PSA: please don't judge the entire fic just off this chapter! The next chapters are so much better, I swear. Please give them a read before you forget this fic for the rest of your life.

Chapter 1

One and a half days.

One and a half days I laid as still as I could on my bed, for even the slightest movement made my stomach ache in the most uncomfortable way I could ever imagine. I tried filling in time watching some good ol' TV on my laptop, but nothing distracted me from the constant pain that plagued me.

At first I thought it was just because I had barely eaten for days. I stumbled out of bed and forced some toast down my throat, but it didn't help in the slightest. So I just decided to get through the day and sleep it off, just like any other pain. Unlike any other pain, however, it didn't just get better from a good night's rest.

And that would be how I ended up here, at the Royal Crescent Hospital in Montana.

I spent 5 hours waiting on a bed in the Emergency Room, with an IV drip stuck in the crook of my elbow and wasting every ounce of my phone's battery life. As if I weren't already miserable enough.

After ultrasounds and blood tests, they eventually established that I had appendicitis. My appendix wasn't so swollen that it would explode, but it would still be worthwhile to remove it to prevent future incidents. The consent forms were signed, and I was booked in for a 7:20PM appendectomy, performed by some Dr Belikov.

By 7:10, I was dressed in my hospital gown and ready for surgery. My earrings were removed, and my hair was tied up to keep it tamed. I was wheeled from the C block through to the operating room, passing bland cream walls that held to interest to me.

The ceiling of the OR was tiled. Large tiles—more than 46 of them, to be exact. I knew because I had nothing else to focus on while waiting. The anaesthesiologist entered and introduced himself, before connecting my IV to another fancy drug. I counted backwards from 10, like I was instructed, but I barely got to 4 before the drugs reached my system and I dozed into unconsciousness.

Waking up from the drugs was awful. I was dazing in and out of consciousness for hours, struggling to keep me eyes open. I tried so hard. I just wanted to hold my eyes open on my own, or say something, but my eyes betrayed my instructions and my mouth never formed the words. No matter how hard I wished, the instructions from my brain travelled nowhere.

I was trapped, and it scared me beyond ends. It's not that I wanted necessarily to be specifically awake, or even asleep for that matter—God knows exactly which I'd prefer in normal circumstances. It's just that it was so unstable, constantly drifting in and out of consciousness. I didn't care which side I was on, I just wanted to be on one or the other. I just wanted certainty.

In the times that my eyes were open, I saw some things. I remember seeing my dad, resting on the regulation plastic chair by my bedside. I even remember being awake long enough to catch an entire scene, with the nurses fetching extra blankets for him, since the room was so cold.

He looked so ragged. I knew he was worried, and he definitely needed sleep. I tried to tell him that, as well, but it just didn't work. I just wanted him to be comfortable, and calm; that was all I'd ever wanted for him.

I saw some other stuff as well. There were nurses, coming in to monitor me every so often. They were taking my vitals, and I remember trying to help them, but I just couldn't—they had to lift my arm physically to check my blood pressure, and I felt so awful for not being able to function on my own.

I also remember someone else coming into my room. He wasn't in hospital scrubs, so he wasn't a nurse. Maybe a student? Or maybe he was the surgeon. The Dr Belikov that had removed a useless 3-inch piece of fat from my insides.

Whoever he was, he was taller than any man I'd ever met. I couldn't see his face from my angle, though I could see his hair. It was the same shade as mine, but it hung straight and was cut off at the shoulders. Not the sort that I would've expected from any professional surgeon. Not that I didn't like it or anything.

He sat down, and I could feel the weight of his gaze on me. It felt heavy, but in my daze, I couldn't understand why. I yearned to see his own face, for reasons I didn't understand, but I could feel myself drifting out again. I was blinking to hold my focus, but it didn't work. It was infuriating, not being able to control myself.

He was all my sedated mind could think about, however jumbled my thoughts were, and I finally drifted back into the bliss of unconsciousness.

I'm sorry it's so incredibly short, and truly not the best writing in the first place, but I've been on hiatus for a long time. To be specific, I haven't written any VA fics for about 2 years. Please just stick with me on this and leave me some feedback, I would really appreciate it. It'll definitely be better quality and more interesting next chapter, considering that'll have the section that was the catalyst for this fic. And, you know, an actual plot and dialogue. Consider this chapter the prologue.

Anyway, until then, stay safe and be happy J