Whoosh! The sound of air escaping from somewhere startled me. But then a calm washed over my whole body and whatever startled me didn’t seem to matter anymore. Every muscle in my body relaxed and I felt myself sinking.
Whoosh! There was that sound again. I wondered where it was coming from, but at the same time I didn’t care. Curiosity was a vague shape, easily shelved. I felt at ease, peaceful and sleepy. But something sharp kept pushing up inside me and telling me to fight it, drag myself out of this strange fog. This peace was false.
I pricked my ears, feeling like I hadn’t used them in months. The whooshing sound had come from underneath the slim, metal-framed bed I was sitting on. I dragged my body up to sitting and rolled over and down the side of the bed. Every movement needed my full concentration and energy like I was moving through molasses. Once over the edge of the bed, I felt like I was dragging myself over the edge of a cliff, my legs dangling in the air. I gripped the cold, metal bars of the bed, feeling like I might fall miles and miles into a dark abyss. My body felt uncoordinated and unbalanced but I persisted, pulling my awkward form along the floor like a commando.
And there it was…
Underneath the bed was a tiny silver pipe with what looked like a little showerhead over it. “Whoosh!” A flush of cold, sweet smelling air hit my face and everything went dark.