Beep... Beep... Beep...
Rayne woke up to the subtle rhythmic sounds coming from machines near her. A sharp antiseptic smell assaulted her nose, making her scrunch it like a rabbit's. She tried opening her eyes but found it difficult; it felt like her eyes were glued shut.
Suddenly, she heard a door open followed by fast-paced footsteps.
"Oh my goodness! Ms. Weston, you're awake!" exclaimed a female voice. "I'm Nurse Judy, and you're at St. Mary's Hospital. How do you feel? Are you thirsty? Oh! Let me go call the doctor to come and take a look!"
Before Rayne could reply, she heard the door closing. What am I doing in a hospital? She tried opening her eyes again, this time successfully. Her eyes squinted, and all her blurry vision could make out was bright light. It was painfully bright, so she shut her eyes again and opened them ever so slowly to give them time to adjust.
After what felt like an eternity, her eyes finally adjusted enough to check out her surroundings. Rayne looked around and saw her standard-sized hospital room. It was all white, with a window on her right side, and filled with different kinds of hospital equipment. Aside from a small chair by the window, there were some generic paintings hung up on the wall. The room felt empty, but at least it was quiet and peaceful.
Rayne tried lifting her hand to rub her eyes but found that moving even just her fingers was difficult. "What happened to me?" she groaned. She suddenly remembered walking home from her boyfriend's apartment and getting pushed by someone behind her onto the street at a busy intersection. It seemed she must've gotten hit by a car.
She looked down to see if she had any broken bones or deep wounds from the car accident, but surprisingly, she didn't see anything.
She even managed to pull the thin blanket that was draped over her legs aside to check. Shocked again, she didn't see anything wrong—no bruise or scratch.
Surely if someone got hit by a vehicle, they would at least get a bruise or a scrape, she thought.
The door clicked open, and she watched an older man in a white coat enter, being closely followed by an excited-looking young female in pink scrubs. Most likely the doctor and Nurse Judy.
"Doctor Henson, I told you she woke up!" Judy enthusiastically motioned toward Rayne. She was practically jumping up and down.
"Now, now, Judy, Ms. Weston just woke up. We don't want to scare her." Dr. Henson slowly came over to Rayne and smiled at her. Judy nodded and started recording various readings from the different medical equipment while smiling brightly at Rayne.
Dr. Henson took out a small flashlight and was about to shine the light into her eyes as he asked, "Ms. Weston, can you hear me? If you can, please blink once."
Rayne opened her mouth and asked for water. Her throat was extremely dry, and when the words left her mouth, they were hoarse and very quiet.
Dr. Henson stiffened, clearly surprised that Rayne could talk.
Judy practically jumped up. "Doctor, did you hear that? She can talk already!"
"Judy, please get Ms. Weston some water."
Dr. Henson came over and performed a few basic examinations. To his surprise, everything was normal and showed only signs of weakness and lack of physical activity, which wasn't surprising.
"Ms. Weston, I don't mean to alarm you, but seeing that you are in full control of your cognitive abilities, I feel it's okay to inform you that you've just woken up from a year-long coma."
Rayne nearly choked on the water she was now drinking. A one-year coma? No wonder she did not see any bruises or scratches! They all would've already healed over the course of a year! She trembled slightly, holding the cup of water with both hands.
She looked up and asked the doctor, "How is that possible, Doctor? How bad was my accident that it put me into a coma?"
Dr. Henson shook his head slowly. "Honestly, yours is a strange case. I've been dealing with coma patients for the last ten years and have seen and studied injuries that lead to comas. Your case doesn't fit into any of the categories. You did indeed have a car accident; however, the car was not moving at a very fast speed. Physically, your injuries only extended to a rib fracture and a few superficial wounds, such as bruises and scrapes."
He adjusted his glasses and continued, "Honestly, looking at everything, including the brain scans, you should not have been close to getting put in a coma, especially one for so long. In my eyes, it's a medical mystery, but of course, I'm glad you're awake."
