Lauren fell asleep shortly after Alejandro returned to the room with some water. She gulped the whole bottle without even thinking.
The cool liquid soothed her throat immediately, but she still made no attempt to speak, she was too scared she wouldn't be able to. She decided to take a nap and think things over when she woke up, hopefully then her head wouldn't be spinning as much.
//
Lauren awoke the next day, once again being blinded by the overhead lights, was there seriously any need for them to be that bright? Lauren's head was still pounding, but it was more of a dull pain now rather than the relentless sharp pain she was feeling earlier.
It was now dark outside, and Lauren turned her head slightly, checking the time. 8.54PM.
How the hell had she managed to sleep for almost 24 full hours?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Alejandro entered the room once again, smiling softly at her.
"Lauren...you're awake. We wasn't sure if you'd wake up before morning"
Lauren just continued to stare at him, slightly confused. Why wouldn't she wake up? What was going on?
As if sensing Lauren's sudden uneasiness, Alejandro shuffled closer to the bed and placed a comforting hand over Lauren's own.
"It's nothing to worry about kiddo, we just put you under a mild sedative to stop you from pushing your body too hard all at once. You need all the rest you can get right now."
Alejandro paused and Lauren nodded softly.
"But seeing as you're up now, how do you feel about stretching them legs of yours?"
Lauren froze and started to panic. She had been hoping to avoid this moment for at least a little bit longer. What if she couldn't walk? She would much rather lay in the bed in denial than have her worst fears come true.
She started to shake her head rapidly, tears already threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes.
"I know it's scary Lauren. But there's a very good chance your lower body coordination will not be affected all that much. You will most likely struggle with hand eye coordination for a while and the speech is still something yet to be determined but this is the one thing you shouldn't be too worried about. And I'll be here the whole time kiddo."
Lauren suddenly felt at ease. This man was good. He was okay and Lauren could trust him. She didn't remember what her own father had been like but she hoped that he was even half as kind and gentle as the man sat in front of her now.
Lauren nodded softly, agreeing to Alejandro's request.
"Okay, let's just get you unhooked from all these machines then huh" He added before moving around Lauren to fiddle with the devices.
It was only then that Lauren realized just how many wires were hooked up to her. There had to be at least 20 different colored lines sprouting from all different areas of her body. She briefly wondered what each one was before but decided she'd probably rather not know.
Alejandro removed the IV from Lauren's arm, and she couldn't help but wince, it stung like a bitch.
After all the wires were gone and she had received the final nod of approval from her doctor, Lauren swung her legs over the side of the bed. She was surprised by how heavy they felt. Like they didn't actually belong to her and she was being forced to carry some dead weight around.
She was just about to start panicking again, when Alejandro's voice interrupted her.
"This will probably all feel a little weird at first. Let's keep in mind that you haven't walked in over 2 years. It'll be almost like learning to walk for the first time. But don't worry, your subconscious will remember most things even if you can't remember yourself what walking feels like. You ready?"
