Bleach, that is the first thing I noticed. Needle sharp smell punctured my consciousness. Coarse cotton was next. It scratched my neck, my breasts. I raised my hand at the itchiest place at my throat. Nothing happened. The third thing I noticed was I couldn’t move.

I couldn’t move a thing, not my arms or legs. From the toes up, I made a body inventory. Nothing. Nothing. The nothing hammered in my chest leaving me hollow. Tears rioted down my cheeks. What happened to me?

Falling through the air and black asphalt feeling my vision, those images flashed in my mind’s eyes. Where had I been? I heard a rustling.

“Good morning Lucy, I am Drew and I am your nurse this evening. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Someone is here. Help me, help me, I thought. I could feel my words thick and sluggish congealed in my throat. Gentle hands padded my face. Light burned my eyes. I realized my lids had been opened a sliver.

Barely I could make out the nurse moving around me. He was talking to me like I was a favorite doll. How long have I been here?

Blurry green scrubs navigating a hospital room, I was in a bed. Through my lashes I tried to take it all in. Why am I here? I screamed in my mind.

The nurse’s face loomed over me. A beam of light stabbed me. I was a bundle of broken glass as I willed myself to move within my frozen body.

“Lucy, Lucy. oh my God. Are you in there? Can you move your eyes again? Good girl.”