Before You Leave Me

20. Wake Me Up When September Ends

[A/N: These past two chapters are a little bit shorter than the rest, but the following ones will have the normal length or even longer... 😏😏😏 Can't wait to share them with you. You know you love me, xoxo (idk why I did that lol)]

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September 30th, 2022.

5:17pm

When I was little, I used to spend a lot of time in hospitals.

I was always ill, whether it was pneumonia, or any other respiratory infection. My mum would always buy me a cuddly toy to keep me company at night, which resulted in me having tons of cuddly toys because of all the nights I spent hospitalised.

There's no toy by my side when I wake up. My mum isn't here, either.

But there's someone who smiles at me sweetly when I turn my head to them.

"Morning, douchebag" a familiar voice greets, "I was hoping you'd wake up before I had to leave"

Albert.

I open my mouth, and Albert stands up and walks to me.

"I'll call the doctor" he says, and runs to the corridor.

In a matter of seconds, another familiar face enters the room, followed by another doctor.

"Good afternoon" Vic smiles.

I think I've never been happier to see someone. I smile back and let the other doctor put a freezing stethoscope on my chest, flash a light at my eyes, and check all the machines behind me before taking a step back and looking at me.

"Can you tell me your name?" the doctor asks.

I give Albert a look.

Is she joking?

Well, you just went under brain surgery. It's perfectly normal to want to know if you're okay.

"My... name... is... Daniel Gonzalez" I say, my voice coming out a bit raspy, "It's 2022 and I'm at the London's St. Thomas Hospital because... I got into an accident and my brain was bleeding"

Both Vic and Albert smile and I swear I see them sigh in relief.

"I guess you're the neurosurgeon who operated on me; she is Victoria and she is rotating in Emergency Medicine, that's why she was on call the night of the accident" I continue looking at Vic, "And he is Albert and he works with me at the..."

"All right, mate" Albert cuts me chuckling, "You're not a turnip so you don't need to brag"

The doctor gives Albert a look and shakes her head with half a smile, turning to me.

"The surgery went well" the doctor says, writing down on a file; "Your kidneys are a little sluggish, though, but nothing to worry about"

"Excuse me, I really gotta go now" Albert says, "I will come as soon as I've finished working"

"We'll be here" Victoria nods.

Albert nods back and walks to me.

"Listen, I have to go. I'm going to introduce your project to the board for you. I worked for a while on it and you've talked a lot about it; so I'm pretty sure I will deliver almost as well as you would've done. I'll see you later, all right, mate?"

I open my mouth and my throat does a weird sound.

Albert raises an eyebrow, trying to decipher what I'm trying to say.

"Give... me... credit" I mumble.

Albert bursts out laughing.

"You're from another world, man" he chuckles, "Of course I will. See you later"

He waves goodbye and leaves the room.

The doctor looks at me with a smile.

"Right, as I was saying, your kidneys are a little sluggish. Victoria is going to keep an eye on your electrolytes for the next few hours, but there should be no further complications" the doctor smiles again.

"Thank you" I say.

With a nod, the doctor exits.

I look over to Victoria, who's also smiling at me.

"Did you..." I close my eyes and sigh; "Did you stop the bleeding?" I ask.

She nods.

"We did"

I smile.

"You really cut my head open" I say.

"Yup" she smiles.

"Was it... empty?" I grin.

She can't hold back a giggle.

"Surprisingly, it wasn't"

"That's..., that's good" I breathe out.

There's a silence afterwards.

"Is there... really no one I can call, Dan?" she asks, "You shouldn't be left alone"

"You're here"

"I can't be here for long" she smiles, "I have other patients to get to"

"Albert is my only friend" I finally say, "Unless you want to call my dog, but I don't think this hospital allows animals in"

"It's really good to see you joking" Victoria says with a huge smile, "Honestly, it's surprisingly good"

I can see tears forming in her eyes, but she quickly sniffles and looks away.

I realise maybe the way I woke up isn't a normal thing. Maybe people wake up comatose, or without being able to talk, or move, or just... be their old selves. Some people probably don't even wake up at all.

I don't feel different though.

My head hurts a bit, but I believe that's one of the side effects of having it sliced up.

"Thank you" I say some minutes later. I see Vic's eyes widening, wondering where that came from, "For saving my life"

Vic smiles.

"It's what I do" she answers shrugging her shoulders; "I will come later on and check your electrolytes again before going home. I don't have to work until Sunday and I have a birthday dinner tomorrow night, but I will visit you before that. That way Albert can go if he has to be elsewhere. I will come as your friend, not as your doctor" she clarifies; "So if there's something you need before I go, you better ask for it now"

I smile.

"I'm okay" I answer.

"All right, I will make sure they take good care of you. Don't flirt with the nurses though, they hate it" she winks, "I'll see you later"

"Bye, Vic"