‘Where am I?’ she asked, looking at the porters.

‘She’s awake?’ one of them asked, looking at his colleague. They stopped the bed and looked at her.

‘I thought you were dead!’

‘What?!’

‘You didn’t wake up no matter what anyone did to you’

‘Oh that’s… weird’ the two began pushing the bed again.

‘You still had a pulse. And you were still breathing. So we went ahead, anyway’

‘I… presumed that was the case’ Natalie shook her head ‘Went ahead with what?’

‘You just had an MRI scan’

‘Oh?’

‘They found minor fractures on the front of your skull. And you had a concussion’

‘OK’ At this point she had returned to the ward she was in. A nurse arrived with a plate covered with a plastic lid.

‘That’s your lunch, Natalie’

‘Oh, thank you’ she put the lid off and started eating. It was a chicken meal with pasta added to it. She very quickly consumed the pasta but later struggled with eating the chicken, cringing as she was eating it. She left her meal alone and later looked at her phone. A message appeared on the screen with an unnamed number. It said “Hello Natalie I heard you were sent to hospital” and ended there. She put her phone away and made an attempt to eat the rest of the chicken. She only ate half of a piece before giving up. She went back to look at her phone and went over to her messages page. She had new ones, she read the one from earlier first. It continued: “I’m hoping you’re ok and I’m always here for you’ Natalie smiled. The other two were from Katie and Leon. Katie’s said: “i heard ur in hosptul r u ok? txt me pls! luv katie xxx”. Leon’s one simply said “your a crazy bitch”.

‘Twat’ muttered Natalie. She went over to the options to block his number, then later went back to text him: “YOU’RE a stupid idiot. Get out of my life”. She later went back to the blocking settings on her phone, but as she was doing that, her phone rang. It was Leon. She pressed the button to declined the call. ‘Piss off, Leon’. She went back to the settings and managed to block the number. She took a deep breath and smiled, lying down on her bed. She later called Katie’s number, waiting for her call, She was listening to the ringing tone.

‘Hi Natalie! Are you OK?’

‘Well, I’ve been told I have a fractured skull, I have a concussion and I’ve had four creepy dreams in a row. Other than that I’m fine. How about you?’ the phone was silent.

‘Oh my goodness! That’s horrible!’

‘Yeah, I’ve been diagnosed with depression too. I’ve had a hell of time’ she then laughed.

‘But Natalie! I’ve always thought you’ve had depression. You should have seen a doctor, honest!’

‘I’ve seen a few, now. It’s all good’

‘Are they all marriage material?’

‘Nah, I wouldn’t say that. By the way do you know what a concussion is?’ the line was silent for a little while.

‘A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head’ Natalie snickered.

‘You looked that up on Google, didn’t you?’ the line was silent again ‘Nah, thanks, that’s kind of what I thought it was. So in other words, I have brain damage. Yay’

‘Well, I hope not’

‘It would make sense, given that I keep having these crazy dreams’

‘Oh, you mentioned that already. What were they of, if you don’t mind me asking?’

‘Some creepy beings claiming to be part of my subconsciousness. They don’t go away until they’ve made their point to me’

‘Oh… that’s weird!’

‘I can’t get out of them, either. Pinching myself or opening my eyes didn’t work’

‘Oh goodness!’

‘To be honest with you, they were kind of like an out of body experience, if you believe in those things’

‘I’m willing to believe anything nowadays, Natalie’

‘Yeah. Well, I don’t believe in ghosts or god or any shit like that’

‘I believe in god, Natalie’

‘Nah, each to their own. By the way, there’s something I wanted to ask you, since you’re good at these sort of things’ Natalie cleared her throat, putting her phone away ‘What do you think of this phrase: “there is no defeat in unconditional love”?’ Katie was silent.

