A Numb Nutshell

Chapter 15 ~ I've been waiting for this day

A bright light shines into my eye, and I wince. I groan, trying to move my head.

"Good, how are you feeling?" I hear, the deep voice rumbling and echoing through my ears.

"Who... Where am I..." I try to hold my eyes open long enough to see who is speaking. "Where's Mathieu?"

"He's just outside. He has hardly left your side all month, you know? I'll finish up and call him back in."

A month? I thought. It couldn't have been that long, could it?

I feel pressure on my wrist, before the words "good, good" mumble out and trails off. As he walks off, I hear a shriek from outside the room. Assuming correctly, I see Matt rushing to my bedside.

"Hey baby girl.. how you feeling? Haven't seen your beautiful eyes in a little while..." He speaks, holding back some tears.

"How long have I been out for? And was that the doctor? He.. he sounded kind of familiar..." I trail off, mostly in confusion. "I'm glad to see you though. How are you?"

He smiled, slightly laughed, even. "I'm so much better now that you're awake. But uh.. yeah.. that was the doctor.. he's been a real big help."

His eyes shined in the light peering through the blinds. His phone started buzzing, and he looked up at me. "It's the gang.. they always check in around now. They're going to stop by tonight, probably about an hour or so to see you. I can tell them to come another day, if you want to. Allow you to get some more rest."

I stayed quiet for a minute before answering, considering what could be going on, and what might happen.

"Sure, but make sure they don't cause too much commotion, I don't know how I'll do with them all in their usual behavior.

"I completely understand baby girl, I'll let them know," he says softly, typing quickly on his cell. Hearing the click of the lock button, he looks back at me. "Do you need anything?"

I take a deep breath, feeling my chest squeeze more than usual. "A smoke, honestly. Can you see if I can go out for one?" I pause for a second, with a smirk crawling across my face. "Well, if there's a way I can be taken out for one?" 

Shaking his head, but matching my grin, he gets up, "Of course, I'll make sure everything is okay and see if there's a way to get you mobile." Blowing me a kiss, he walks backwards towards the door and calls for a nurse. 

Laying here alone, I start to ponder on some of the dreams - well, night terrors - I've been having; and why the doctor's voice sounded familiar? The thoughts fade away faster than they appeared when someone walks in the room with a wheelchair, Matt close behind. 

"Hello, I'm nurse Jenny, I'm going to help you move into a wheelchair so you can get some fresh air. How are you feeling?" She says with a perky voice.

"Could be better, but I guess I've been worse," I say with a light laugh, trying to match her energy the best I can, almost as a way to mentally prepare myself for the gang later.

"That you have been. Now, I'm just going to go over what I'm doing for future reference, so all you would need to do is let someone behind the desk know where you're going, does that sound good?" She's looking at Mathieu while she speaks, probably knowing he'll be here with me for a while. He nods his head and watches her as she explains how to properly put gloves on and how to move some of the bags and equipment to the chair. She explains what some sounds could mean and how to fix them - as a just-in-case, she notes - and finally, how to properly remove the gloves. She smiles at him as he notes down a few things in his phone, and helps her move me to the chair. She sets it up so it's positioned how I need it.