This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Harbinger_51 on 2024-10-29 11:00:49+00:00.

The last vivid memory I can recall was walking across campus toward my apartment after my morning classes. I remember being in a good mood and had nothing to complain about. The weather was nicer than I would have expected in the middle of October. It was sunny as ever, warm, and calm save for a light breeze of cool and refreshing air carrying with it the comforting scent of autumn. 

The sound of crunching leaves was replaced by my boots meeting the concrete beneath them as I took my final steps from the sidewalk into the crosswalk, and then pain. Pain was about all I can remember after that, and it was everywhere. I can’t recall what I saw, where I was, or what happened. A few screams filled the air around me, but I couldn’t be sure if they were real or if they were a part of some twisted nightmare.

I can faintly remember voices here and there, between the voids of nothingness I can only assume to be me falling unconscious. What they were talking about is a blur to me. I perceived very little time passing, minutes at most. And for that, I am immeasurably grateful. At the time I remember being awake, my entire body was in pure agony. My legs, my arms, my back, you name it. I knew whatever happened to me had done a hell of a lot of damage at the very least.

To my surprise, when I had finally awoken, the pain in my body seemed to have subsided. The exception was the pounding headache that accompanied me into consciousness. The incessant buzzing of whatever light fixture must have been on the ceiling agitated me further. Now I could at least tell that I was in what I presumed to be a hospital bed. I let out a grunt as I unsuccessfully attempted to open my eyes in the brightly lit room.

I quickly learned I wasn’t alone. Upon uttering my grunt, footsteps approached my bedside before the vision through my eyelids was darkened. A cold, fresh towel was gently laid over my face, somewhat quieting the annoying ambient noise of the lights.

“There you are, dear. Just relax now.”

An exceptionally calming, welcoming, and mature voice of a woman whispered to me, something that caught me off guard. I attempted to thank her, though my voice was so dry and coarse that only a sad incoherent groan escaped. 

I heard a few more footsteps move away, and then toward me again before the woman asked.

“Sit up for me, dear. Will you?”

I did as she asked while she gently kept the towel applied to my face with her hand so as to not let it fall. A paper cup met my cracked lips and tilted as cold water entered my mouth. The sensation was so blissful it caused me to reach up with my own hands to tilt the cup further, pouring the entirety of the water down my throat. I let out a long sigh of relief after the cup had been emptied. 

“Thank you.”

I uttered, lowering my head back to the pillow. My throat, though better, still sounded drained and worn as I spoke. The woman gently removed her hand from the towel on my face. I heard her walk away again, the sound of tools or medical equipment being moved following behind her footsteps. A moment later, she returned and gently grabbed my arm at the elbow.

“I’ll just need a little blood sample, dear. It won’t hurt a bit.”

She told me, raising my limp arm slowly off of the bed.

“O-Okay”

I replied, hesitant due to the cloud of confusion that still engulfed me rather than fear. Fear didn’t seem like a possible emotion right then. I didn’t know a thing about this woman, but her presence commanded trust and comfort. I felt the needle be inserted into my arm, and though it stung a little, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. This is when it finally occurred to me that I truly had no idea what was going on. 

“Wait, where am I? Am I in a hospital? W-what happened? Who are you”

I asked. The hint of panic in my voice grew with each question. I felt the needle exit my arm, followed by the woman wiping and bandaging it. Her soft touch alone was enough to cease my panic.

“Yes, you are in a hospital. You were hit by a driver who was going far too fast through that little crosswalk, it would seem. And I am doctor Wernicke. I have been assigned to care for you until your release!”

She answered. Her last remark was filled with excitement, a clear indication she felt happy for me being able to leave soon. I felt a bit happy upon hearing such news, though I couldn’t tell for sure if that’s how I should feel. Being in a hospital in the first place was just as new information. More than anything, I felt tired. Tired, and annoyed by my damn headache. Feeling a bit more comfortable with my now-supposed doctor, I felt inclined to tell her. 

“Doctor Wernicke, I have…I have a raging headache.”

