Chapter 4: Waking up.
The room was dark. The only light came from a lamp switched on low, sitting on the table in the corner. If anyone had been in the room, for no one but the comatose patient was, they wouldn't have noticed the change in blip of the heart monitor. It started slow. Each blip coming a little sooner then the one before it. The breath of the girl lying in the bed grew heavier as she took great gulps of air, as if her lungs were hungry for it. Sweat broke out on her brow and her body began to shake. And still her heart rate quickened until it sounded like a maddening thing.
The door to the room flew open and Lizzie Connolly rushed in. She saw her patient shaking wildly on the bed and hit the button near the door, calling for assistances. She rushed to Jane Doe's bed and checked the heart monitor. It was going mad. Working quickly she went over the chart and the readouts, looking for something to explain what was wrong.
The girl let out a shuttered gasp, her body shaking horribly. Lizzie dropped the chart she held as the young girl arched off the bed, her body bowing, pushing her stomach toward the ceiling. Her lips parted and an agonized scream filled the room.
The door burst open and a doctor with blond hair so pale it almost looked white rushed into the room followed quickly by Nate whose eyes were wide with concern. The young Jane Doe was still screaming, a horrible, gut wrenching scream causing Nate to cringe at the sound of it. "Lizzie! What happened?"
"I don't know." She fumbled to retrieve the papers she had dropped on the ground. "I can't find an explanation…"
The doctor rushed forward, took the papers from Lizzie's hands and proceeded to flip through it frantically. "There has to be something."
The screams ceased but Jane Doe continued to thrash fitfully on the bed. Lizzie reached down and took her hand comfortingly.
The doctor handed the papers off to Nate and was just reaching to check her vitals when she went suddenly still. Lizzie and Nate caught each others eyes across the room.
The fog that had hung like a thick blanket over her mind lifted. Her lips parted and her lungs expanded drawing in a painful gasp. Her lids sprung open and her panic increased. She couldn't see. There was a white haze in front of her eyes. She could feel the hand griping hers and her fingers tightened on it. She could feel her head growing dizzy and knew that she was taking breaths to quickly. She tried to slow her breathing and was able to when her vision began to clear. She could see three faces swim in and out of focus above her. She blinked rapidly and her sight cleared enough for her to make out features.
Her large, brown eyes darted wildly from face to face before settling on the face right about her. She felt a sudden wave of fear sweep over her body at the sight of him. The heart rate monitor went mad as her heart beat accelerated.
"Get away from me!" She tried to scream but her battered throat only allowed it to come out in a croak. "Don't touch me! Leave me alone!"
"Please calm down." Lizzie put a comforting hand on the young girls shoulder. "We're not going to hurt you."
The large brown eyes snapped to Lizzie's pale blues ones. "Please help me. Don't let him hurt me."
Realizing that he was causing the woman in the bed added distress the doctor stepped away and nodded to Nate who was ready with a syringe. With Lizzie's help he was able to hold the girls arm still long enough to administer the small dose. Within seconds she ceased struggling and her body relaxed into the bed.
Lizzie looked down at their patient with an appraising eye. "I've never heard of this happening to a comatose patient before. Have you ever seen a heart rate spike that high that fast before.
"No. I don't believe I have." Doctor Viscose made several marks on the patients chart. "Taking into account that our Jane Doe seemed disturbed by my appearance, I think I will ask Doctor Ledger to take over her care. She might be more comfortable in a woman's hand."
"Yes Doctor."
Doctor Viscose hung Jane Doe's chart back in its place at the foot of her bed. "I also think it would be best if one of you stay here until she wakes up. I believe it might alleviate some off her anxiety if there is a familiar face here when she awakens."
"I have four more patients before I'm off."
"I'll do it." Lizzie offered. "That is of course, if the other nurses can spare me."
"I'll make a stop at the nurses' station and explain the situation. I'm sure they won't mind releasing you for a few hours." Viscose assured. "I'll find Doctor Ledger then and inform her of the situation. When I'm finished with that I'll make a call up to the maternity ward and have them send down someone to check on the babies, make sure they weren't harmed during her episode. Thank you for staying with her, Lizzie. I appreciate it."
"Don't worry about it, Devin. I really don't mind."
