Her eyes were closed, but there was pain, piercing, blinding pain. She could feel the slow, swelling beating of her heart like it was radiating through every muscle in her body. It was clear to her that it was not a normal heart beat. Along with the heart beat in her ears she could hear people walking all around her, but none of them were near her in any sense. She was left alone. Did they give up on her? Was she being left here to die? Sally forced her eyes to open, a pained noise leaving her. “Jane-Doe’s awake!” Someone called all too loudly next to her. “Sweetie, can you tell me your name?” A young nurse leaned over into Sally’s line of view, shining a light in her eyes, which added to the throbbing in her head. “S-S-Sally Carrera.” She breathed, barely able to get it out without pain. How badly had she been hurt in the crash? “Sally? Great, and is there anyone we can call to come take care of you, Sally? A mother? Father? Sister perhaps?” The nurse’s sweet voice seemed louder than it should have, and she wanted to tell her to lower her volume, but it hurt so badly to talk. She shook her head in reply to the question, before forcing more words out of her lungs. “My mother. Has Alzheimer’s. My father. Hates me.” She breathed painfully.
“Are you married then?” The nurse questioned as a great deal more doctors moved to Sally’s beside. Another shake of her head. “Roger.” She choked out, forcing words now. “You can call. Roger.” The nurse nodded and asked if his number was in her cell-phone that had been in her jean pocket during the crash— apparently they’d salvaged it. “Yeah.” Sally sighed, happy that the stream of questions was most likely over for now. Her lungs burned with the forced words. “Sally, I’m not going to ask you to speak any more for a while, but I’m going to tell you the damage that has been caused, okay?” Another doctor told her, she assumed he was the attending on her case, rather happy in this moment that she knew about medicine. She nodded in reply to his words. “Okay, you have two broken ribs, one of which punctured your lung pretty badly, that’s why it hurts to breath, and even to talk. Your heart had a small hole in it, and is still being monitored, because we weren’t able to fix it completely. Your left leg is fractured pretty badly, and it’s amazing that it’s not actually broken. Along with that there was severe internal damage that we managed to fix, some major tearing in your stomach and intestines and you have a mild concussion.” There was so much going on with her, so much more than she realized. Sally was all too aware that with all the damage, she should have died. Especially with the tear in her heart.
“We’re taking good care of you, though. Promise.” He offered a smile before checking the machines around her and disappearing to do other work. The nurse came back then, a soft smile on her face as she brushed a piece of hair from Sally’s face. She was only mildly aware that it must be tattered and soaked with blood and dirt. “I got a hold of Roger, I didn’t tell him the details, I just told him that he should be here for you. I think he’s on his way.” The idea that Roger would be there soon soothed her. He was all she needed.
