Schadenfreude

Room 204

The last thing I remember was me making a useless attempt to grab the banister while cursing out Morgan. After that, it was just blackness. I came through for a little bit and heard sirens and screams from a distressed woman. I had the sense of movement beneath me, but lost consciousness almost as soon I had recovered. it.

I woke up an unknown time later to an annoyingly constant beeping and the steady breaths of a person near me. I opened my eyes, which took much more effort than should be necessary and took a glance around. The breathing came from a small boy with a small slash on his face along with several bruises on his visible arm that was laid in a bed next to me. I turned my gaze to my left to find the source of the beeping to be a heart rate monitor attached to the boy. His eyes were closed and he slept peacefully.

When I tried sitting up I saw a green cast on my left arm. What had previously happened hit me like a bus. I felt my breath hitch and reminded myself to calm down. A rather plump woman entered the room with a tray of what looked like meat and potatoes and several pill bottles. She smiled a warm smile and set the tray down by the table next to me.

"Feeling alright, sweetie?" she practically sang, rearguing my sheets on my small bed. 

"Um... I guess," I replied, not sure what to say.

"Your brain is probably a little fuzzy and wondering what happened, no?" she asked with a small arch in her eyebrow.

"Just a little... The last thing I recall is falling, but I am sure it was more than that," I respond.

She continued to fluff my pillows when she began speaking, "You managed to trip down your staircase, causing two bones in your left arm to break when you landed. You were extremely fortunate it wasn't worse. You hit your head, making you lose consciousness. You didn't suffer any extreme head trauma, just a rather unpleasant looking bruise."

At this, I reached up and felt was sure a huge bump on the side of my head,

The nurse continued, "We suspect dehydration caused you to faint. You will need to stay here overnight for safety precautions, but should be able to leave tomorrow morning. You have some visitors that went to the cafeteria for food, but I can send them in here when they return."

I smiled at her, "Thank you that would be wonderful."

She handed me the tray of food and I dug in, despite it smelling strongly of feet. I thought of her mentioning dehydration and knew that wasn't the cause of why I passed out. It might have been part of it, but I knew it wasn't the reason.

I finished my meal and placing my tray on a table, I saw it was nearly 7:30. I decided to waste time by turning on the television and it blasted a commercial for tampons I quickly tried to turn it down, but the boy next to me stirred. He opened his eyes to reveal a deep set of blue framed by dark lashes. His black hair was tousled from sleep and he sat up and looked directly at me.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized, "I just turned it on and I didn't have any idea it would be so loud. I'm so sorry I woke you."

The boy muttered a small reply I couldn't understand and rolled back over. Sighing, I flipped through the channels and I finally decided on a Spanish soap opera. I hoped it would help me with my limited Spanish skills. The door busted open and in marched my crying mother and followed my Jake, Kate, and of course, Morgan. My mother hugged me more than was considered healthy and had to be pried off of me. Jake greeted me with kiss of the forehead and a hug, while his whispered in my ear how happy he was to see me. I couldn't deny he too looked a little misty eyed when he handed me flowers. Kate hugged me, but not before yelling at me for being such a klutz who was too dangerous for her own good. Morgan stood awkwardly by the door, but said nothing.

I repeated what the nurse told me, despite them probably already knowing. By the time I finished talking it was past nine and the nurse ushered everyone out, insisting I needed rest. Again, everyone hugged me, including Morgan. I just stared as she asked what room number I was.

"She's room two-oh-four, dear," my mother answered for me.

'I'll see you tomorrow," Morgan stated and walked out of the room. The last thing I wanted to do was see her, but I was too tired to fight. The rest of them left leaving me alone with the boy, who now was awake. He looked directly at me, not blinking. After ten minutes of staring, I asked him why he was doing so. His answer surprised me.

"I just haven't seen anyone as beautiful as you and wondered if I was in heaven like my mommy."

'What?" I asked shocked.

"I was wondering if you were angel and if you would let me see my mommy."

I was left speechless. The kid looked expectantly at me.

Shit, I thought.