‘Hmmm, I guess not’

‘Yeah’

‘I mean, it’s all about you, really. It’s kind of like the love our parents give to us since we were babies’

‘Well, one of my parents, at least’

‘Yeah, I’m lucky both my parents are like that. I guess I’m lucky they’re both together, too. Divorces are pretty common nowadays, mind you’

‘Yeah, I wish it weren’t like that’

‘I agree’

‘One last thing, do you remember I told you about a guy who turned out he already had a girlfriend?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Do you think it’ll be a good idea to talk to him again? And to just love him anyway?’

‘Well… why not? But then I do think you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment’ 

‘What sort of disappointment?’

‘You may never be with him, he may never love you back’ Natalie sighed, looking frustrated.

‘I actually got a text from him saying he knew I was in hospital, he said he was hoping I was OK and that he’s here if he needs me’

‘Awww, that’s really sweet!’

‘Yeah, I’m actually happy about that. He’s a nice change to that bastard Leon’

‘Oh Natalie, about him: You deserve better than him’

‘Yeah, I know’ Natalie paused, Tala arrived pushing a trolley with medical equipment on it. ‘Anyway, I have to go, I’ve got a nurse waiting for me’

‘OK, nice to hear you’re OK!’

‘Bye Katie!’

‘Bye!’ Natalie hung up.

‘I’m just taking your blood pressure, is that OK?’

‘Yeah, that’s fine’ Tala did the procedures, putting the blood pressure cuff around her arm and putting a thermometer underneath her tongue.

‘Your blood pressure is lower, Natalie’ Natalie didn’t say anything, afterwards she went back to her phone. She went back to the message from the person she was talking about with Katie. She started texting him saying: “I’m OK thanks, though I have been told I have a concussion and minor skull fractures”. She stopped texting, her cheeks went red at this point “How about you? How’s your girlfriend?”. She then started to look nervous, her finger was shaking as it was going towards the “send” button. She eventually forced it onto the button, later she lied down, trying to catch her breath. She suddenly looked all anxious.

Not too long later, an elderly looking man wearing a stethoscope.

‘Good afternoon, Natalie. I’m Doctor Waltman, I’m a consultant neurologist. I’ve been called here as I’ve been told you’ve suffered from a concussion and skull fractures as diagnosed by an MRI scan’ Natalie didn’t say anything ‘It’s just a minor concussion, you won’t be kept in hospital for too long’

‘OK’

‘The best way to recover from concussions is to rest well and solve puzzles like sudoku, crosswords, or things like that’ he then looked on the table, a pile of puzzle books were already there as well as a note. ‘Which seem to have already been provided to you’

‘OK, I’ll do that’

‘Also, and I know this would be difficult for you, but try not to be on your phone too much or watch tele-’

‘No. Not a chance’

‘Well, it’s for your own sake. I must admit I do get a lot of patients who refuse to do that’

‘I’m not surprised’

‘To be honest with you though, you seem like you’re coping pretty well for someone who’s just suffered from one’

‘Well, I didn’t know that. I didn’t even know I had a fractured skull until now’

‘A lot of people are surprised to learn what bones they’ve broken and other injuries they’ve sustained after an accident. A lot have broken bones or torn muscles they didn’t even know existed’

‘Yeah, I bet’

‘One last thing, do not be afraid to ask for painkillers if your head starts to hurt too much. Even use of morphine is permitted’

‘You mean heroin?’

‘Yes. When it’s used in medically controlled environments, it’s fine’

‘OK, though I kind of figured that’ Dr Walton went away, as he did so she picked up the note that was left her table, it said “Dear Natalie, I bought sudokus and crosswords for you to help with your concussion, I’m sorry I have to go to work now. Lots of love, Mum xxx”. She then picked up her phone, then later put it away, seemingly hiding it away from her sight, eventually deciding to have a go at one of the sudoku puzzles with the book she was provided. She was writing with a pen that was provided to her, later giving up on the first one, scribbling out the whole puzzle that she had filled. Later on she attempted the crosswords in the other book provided to her, eventually using her phone to look up some of the answers.