I was floating on currents.

My world was dark. My senses reached out desperately, for a sound, a smell, a single sensation I could perceive and use to make sense of what was happening to me. The only hints were voices, whispers at the edge of my consciousness that faded as soon as I focused on them. I cried out, struggling desperately to hear, to understand, but the voices pulled back, leaving me floating in the waves.

I don't know how long I fought to no avail, but eventually there was change. Sounds became louder, smells became stronger, and light cut through the absolute darkness. My starved senses were suddenly overloaded as I broke the surface and opened my eyes. For a moment, I perceived nothing. The information was jumbled and difficult to decipher for my atrophied mind, but eventually my eyes focused, I took a deep breath, and the dull roar in my ears subsided.

I was in a hospital bed, attached to countless tubes and wires, covered with itchy sheets and my skin crawling under the hospital gown. I frowned, realizing why my vision was half-obstructed, and reached with effort to pull the oxygen mask off. My mouth opened but before I could form the words, my parched throat seized and I was lost to a fit of coughs.

"Oh my god," a voice spoke. "I'll get you some water." The figure darted out before I could register her presence, only to return a moment later with a cup and a straw. "Here you go, hon." She brought the straw to my lips and I captured it, the water soothing my throat.

"Th-" I had to clear my throat, and winced at the stinging pain. "Thanks."

The nurse smiled kindly at me, the corners of her grey eyes crinkling as she did, and I did my best to smile back.

"You're welcome. Glad to have you with us again."

"What happened?"

"You fell, rock- climbing." I frowned. My mind would be racing but my thoughts were molasses, glutinous and a deterrent to my brain's higher functioning. "You broke your clavicle and humerus and hit your head hard enough to knock yourself into a coma for three weeks." She nodded towards my side and I dropped my gaze, catching sight of my arm in a very elaborate sling. Jesus Christ. As if it had been waiting for me to take notice of it, my arm starting hurting.

"Wha… I don't climb." I had to struggle to find the words, and then to push my vocal cords to speak loud enough to be heard, and I found myself growing frustrated with it. I sounded like an idiot.

"Not anymore you don't," she laughed sweetly. "But anyway. I'm Meredith, I've been your nurse for the past couple of weeks here at Shreveport General. I already paged Doctor Sands but he'll probably take a while to get here. I think he lives out of town, somewhere in the country." She spoke so fast that I had to struggle to keep up with her relentless stream of words. "Your beau just left an hour ago but I'm sure he'll come back if we call him."

"My beau?" I had a beau?

"Gorgeous guy. He barely left your side." She fussed around with the machines and helped me get more comfortable as I tried to figure out who she could possibly mean.

"Uh, I think you're mistaken, I don't have a-"

"Sookie?" It took some effort to direct my attention to the doorway, where Tara was standing, her mouth wide. "Oh my god, you're awake!"

"Hey there." I could feel myself lighting up at the arrival of my oldest friend. This whole situation was so odd. I'd never rock-climbed in my life, let alone on a wall high enough to make falling such a huge hazard. I felt uncomfortable, and upset—I'd been given two pieces of information about my life that were not accurate.

"I'm so glad you're okay! We were so worried." She rushed in, tossing her purse onto a chair to clutch my good hand, her brown eyes wide as she took me in.

"She just woke up," Meredith supplied and turned to me. "Before I leave, do you need anything? Morphine?"

"Yes please." My arm hurt like a bitch. And my head too, come to think of it.

"Alright. Once Dr Sands has seen you, we can see about getting you something to eat. Something light."

"I'm not very hungry."

"Then you won't mind waiting until the doctor gets here." She smiled and left with the promise of returning with pain meds.

"How are you feeling?" Tara asked as soon as she was gone.

"Groggy," I mumbled. "Everything feels heavy." To demonstrate I lifted my head and promptly let it drop, groaning at the burst of pain. "Shouldn't have done that." Tara perched on the edge of my bed, still looking concerned, and my graze darted down to her abdomen. She was wearing a black flowy shirt but now, turned to the side as she was, I was faced with the third piece of information inconsistent with what I knew to be true. "You're pregnant?"

She gave me an alarmed look. "Sookie, that's not funny."

"How did I not know this, I saw you last week."

"That was four weeks ago." Right. Comatose for three weeks. Made sense. "When we went shopping for a crib, remember?" And we were back to the insanity.

"No."

"Sookie," she began, her tone measured, "what's the date today?"

I took a deep breath and tried to unscramble my thoughts. I was very good at remembering dates, I usually had an impeccable sense of time, to the point where I'd never had to use an alarm clock in my life. So not knowing the specific date today was a little off-putting, if not completely fucking frustrating. "Um. March? Mid-March?"

"What year?"

"2009." I watched as the colour drained from Tara's face. "What. What's going on?"

"Sookie, today is September 20th," she took a deep breath before adding, "2011."