the door and looked down at Cerberus who had walked us both to the door. “I wonder why she got all quiet when I thanked her?”
He just looked back at me and tilted his head.
“I don't know, either.” I said as I turned off the lights and headed to bed. Cerberus trotted behind me and watched me get changed, then we both climbed onto the bed and went to sleep.