She heard hushed voices talking strongly and expertly and the sound of beeping machines. The smell of disinfectant was strong as the bright morning sun shined in her eyes. She felt exhausted, she couldn't move. She felt the darkness of sleep creeping upon her as she fell into a deep slumber once more.
In the small hospital room two men, one middle aged and the other in his mid twenties, stood over the brunette. They were both wearing white coats and held clipboards as they took down notes. They checked her vital signs and condition as the lunch lady moved the rattling trolley down the aisles into the wards.
"Her heart rate and pulse are still elevated 137 over 93 and 80 beats per minute. They have both dropped a fair bit from when she first came in. Her respiratory rate: 18 breaths per minute which is within the normal range and her temperature is only slightly elevated at 39.1°C."
"The heart rate, pulse and temperature can be explained through her moderate form of dehydration and will hopefully subside within the next twenty four hours. The IV drip is slowly replacing the fluids she has lost and now we only need her to wake up so we can find out her identity."
The younger doctor walked over to the clean white window ledge, closing the curtain slightly and recorded the vitals he had just observed. He looked over to the sleeping girl, hoping she would wake soon so she would have someone to come be with her. Her hair was a mess as she lay motionless in the middle of the bed with an IV line attached to her left hand, a cast on her right arm and many cords coming out from under her hospital gown to the machines monitoring her physical condition.
"She was very lucky that the lady who found her rang for an ambulance. If she would have been out there for any longer this would have been more than a moderate case of dehydration. She also appears to be exhausted as she hasn't woken yet. In four hours if she isn't awake I recommend giving her a shot of adrenaline. We can then also find out her identity so we can inform her next of kin."
"Before we leave, student Doctor Sablan, could you please check her pupil reaction to see if they are the same."
"Of course, Doctor Heyson," the younger man said as he walked over to the sleeping brunette, pulling a pen light out of his coat pocket. He lifted up the right eyelid followed by the left. "Both pupils are reacting normally."
As she felt the sharp light hit her eyes she started to stir, moaning and grumbling slightly as she was pulled from her peaceful slumber. She opened her eyes slowly; her vision was blurry at first as she looked around her surroundings. All white. She noticed two men standing over her as her eyes adjusted. She felt scared and out of place until she recognised where she was.
"Hello ma'am I'm Doctor Heyson and this is one of my students; Doctor Sablan. I would like to ask you some simple questions. Can you please tell us your name?"
"Jennifer Hartmann" she said, her throat hoarse.
"What is your date of birth?"
"April 5th 1992." Her eyes were getting heavy again as she fought back sleep.
"Can you tell me where you are Miss Hartmann?"
"I'm in a hospi..." her eyes closed as she lost her battle and succumbed once more to the sleep her body desperately needed.
"Doctor Sablan, can you please go and inform the registered nurse of our patient's identity?"
"Right away, Doctor."
The wind was blowing a soft breeze through her bedroom. Her curtains fluttered slightly as the pages in the open books flipped over gently. Emma sat at her desk, her legs crossed at her ankles under the chair as she bit into her chicken sandwich, which was cut into four triangle pieces. The blonde had been studying non-stop since she woke up that morning. Her stomach was in knots, it felt heavy and she was worried as an uneasy feeling had spread throughout her whole body. Something wasn't right and she hoped and prayed it had nothing to do with her girlfriend.
She chewed the end of her pen as she concentrated intently on the material before her. The words were starting to blur together in some instances but she pushed on. She could hear a buzzing noise, it was getting louder and more annoying until she realised it was her phone ringing beside her. She hoped it was Jenny, but it came up as a private number. Emma's heart sank a little.
"Hello," she said.
"Hello, Emma. It's Stefan Bergmann"
"Um, hi Mr Bergmann, is everything alright?" Emma said, her heart beating faster as she started to feel panic over take her.
"No. I need you to sit down and listen. Please don't interrupt either until I finish. Is this clear?"
"Yes, sir." Emma sat down as her stomach knotted and she pressed the phone closer to her ear.
"I'm currently out of town on an important business trip and Ben has gone away on holiday. I got a call from the hospital not long ago and Jenny has been admitted as she was found passed out with moderate dehydration. I need you to go to the hospital and see the doctors. I informed them that you would be coming in. Please keep me informed. I need to go now. Bye." Beep, beep, beep the call had been disconnected.
Emma sat there, in shock. Her heart was beating at a rapid pace. She could hear it and feel it wanting to burst out of her chest. She wanted to cry but all she could do was sit there and take big deep breaths. Her brain was in overdrive thinking of how Jenny could have gotten in hospital but she could only come up with nothing, apart from their fight the other day. She started to blame herself for what happened to Jenny. As she gripped the sheets images started to flood her vision. 'Jenny,' she thought.
The blonde jumped to her feet grabbing her phone which had fallen onto the floor and rushed down the stairs in haste as the panic inside her was renewed, all she wanted to do was rush to the hospital and take Jenny's hand in her own, forgetting about everything else. She rushed around the living room knocking over the DVD rack, upturning lounge cushions, and making a mess of the place trying to find her bag so she could leave. She couldn't find it though she looked behind the television, under the books on the table and kicked the corner of the lounge in her fruitless attempt at finding her bag.
"Emma! What are you doing and what is wrong with you?" A female voice said loudly in a tone which suggested she was not happy with the now messy living room.
"Mum," Emma said, shocked that she was home. "I need to find my bag. Have you seen it? Jenny is in the hospital, I need to go see her."
Emma's Mum held her hand up as Emma went quiet.
"Emma, tell me slowly what happened. What is wrong with your friend?"
"Jenny, I got a call from Mr Bergmann he said Jenny is in hospital. He said dehydration or something. I need to go I need to see my girlfriend!" Emma slapped her hand to her mouth. She had just called Jenny her girlfriend in front of her mother. She hadn't told any of her family about her relationship with the brunette.
Ms. Muller looked at Emma and pulled her into a tight hug, rubbing her back like she would to soothe a baby. "I'll drive you to the hospital, your bag is sitting on the kitchen table."
Emma ran into the kitchen and grabbed her bag as she held the front door open ushering her mother out of it and into the car as quickly as she could.
The blonde sat in the passenger seat and stared out the window as the trees flew past her. Her Mother was driving; lightly tapping her thumb on the steering wheel, biting her lower lip as if she wanted to say something. Emma had not spoken since they got into the car and it started to worry her Mother as being quiet was something Emma usually never did.
"I've always known Emma," Her mother said breaking the silence.
Emma was snapped out of the trance she was in. "You knew about Jenny?" she said shocked at her mother's knowledge.
"Well, not about Jenny. Just in general. The plaid shirts kind of gave you away, dear, and so did the endless ogling of girls on the television when you were younger."
"Oh" was the only response Emma could form as she went back to looking out the window, wishing her mum would speed up so she could be with Jenny once more.