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Two years later…
“Yugggggggggggggh.”
I inhaled, opening my eyes at once. The brightness of the lights above my head forced me to close them once, twice, and a third time. By the fourth blink, I’d adjusted enough to keep them open.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The sound of loud beeping left me in a state of confusion.
Where am I?The absence of my voice frightened me. My hands drew toward my face as the discomfort in my throat resonated.
What is this? What’s going on?With enlarged eyes and piqued curiosity, my hands rested on the large tube coming from my throat. Mustering as much strength as I could, I began pulling it slowly. The tape on the sides of my mouth peeled my skin, causing pain to shoot through my entire body.
The sound of a door creeping open was followed by footsteps. They got closer and closer until a floral covered set of scrubs appeared in front of me. It was then that my suspicions were confirmed.
“Ms. Rothshire? Ms. Rothshire! Please, don’t remove it your—”
Her words fell upon deaf ears as the long tube finally ended, exiting my throat and setting me free. Inhaling wasn’t the only thing I was able to do. Finally, I could breathe. A glob of smelliness fell onto my chest, causing my nostrils to flare and vomit to threaten me with an awful time.
Still confused, I watched as the pretty girl in the colorful scrubs grabbed a pair of gloves and a cloth to clean the mess I’d made. The dryness of my throat led me to swallow the new saliva that quickly formed in my mouth. It wasn’t much or nearly enough to settle the scratchiness, but it was a start.
“Ms. Rothshire, I’m Unique, your nurse. Do you have any idea where you are?” she asked, cleaning the smelliness from my chest and using her free hand to fondle the buttons on my bed.
“How can I help you?” An unfamiliar voice startled me. I quickly realized it was coming from the small intercom on the side of my bed.
“It’s Unique. Jackie, tell Dr. Joyner to get in room 420 as soon as possible. We have an emergency,” my nurse rushed out, seemingly out of breath or possibly in just as much of a state of confusion as me.
“Is everything okay? Do I need to call Jae?”
Jae. Jae!I screamed in my head, but the words wouldn’t emerge. I knew that name. I remembered that face. My heart recalled that love. Jae was a nurse at Huffington Medical and had been since she’d graduated nursing school four years after high school. Hearing her name revealed my exact location and was the assurance I needed to settle my racing heart.
“Everything is fine, Jackie. She woke up!”
Her voice trembled with disbelief as her emotions began to show through her lack of control. She was losing it right in front of me, further confusing me.
“WHAT?” Whoever was on the other end of the communication line was in apparent shock.
“Wo-woke up?” I didn’t recognize the bass in my voice. It scared me into complete silence. I rubbed the middle of my throat to relieve the pain that came along with it.
“Oh, honey. Let me get you some water.”
Swiftly, she rounded the bed and grabbed an empty cup, and poured water from a pink pitcher. With visibly trembling fingers, she held it to my mouth and tilted it slightly. I sipped from the cup, slowly allowing the cold water to soothe the burning of my throat.
“Better?”
I nodded as the door crept open again.
“Dr. Joyner,” she breathed out, relief written all over her face.
“And to think, there are people who believe God isn’t real.”
The short, aged man made his way to my side.
“Not only is she awake, but she’s obviously breathing on her own with perfect vitals,” he shared, taking a look at the machines that were no longer blaring.
