I was walking down a hallway, it was dark, the lack of clothing and my bare feet on the cold concrete was sapping all the heat from my body. Shivers would run along my arms and torso as I took every step. Taking a moment to survey my surroundings I realized I was in an unlit hall. Behind me, the darkness was deep and difficult to penetrate. I brushed aside my long hair behind my ears and saw far ahead of me the only light filling the darkness of this seemingly endless corridor. A sudden drop in temperature caused a new wave of shivering to permeate my body. I kept my pace steady as I walked toward the bright light at the end of the tunnel. I tried to think back to before I ended up at this tunnel but a bright burst of light ahead caught my attention while simultaneously the air dropped further into the negative temperatures. I couldn’t tell exactly what temperature it was but when my breaths started to create small puffs of vapor I began to worry. Knowing full well what would happen if I didn’t make a move to leave this strange place. I picked up my pace, headed directly to the only source of light. As if sensing my urgency the light began to strobe, becoming me towards its, hopefully, warm embrace. The hall in front of me began to stretch further and further. I pushed my legs and heaved my burning lungs harder trying to catch up to this strange light. If I could only just catch up to it maybe just maybe I could survive this nightmare. My lungs were filled with flames and my legs began to lose their steady beat on the rough floor. The hall shifted and I was plunging downward, away from the light. Falling, my heartbeat a hard staccato in my chest. My mind raced as I reached around me to slow or stop my dissent. Causing the rough walls to create shallow cuts on my arms and unbalance my fall. I started bouncing off the walls, falling deeper and deeper into the freezing darkness. The light above me was now a star-shaped light in the endless darkness. 

I awoke with a start, feeling a throbbing feeling throughout my body. Then suddenly a  deep and sharp pain forced a low growl from my desert-dry throat. Opening my eyes, I felt needles of pain lance them and with a couple of blinks, I was able to make out rough shapes all around me. A steady beeping caught my attention next to me and I could see a figure just barely in focus. All around me were machines of one type or another attached to me in multiple places. I tried to move my arms or legs and felt nothing. I kept trying to even make a noise but all that I could do was panic, causing the device that measured my heart to beep a bit faster. The figure across from what I figured was a hospital bed began to stir. Jumping with some shock the dark figure seemed to lean over me, with a murmured, “shit”, stood and walked out shouting for a nurse. The woman, I could tell from her voice, made a ruckus till she was followed in by two more dark and hazy figures. One of them leaned over me and shone a bright light over my eyes and touched what I imagined was my arm. The numbness throughout my body kept me from being sure. “His heart monitor was going crazy,” the woman's voice to my right said. 

“His heartbeat is stabilizing doctor,” said a male’s voice, I think. The shadow leaning over me pulled away and another shadow took its place. This one was much smaller and rounder in the middle. A youthful feminine voice spoke softly but professionally, “ Hello Mr.Sliver can you hear me?” another flash of light passed my eyes. She said “Squeeze my hand Mike”, she must have been holding my hand. I had no clue what to do. All I wanted to do was yell at the top of my lungs but even the act of forcing air out of my lungs seemed impossible. “Mike, if you can hear me please do your best to follow the light with your eyes.” I did the best I could following the bright light that was moving back and forth and up and down. “Looks like he is responding.” The woman I assumed was my doctor said. Another shadow came up quickly next to me. “Mikey it's me, everything is gonna be ok. I love you baby,” The other feminine voice said with a small quiver to her voice towards the end. Her face seemed to come in close and kiss my cheek and for some reason, I could still feel the warmth of her lips on the side of my face. As she leaned away I could feel a drop of something wet dropping to fall on then off my cheek. “Mr. Silver,” began the doctor,” you have been in an accident, it seems a semi-truck lost control during a snowstorm, and you were found several hours later in a comatose state. If you can understand me so far please move your eyes left to right”. I quickly responded with an eye nod with bated breath for her to continue. “Alright, so it seems that when the semi-truck collided with your vehicle it caused fractures throughout your spine. After several hours of surgery we were able to rebuild parts of your spine and remove much of the dangerous bone fragments that were threatening your survival but as a result it seems you have lost about ninety percent if not more of your motor and sensory functions.” There was a short pause where the doctor seemed to take a deep breath. “ We won’t know until we run some more tests to ascertain the severity of the situation”. A quiet settled into the room, and suddenly the soft sobs started from my left. In a wilting voice, the woman to my left said, ‘ Doctor there has to be something that can be done? Some type of surgery or experimental procedure that would help?’ The doctor's voice suddenly became very soft. “ We won't know until we perform further tests, Mrs. Silver.” With that dark shape, the doctor left the room speaking to the nurse, “I want to schedule…” her voice quickly left my earshot. Suppressing, unsuccessfully, a shudder the figure to my left, my wife I imagined. Began to speak, “it’s gonna be ok Mikey we can find the best experts in the field and I promise we will get through this.” With a sniffle, she leaned in and kissed my forehead and noticed for the first time the tube running from a pump to my right into and down my dry throat.

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Days passed in the same fashion. A new doctor would appear, tests would be run and bad news would be broken to my wife. With each “there is nothing more that can be done”, my wife would turn to me after and say “It’s gonna be ok Mikey” and with a kiss to my forehead or cheek I would drift off to my eternal numb blackness. 

One day after much anticipation from Lydia, which I found out was her name from a male visitor by the name of Charles; said, “Lydia, go home and take care of yourself. I can watch my older brother”. This was maybe the first time anyone I was directly related to had appeared. I was starting to suspect I might have been an unlikeable person before this accident and this was confirmed moments later. “Now that she’s out of the way Mikey I can finish what I started, you know, I'm quite surprised you were able to hold on for this long. My associates here told me that there was a slim chance you would make it past surgery and an even thinner chance of you surviving more than a couple of days but I guess that makes sense.” His voice turned grave “you… always was a fighter, isn’t that right Mikey…” his tone abruptly jovial “ at least… that is what I will say at your funeral you dumb prick” With a movement I couldn’t keep up with a shadow came close to my face and sudden dizziness struck me… hard. What little shapes I was previously seeing turned completely black and the sounds of the machinery all around me began to dim becoming hollow and distant.