The Guitar Player And Me

1 - Hospital

So, I reread this chapter, and I am thinking of taking out a lot of the stuff the main character talks about here before she meets him. It does add to the feel of this character, but maybe it's too much? Let me know!

I met him in the hospital. That's really strange, isn't it? People meet in bars, or at school or church. Not usually in the hospital.

I wasn't very sick but I became dehydrated. Then my electrolytes went out of whack. So to be on the safe side, I got to spend a few nights in the hospital.

I had a roommate. Nice old lady, even though she didn't know where she was or even recognize her own family. Quite sad really. At least she wasn't a yeller and kept her TV at a minimum level at night.

Did I tell you I've been in the hospital before? A few times actually. I've had my share of roommates. Once a roommate's family member was being so verbally abusive to her that I couldn't stop myself from saying something. I wonder what happened to that old lady. The nurses moved me to another room and kicked him out.

But this lady was sweet. She called everyone dear or lovie, and had an English accent. When the nurses would come in, she liked to tell them stories about being in England during World War 2. Only she always just called it "the war." She thought everyone (including me) were children. She had been a teacher for so many years that she slipped back into that role without even knowing.

Being in the hospital is mostly just boring. Especially if you don't watch TV and don't get many visitors. I actually don't have many in-person friends anyway. I'm kind of a loner and very much an introvert. My favorite place to be is my own home, where it is quiet. Occasionally I wanted company, but other people always made me tired and in need of recharging. I read somewhere that people like me made up about 3 percent of the general population, but made up a majority of internet users. I wish I could find that article again, or anything else to substantiate this, but from my experience it kind of seemed to be true.

I was the kid who read encyclopedias for fun. My mom would make me go outside and play when I was little because she thought it wasn't healthy for me to stay in my room reading all the time. My favorite things were my books.

There was an old episode of Twilight Zone where this man wanted nothing more than time to read his books. I don't remember too much about that episode, but life and other people were making it where he wasn't able to read. Then was some kind of disaster. Either a nuclear disaster or something, I don't remember. He was in a vault when it happened so he was okay, and when he came out he realized all he had was time. Time and his books. He was so happy. But then the worst thing happened, and his glasses broke. So he couldn't read his books anymore. That was so sad and I actually cried.

I easily have a hundred e-books on my phone, and several hundred songs. It goes with me every place, and I have charger cords in every room at home and one in my purse for when I have to be away.

And this phone charging thing is how I met him. I had gotten the cord tangled and accidentally yanked it out of the wall. This made me groan and silently swear. I had already done this more than once. I knew I was going to have to get up and crawl behind the bed to plug it back in. Yes, I could have called a nurse, but I figured they had real sick people to take care of and didn't need to be bothered with my phone troubles.

So as I was pulling the tray table out of the way, and getting ready to move the chair so I could reach the plug, he walked in.

I recognized him immediately. How could I not? Those curls! I wanted to touch his hair.

I told myself to get a grip and don't be a groupie. He wasn't here to see me, and he especially wasn't here so I could play with his hair. I resumed my work pulling the chair away from the wall, and he looked over at me.