Rayne sat up, trying to process everything she had just heard. Something didn't feel right about this situation. Something was telling her that there was more to this than just a "medical mystery." The last time she had this feeling was when her parents died due to a "mechanical failure" in the car they were driving.
Thankfully, she was resilient and able to digest the information better than the average person. Whatever the cause, she was going to get to the bottom of it, including finding the person who pushed her.
Dr. Henson finished his examination and said, "Okay, looks like everything is recovering well. I will keep you here in observation for a little bit and see if we can get you started on rehab soon."
He stood up and walked out of the room.
Rayne sat still, lost in thought about the situation. Now that she's awake, will her life be any different? Will her friends remember her? Dillon! Will Dillon be excited that she woke up? Did he miss her?
Snapping back from her thoughts, Rayne looked up to see Nurse Judy refilling her cup of water on the small side table by the bed.
She looked over at Rayne and said, "Ms. Weston, I am happy that you are awake! I will be your nurse on duty. Please let me know if there is anything you need or if you are feeling unwell anywhere. Press this button on the side of your bed, and I will come over to check on you."
"Nurse Judy, are any of my belongings still here after the accident? I remember I had a black backpack with me at the time of the accident," said Rayne, looking up at the cheerful young nurse.
"Ah, yes, of course. There should be something stored over here," Judy walked over to the counter that had the hospital computer sitting on it.
She bent down and opened the cabinet doors, picking up a paper bag. She brought the bag over to Rayne and gently placed it on the bed next to her.
After handing her the bag, Nurse Judy said she still needed to check on her other patients and reminded Rayne to call her if she needed anything. Then, she turned to leave.
Once Rayne was alone in the room, she slowly moved her arms to reveal her black canvas backpack inside the paper bag.
She smiled, looking at the contents of the backpack, happy that nothing seemed to be broken. Her phone was still in good condition; however, the battery must be dead because it wouldn't turn on. That did not bother Rayne too much. She knew no one would bother charging her cellphone while she was in a coma.
Thankfully, she had a charger with her in the backpack and would ask Nurse Judy to help her plug it in the next time she got the chance.
Her wallet was in place, and nothing seemed to be missing. Even the small chain necklace she was wearing that day was there in a small plastic bag.
She also had a few books and stationery supplies that were still in good shape.
Rayne was surprised to see that even her pencils did not break in the accident, leading her to feel that something was wrong about this whole situation.
After looking around the backpack some more, Rayne realized that she was missing something! Something very important to her: the bracelet!
Her grandmother had given her a family heirloom on her 10th birthday. She told Rayne that this bracelet was passed down through multiple generations to the women in the family, and that it was now hers to take care of.
Rayne cherished this bracelet very much because her grandmother used to tell her stories about how it was blessed by a fairy and would give the wearer good luck.
The bracelet was also very beautiful, made up of large beads of jade. The most beautiful shades of pale green mutton jade, that almost glowed in the light.
Unfortunately, Rayne's grandmother died a few months after gifting her the bracelet, giving it even more sentimental value as a memento.
Rayne never wore this bracelet since receiving it, instead keeping it safe in a locked jewelry box. But the day of her accident, she decided to wear it out because she wanted to choose a few accessories that would match it for her upcoming engagement party.
In a panic, Rayne started digging through the backpack again, her muscles crying out in pain from the fast movements, but she ignored it.
After searching through every pocket, she still could not find it anywhere.
Rayne closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands, feeling a warm sensation spread throughout her body.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Rayne passed out.
Nurse Judy came by an hour later and found Rayne sleeping, all the contents of her backpack laid out on the bed with her.
"Poor girl must be exhausted," she said as she carefully placed Rayne's items back in the backpack.
She noticed her cellphone laying next to the charger and decided to plug it in for Rayne. After tidying up, she took out a strawberry-flavored candy and placed it on the table. She thought that it might cheer up Rayne later and left the room.
A few minutes later, Rayne woke up, and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a holographic screen that said, "CONGRATULATIONS ON ACTIVATING THE MULTIPLIER SYSTEM."