Presbyterian Hospital. 08/02/2012. 07:55.
When Nathaniel finally came to he was feeling slightly better. Not opening his eyes, he tried to move his body and realized that he couldn't. He was feeling scared, scared that he traded a prison for another and that made him angry. He tried to know more about the current state of his body and that's when he had an amazing discovery. He could look inside his own body! He could see everything from nerves to bones, muscles to tendons, that was simply amazing to see. He could even see his own heart beating and even starting to see it beating faster as he was getting excited.
He didn't know from where this ability was coming from, maybe it was a consequence of him staying trapped in that unknown realm for so long or maybe something that came along with Marc's last gift to him. At that moment, he started using it on him, trying to find why he couldn't move. His first assumption was maybe it came from the accident that almost killed him. He wasn't that great in anatomy to be honest but he couldn't find anything huge. That's when he realized what was the problem, it was his muscles. They were thin and atrophied. Once he knew what was the problem, he started to relax as he knew that could be fixed with reeducation.
Keeping his eyes closed, he started to focus on what was happening around him. He could hear someone in the room close to him and two people talking just outside of it. A man and a woman it seemed even if he could not hear what exactly they were talking about.
Finally opening his eyes, he realised that his eyelids were not as heavy and painful as they were before. He began opening and closing them to ease the pain a little, noticing that he was seeing clearer each time.
"Nathaniel?" Said the woman beside his bed.
Looking at her, she seemed to be around 40 years old with short brown hair and a caring aura around her which made it easy to trust her. Seeing that he was looking at her she approached the bed and took place on the seat near him.
"How are you?"
"Iiii… hurt… everywhere…" He said in a rough voice but louder than it was before.
"I know, your muscles are in an advanced state of atrophy, I'm sorry but we can't give you pain medication, that could do more harm than good in your current condition." She answered in a soft and compassionate voice.
Taking a clipboard from the nightstand and turning her head in the direction of the door, she made a gesture to the two people outside. The door of his room closed soon after and she turned back to him.
"I'm sorry but I need to ask you some questions. I know you are hurting and you are tired so we will do it like this. For yes, close your eyelids once, and for no close them two times. Can you do that?"
Nathaniel closed his eyelids once.
*****
Arriving out of breath in front of their son's room they were stopped from entering by a young intern.
"I'm sorry madams but I can't let you enter, Nathaniel just woke up and we need to ask him some questions. This is for his own good." Said the intern in a peaceful voice, her arms raised in a sign of appeasement.
Seeing that Karine was going to say something harsh, Mary gripped her arm gently and spoke.
"When are we going to be able to see him?"
"I honestly don't know. That depends on his evaluation and the doctor's verdict on it. That could take hours or days."
"That's unacceptable!" Cried Karine.
"Has our son really woken up?" Asked Mary. She still couldn't believe the fact that he had really come back.
"Yes, I was there. He talked too." She said, a tinge of red appearing on her cheeks which didn't go unnoticed by the two women who exchanged looks.
"What did he say?" Asked Mary, her curiosity picked.
"Euh… Well, he said I… I was pretty." Said the blushing intern.
Mary looked stupefied at the red faced intern, then at her wife who was shocked, her mouth wide open in a silent 'o'. Locking eyes with each other they suddenly burst out laughing. They laughed so hard that they doubled over with laughter offering a much needed release of stress. At that moment, a nurse exited the room of their son and they turned serious instantly. Surprised by the laughter of the women upon arriving in the hallway, she turned to the intern for information but the girl kept blushing, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.
"Karine, Mary, I'm glad to see you." Nancy welcomed.
"Nancy!" Karine answered instantly. "How is our son?"
The three womens knew each other quite well considering the fact that Nancy was there on the worst day of their lives. They also met an incalculable amount of times when they were visiting Nathaniel while he was still in coma.
"Good, he is okay but sadly I can't allow you to come inside, the doctor left firm instructions."
Seeing that the two women in front of her wanted to argue she immediately raised her hand to stop them.
"But, Nathaniel wanted to see you and I believe that it's time for both of us to take a coffee break. If I were to allow you to enter, that would be an ethical violation and I could lose my job because of it but if you were to enter when no one is there, well, I can be blamed for that. Do we understand each other?" Nancy said with a crafty smile.
Seeing the parents of Nathaniel nodding she put a hand on the shoulder of the intern beside her and added.
"Please keep in mind, he just woke up and he's very tired. Don't ask him to talk or move. His memories seem good but if you notice something that he doesn't remember please warn us immediately." Nancy advised.