I managed to squeeze out.

“Do you think I could…”

“No worries at all, dear.”

She cut me off. Once again, she had me momentarily sit up before placing a small pill in my hand which I swallowed, followed by another cup of water. 

“The headaches are to be expected, unfortunately, but if I’m being honest, I believe you’re lucky that’s the extent of what’s wrong with you. Hell, you might be the luckiest patient I’ve ever seen. When you first came in, you were banged up and bruised pretty bad, sure but we didn’t find a single broken bone in your body. No organs were damaged, no severe internal bleeding, nothing. Everything seemed to be just fine.”

Again, I didn’t know how I should be processing this. From the way she described it, it sounded as though the accident should have killed me. Before I could ask another question, doctor Wernicke spoke up.

“Now, that pill will help with the headache, but it’ll make you feel quite drowsy, quite quickly. All I need you to do is take a good, long sleep. Can you do that for me, William?” 

Her use of my name caught me off guard, but after thinking for a whole two seconds, it made sense that the doctor assigned to look after me would be familiar with my name. I simply nodded in response to her question. 

She let a light chuckle out before remarking.

“Good.”

I heard her footsteps leave my bedside and travel across the room. A light switch was flipped off, ceasing the annoying ambient buzz. A door was open and closed as she stepped out of the room, and I was left alone in the silence. Doctor Wernicke wasn’t wrong. The meds she gave me put me to sleep within a minute. I hadn’t even been given a waking moment to process everything I had just been told, but I didn’t mind that much. I slept hard. For how long, I haven’t the slightest idea.

The first thing I noticed upon awakening was the absence of my headache, and what a relief it was. I must have remained lying still in the hospital bed for half an hour or so before I decided to remove the now-dry towel, sit up, and open my eyes. I half expected my movement to be restricted by some sort of tubes or medical apparatuses but surprisingly, no. There was no IV, no catheter, and nothing taped to my skin to monitor my heart rate. The only unsurprising thing was the light blue medical gown I dawned. 

I twisted my hips to the side, dangling my legs over the side of the bed and turning to look around the room. I couldn’t see anything. I slowly pushed myself off the bed, letting my feet contact the cold, hard floor. Standing up, and walking especially felt odd, as if I hadn’t done it in a long time and, well, maybe I hadn’t. 

I carefully stepped in the direction I remembered Doctor Wernickie walking when she left the room, arms stretched out in front of me to feel anything I might run into. Eventually, I found a wall and followed it to a door. The handle refused to open. I traced my hands around the door until I finally found a switch, flipping it on with excitement. 

The sight before me, though familiar at first, seemed to become more uncanny the further I observed. Yes, this was a hospital room of some kind, but not like it should have been. It was both old and new at the same time. Old in the sense that almost nothing in there looked like it belonged in this century, save for the box of gloves and hand sanitizer, and new in the sense that it almost felt as though I was the one in the wrong century. 

The green and white tiled floors, bland stone walls, and mono-colored ceiling looked more like the kind you would expect to see in an abandoned building, one full of dust and mold, infested with roaches and rats. This room had none of that. Everything looked as new and clean as if it were built yesterday. Even my bed was perceivably of an older design, and an extremely minimalist one at that. Other than my bed, the room overall felt empty, even with how small it was. 

Right beside my bed was a metal table with several medical instruments, the names of which I would never be able to tell you, along with the very modern-looking box of medical gloves and a large bottle of hand sanitizer I had mentioned earlier. Additionally, there was a small prescription bottle of pills. Though unlike any prescription bottle I had seen before, this one was devoid of any labels or stickers at all. My initial thought was one of concern, though I trusted Doctor Wernicke knew what she was doing.

Next to the table was a small trash can, and a large sink with a faucet, and on its edge sat a stack of paper cups. The opposite wall to my bed had another door, the only other one connected to the room. Not having tried to open this one, I thought I should give it a shot. To my relief, the other side was a small bathroom.

Like my room, this bathro…

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1gertad/im_stuck_in_a_hospital_even_if_i_find_a_way_to/