The next few days left Sam in a state of confusion and loss, followed by hope. Doctors tried to get information out of him at every turn, but his voice had not completely come back to him yet. He was able to move his head slightly more than he had been able to when he first woke up.
Looking at his bony arms made him sick. They looked as if they hadn't seen the light of day in years. He remembered his well toned body from before this happened. If he got there before, he should be able to get back there again. He made a goal to do as much exercise as he could when he regained the use of his limbs. He hadn't seen his legs yet, but he could only guess that they went through the same atrophe. He knew he had them still, because he could see his feet at the end of the bed.
As he waited for the doctors to come poke and prod him, Sam used the off time to try moving his feet. 'I have to start somewhere.' He thought as he concentrated on his left big toe. 'Move!' he pushed himself as hard as he could. Feeling sweat trickle down his face was proof of the effort he put in to moving that one little appendige.
It was on the second day that he was able to feel a tremor in his toe, as if it were finally recieving the signal he was sending it, yet it was too weak to follow his orders. He grunted his displeasure as he looked around the room. He had been hooked up to an even more delicate heart monitor when he was moved into the new room. The slightest fluctuation in his heart rate sent someone in to check on him. It had been slightly inconvenient when he was trying to make his toe move, but if they complained about it, he didn't know it.
"Hard at work, are we?" The sweet smell of lavender followed the melodic voice of Rose. Sam looked to the door and saw her standing with a cup of water in her hand. He waited eagerly as she made her way to the foot of his bed. Slowly, she trickled the water into his mouth. He drank sparingly, coughing only once.
"S-" He tried to sound out as Rose leaned closer.
"What are you trying to say?" She asked as she combed his hair with her hand. She asked the same question each time she came by. She hadn't forced him into talking, but instead she seemed to be leading him into it.
"S-Samm" He stammered through the one word introduction. He couldn't stop himself from allowing the name to drag on at the end, but looked up in triumph as he saw a shocked smile on Rose's face. It only lasted a moment before she melted into the smile he loved so much.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Sam." she took his weakened hand in hers and squeezed it lightly, putting her other hand on top of it for a moment. "Would you like to get out of this room for a while?" Her eyes glinted with excitement, which made his heart jump. He nodded slightly.
The next few moments were not his proudest. He felt humiliated as orderlies took his weakened body from the bed and hoisted him into a wheelchair. They strapped him down so he wouldn't fall out and Rose took her place behind the chair, pushing him into the outer corridor.
Sam's eyes took a moment to adjust to the increase in light, but was delighted to see that he could make out everything clearly. He still needed to squint slightly to bring things into focus, but he took the small triumph.
"Welcome to Greenfield, Sam." Her voice was cheery as she wheeled him through the halls of the hospital as if she were wheeling him through the streets of the city.
"G-Genfeld?" Sam tried.
"Yes!" She didn't correct him. "You're in Michigan."
'I lived here!' His hope rose even further at the prospect of being sent home after sustaining injuries from the attack! He must have survived.
As they walked down the hall, he noticed that there wasn't a mirror in sight. Even when he was in his room, when he could finally move his head, he looked for one and only saw the sink that Rose used to get his water.
The windows were higher than the wheelchair, not allowing him a view of his reflection. He tried to sit up straight, but eventually wrote that off as an impossibility for now.
As Rose wheeled him through the halls, she pointed out certain doctors and nurses, as if she were introducing him to the neighborhood. Her cheery attitude pulled him from his musings as he began to nod to everyone.
"Everyone, this is Sam." Rose would say to anyone they passed. Most nodded, while others seemed to stop what they were doing and beamed. It was as if he were a miracle come to life.
"W-why smmile?" Sam tried as he looked at everyone.
"They have known you for a long time, Sam." She said softly. "But this is the first time they've been introduced to you."
"How long?" Sam was relieved that he was able to say the words properly.
"We will get into that later." Sam would have pressed her for details, but there was a hint of worry in her voice. He didn't want her to feel pressured into anything, seeing as though she had stopped that very thing from happening the moment he woke up.
If he were to take a guess, his injuries had put him in a coma. The staff would tip toe around how long he had been out until he was in a better frame of mind. He would most likely not find out for some time to come. When he nodded, he could hear Rose exhale as if she were holding her breath. "Alright!" She twirled to the front of the wheelchair. "How about we get you something real to eat?" She winked before going back the handle bars.