College Chastity Choice Game 2

I've had a rough night, full of nightmares and I sort of feel cold and sore.

You know how sometimes, when you are sleeping and slowly waking up, you are less conscious of your surroundings and only slowly have your senses starting up?

This is how I feel this morning. I am also still very hazy about yesterday. That was a great last class and was looking forward to the finals.

I have a good group of students this year, and Carrie, one of my best students, is almost a neighbor.

Did I walk back home with her? No, she has a group project. It's nice when we accidentally walk together, not that she talks much. She is rather quiet.

Wow, it's slow waking up this morning, I'll have to take a few coffees.

Wait, through my eyelids, I can see light. It's already late?

I try to listen, is Michael getting ready? If not, why would he let me sleep in? I have a meeting this morning. Granted, it's not early, but I enjoy getting ready.

What are all these noises?

I open my eyes and see that I am not in my room. I am in the hospital?

What I am doing in hospital? I look around and see that my arm is hooked to various things. Notably, I have a needle in my wrist?

I gently turn my head and see that I am not in a private room. There is someone in a bed to my right, with what seems to be like a nurse watching over him.

I try to move a little, but I am very sore and with all the stuff on my left arm, It's hard.

I guess I must have made a noise, for the nurse turns, and shocked, looks at me, making eye contact.

"You're awake?", she says, shocked.

Trying to talk, I can't seem to be able to.

"Wait, you are intubated, let me remove that for you", she says, running to me.

I am intubated? What for?

She calls for help, saying that I wake up, and pulls on a tube which I now realize was shoved in my throat.

Two other people rush to my side.

"Do you recall your name?", says a middle age woman, but the nurse reminds her I was intubated.

"Right", says the middle age woman. "Sorry, don't try to talk yet. Can you raise your hand if you can recall your name?"

What a stupid question, of course I do. Nadia. Why would I have forgotten my name?

A fourth person arrives. "Her husband is on his way"

"Good, we'll let you rest and give you a few minutes to fully wake up, while nurse Roberts here will take your vitals and make sure you are ok. Your husband is on the way, when he gets there, we'll talk, just the three of us. Is that acceptable?"

I try to ask questions, but I am told to just wait.

The woman and the young man shadowing her leave me with nurse Roberts, the one who spotted me in the first place.

She checks on me, telling me that everything will be all right.

"You should be able to talk soon, the tube was only placed recently. Can you open your mouth, so I can check for inflammation?"

I open my mouth, but what I want are answers.

"Wow, your throat is ok. I guess we should have removed it earlier, but you gave us a scare, lady. ", she says. I look at her.

"I was always rooting for you. Always. And that husband of yours? He was almost always in here. In fact, he only left a few hours ago. So devoted", she says, smiling.

I try to say something, but my throat still hurts.

"Don't try to talk yet. Let your vocal cords recover. Hey, I can do something to help! I'll be right back"

She leaves for a moment, and comes back with a spray. "If you open your mouth, I'll spray something to help with the inflammation. It will take a few minutes to work, but I expect it should allow you to talk. Wait, can you nod if you agree?"

I nod.

"Good", she says, smiling. "Open your mouth wide".

I do, and she sprays a liquid which reduces the pain rather quickly.

She stays by my side, and we wait. I am rather furious. I have things to do and I want answers!

But minutes pass, and nurse Roberts eventually tells me. "Can you try to talk, just say hello"

"Hello?", I reply, but it's a little raspy.

"Great. I am happy to hear that"

"Thirsty", I say, as my mouth is all dry.

"Oh, I can't give you water yet. We need to the all clear from a doctor, in case you have a problem with your pharynx"

I look at her, confused.

"It's the part of your throat which decides if what gets in down your mouth goes in the stomach or the lungs. If I give you water, and it gets in your lungs, I'll be in trouble. But don't worry, you are in good hands. Dr Henley is one of the bests"

"What happened?", I ask

"They will explain it all to you when your husband gets here. Don't worry, everything will be all right"

I look at her.

"Thank you for being there"

"I'd say it's just my job, but honestly, seeing how your husband looks at you has been inspiring me. Plus, my brother had you as a teacher and he loved you"

I think back. "Mark?", I ask. I don't recall many students with Roberts as a last name, but he was bright and would make a great civil engineer.

She smiles, "Yes. You remember him?"

"Of course. I hope he does well in the final", I say

But the nurse looks odd.

"What wrong?", I say

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. Listen, I'll go tell the doctor that you can talk. Does it hurt?"

"Not really"

"I mean, anywhere?"

"No, I think I am fine. I feel sore, but otherwise ok"

"That's a little normal, don't worry about it. I'll be back soon, ok?"

"Ok"

She leaves me alone, and while I see people in the corridor, I don't see people in my room.

I feel very weak: when I try to lift myself to see in the bed, I don't have the strength to do it. Perhaps I am under heavy medication? Is that why she asked me if I was in pain?

Oh, that must be it. I must be getting painkillers, and it's making me weak. I've never had morphine or other strong painkillers, but perhaps they cause muscle weakness.

I wait, it seems there is nothing else to do!

After a few minutes, I see Michael fly in the room, happy to see me.

"Hey, Michael", I tell him.

"You are awake! That's amazing!", he runs to me and kisses my dry lips. It feels good. Really good.

"Can you tell me what happened?", I tell him, getting more and more at ease with talking.

He grabs a chair and sits next to me. "You were walking home from college, and a drunk driver lost control of his car and hit you straight on"

"What?", I say, shocked and confused

"But... I don't recall any of that"

"No, they told me there was a high chance you wouldn't. A witness said that he hit you from behind, so you didn't see him coming. With the commotion you had, chances were slim for you to remember. But that's not what's important, your recovery is"

"Do you know when I will get out of here? I have to prepare for the final exams"

"Oh, Nadia? The final exams are over."

"Wait, wasn't I hit yesterday?", she says

"Nadia, you were in a coma...", Michael says, all sad

"So I missed the finals?", I say, panicking as the doctor gets back in.

"And the summer"

"Wait, how long was I in the coma?"

"About 3 months", says Michael

"Three months? Are you kidding me?"

The doctor gets by your side, and explains.

"Don't worry about it, Nadia. Many comas are there mainly to give time for the brain to recover, to form new pathways, to reduce inflammation. Seeing how you seem to be aware of things, I would say that it worked flawlessly."

"But my job? And I just lost a summer"

"Don't worry about your job. The college has a good program and our insurance covers all the medical fees. Plus, we'll have other summers", Michael explains.

But the doctor adds. "I am from Minnesota, even after the summer, you will have great weather for, well, most of the year"

"But I missed my summer vacation. That's when I do a lot of contract work", I say

"Don't worry about it, Nadia. We can rebuild financially. All that matters is that you are well.", Michael says.

"But am I, well?", I reply