The Day I Went Crazy

I woke up in a hospital bed, an IV stuck in my left arm, and a miserable headache raging. The curtains were closed, but I could tell it was night. Everything was quiet and the sour smell of anesthetic filled my nose.

“M-Mom?” I croaked, my throat dry.

There was no reply. I craned my neck to look behind the curtain divide, but all I could see was the closed blue metal door. I sighed and listened the noises outside. The murmurs of nurses and low hums of television soothed me. My eyelids blinked heavily from the grogginess of sleep.

Why was I in the hospital in the first place? My eyes shot open , and this time a sharp pang shot in my head. I tried to call out for my mom again but was sent into a fit of coughing.

A stream of light fell on the floor as the door opened. I looked up.

“Mom—“

I see you’re awake.

I froze. A tall, lanky, black-haired male nurse pulled back the divider curtain.

Good evening, his voice spoke into my mind. I assume you recognize me?

The nurse was, undeniably, the cashier at the gas station.

The voice laughed. Well, ‘the cashier at the gas station’ is a name of sorts, I suppose.

I remained frozen. How did he know—

What you are thinking?

I gulped.

Good, you’re no longer frozen.

“i-If you can tell what I’m thinking…” I managed to say.

Yes, since I can read your thoughts, we can “communicate telepathically”, as you humans call it, he finished for me.

You humans? What the heck was he then?

Well, Sarah, if you THINK about it, there’s just no way I could be a human, is there?

Although I heard him clearly in my head, I couldn’t follow what he was saying. My thoughts became sluggish, as though I couldn’t connect two ideas in my head. I struggled to process his answer, but the more effort I put in, the less sense it made.

The nurse stood next to my bed and took my arm, as though to measure my pulse. I shuddered at his touch—just like at the gas station, his hands were colder than marble. I instinctively tried to pull away, but couldn’t muster the energy to break away from him, though he didn’t seem to be holding me very tightly.

Interesting, the voice muttered. Already it’s starting to take effect.

Again, I heard his words but couldn’t process them. I could only feel my instinctive reaction to his cold words, which was to scream. And yet, just as couldn’t formulate intelligible thoughts, I couldn’t even control my physical self. My whole body felt numb, like the time I went into surgery when I was little. A panic settled over me, and my eyesight grew dim.

Before all my senses closed off, I felt his cold hands over my eyelids, frozen in place. He closed them, as though closing the eyes of a deceased person.

Sleep, the voice commanded.

Although I didn’t understand what was said, I quickly fell in a soft, dreamless slumber.