Coma

Coma Prologue “Do it. Now.” A steely voice said in my left ear. It was terrifying, and as I looked down on the onslaught of cars and streetlights below, //so// far below, I nearly vomited. My legs were shaking so badly that I was sure they would collapse before I even made that one, final, step. “Do it!” three weeks earlier, my predicament would have forced me to tears, but there’s not enough left inside me for that anymore. “Now or I’ll-” I didn’t give him a chance to finish his threat. I took that last fatal step forward, and just before I went over the ledge I promised myself I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream. A last, futile attempt at getting vengeance on all he had done to me, to everyone. Then l stepped forward into utter nothingness, and the ground suddenly rushed forward to meet me. I screamed.

Darkness. Suspended on a thin line between unconsciousness and death, I felt a sliver of waking thought. //A life for a life//… The words seemed familiar, and unwelcome. As if spurred on by that small thought, unfathomable Images flashed before my eyes, all of them tinted with red. Fire eating up a hand, running through dark corridors, bodies with their chests cleanly sliced open. A steady beat started pulsing in my ears, and the thrum grew louder and faster with the images, but as soon as it started it ended with a sharp intake of breath. I felt something soft beneath me, and as I explored this foreign place with my mind I, more by instinct than anything else, opened my reluctant eyes. A burst of light stunned me and I quickly shoved my eyes shut. But slowly and cautiously, I opened them again. The light still burned into my eyes, but its pain had lessened. //Where am I?// The room around me had dull white walls and a smudged blue and white tile floor. I was lying atop a springy mattress with two sheets covering me. Where on earth was I? How did I get here and… who am I? Something told me I should know this and my mind struggled to remember something, anything! But my efforts proved fruitless. After another several minutes of pointless struggle, I finally moved on to my first question. Where on earth was I? I looked about the room once more, and noticed a small table to my right. Collecting dust on top of it was a card with a faded teddy bear on it and some synthetic flowers whose colors seemed in bright contrast to its surroundings. A dirty window low on the wall let in pools of sunlight that rested upon the hard floor. My gaze swiveled to my left and I saw a metal pole that had two bags of fluid hanging from it. One appeared to be water, and the other was a sickly brown that looked thick and disgusting. They both had cords leading from them to…me? Only then did I notice the cords sticking from my skin on my arm. A word then came to this mysterious place, it was a hospital. But something seemed...//off//. I struggled to think of what it might be, and I realized I was completely and utterly alone. Some forlorn part of my mind said that there should be people in lab coats bustling around me and shining lights into my eyes. But there was only me. And that still didn’t answer how on earth I got here. I looked around once more and my eyes caught something I hadn’t noticed before. The windows were barred. //What kind of hospital bars its windows?// My brain was sluggish and reluctant to think. Giving up on the window bars, I thought back once more for anything, and a random phrase struck me. //A life for a life.// Something told me it had meaning, but if it did, I could not discern it. A life for a life… what on earth could that mean? But I had enough sitting here and pondering questions to which I had no answer. I forced myself to sit up, intending to search the area, but as I did, a wave of lethargy hit me, forcing me back down onto my pillow.