"Excellent. I'll go speak with Doctor Ledger then."
Devin Viscose left the room, leaving behind an unusually silent Lizzie and Nate. Together the two nurses looked down at the still patient and felt a swell of protectiveness rise inside them.
"Look at her." Nate chuckled as he leaned in close. "She's still trying to fight the affects of the drugs."
Indeed she way. Her eyes would drift close but as soon as her lashes grazed her cheeks she would force them back open. Her eyes drifted close one last time and though she struggled to reopen them they remained closed.
"You know Lizzie, I think I'm going to like her. She has a stubborn streak in her, I'm telling you."
Lizzie smiled as she took the seat next to the bed. "Good. She's going to need it."
Nate took the few steps that brought him behind her chair. He leaned over her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I'll stop back in before I head home. Is there anything you want for dinner? It's my night to cook."
"No." She shook her head absently. "Anything you make will be fine."
She felt the pressure of his hand on her shoulder one last time before he walked to the door and disappeared with a quiet swish. Lizzie settled into her chair and picked up the lone magazine sitting on the night stand. She flipped to the first page before she looked back at the brown haired girl. "Welcome back, Jane." She whispered, giving her hand an affectionate squeeze.
Night had fallen, cloaking the world in its comforting darkness. Lizzie had abandoned her magazine long ago in favor of the television. She was watching a cheep documentary on teenage drinking. It wasn't the most fascinating of subjects but when there were only five channels to choose from, your options were limited.
When she couldn't bear the program a moment longer she flipped to the nightly news in time to see a toothy blond with perfectly manicured hair give the weather forecast for the next five days. Clear skies and sunshine to round off the week.
The image on the screen had just returned to the two anchors sitting behind their big, fancy desk when a soft groan escaped the lips of the girl in the bed. Lizzie hit the power button and managed to both turn and get to her feet at the same time and was at the bead in moments.
Jane Doe's large brown eyes blinked twice before darting about the room in panic. Lizzie moved in closer and leaned slightly over the bed so that she was in the young girl's line of vision. She placed a hand on her shoulder hoping it would have a calming affect as well as attract her attention without startling her. Jane Doe's eyes snapped to the nurse and found her smiling warmly down at her. "Welcome back."
The frightened girl stared up at her with terrified eyes. "Where am I? What's going on?" Her throat was dry and soar from disuse and the effort of speaking brought tears of pin to her eyes.
"You're in the hospital, dear." Lizzie answered as she retrieved a closed mug of cold water from the lap table pushed to the end of her bed. "Hear." She lowered the cup so the straw protruding from the top was near her lips. "It'll help sooth your throat."
The brown eyed girl closed her lips around the straw and took three great pulls of the clear cool liquid.
"That should be enough." Lizzie pulled the mug away. "You don't want to drink too much. It will make you sick."
"Thank you." The girl whispered, minding the tenderness in her throat. "You said I was in the hospital?" Lizzie nodded her affirmation. "Yes," sensing the girl's anxiety she took up her hand and sat on the side of her bed so that she was facing her. "You've been in a coma for the past six months."
"Six months." Her eyes widened with first shock then understanding. "No wonder I can't move."
"Yes, exactly. Your muscles are suffering from a severe case of atrophy. It will take extensive physical therapy to rebuild your strength and get your muscles back in working order."
"What happened?" Her voice was still painfully soft and raspy.
"We don't know." Lizzie gave the girls hand a squeeze. "When you were brought here you were already in the coma. We've been unable to identify the cause."
"I don't understand."
"We did many scans and could find no sign of brain trauma. In fact there was no sign of trauma anywhere on your body. Your clothes were singed and black but there were no burn marks. No bumps, or scrapes or blemishes. You had every appearance of being a perfectly healthy girl who would wake up from a very deep sleep any moment."
"Can you tell me how I was found?"
"You were found in a deserted alley a few towns from here."
"And you said I had been here six months?"
"Yes."
"And how far along am I?"
Lizzie's eyes widened with surprise at how calm and collectedly the young girl had stated the question. "Six months. Roughly. There is no way to know for sure."
Tears glistened in the dark brown eyes. "Was I…"
"No." Lizzie jumped in, cutting her off in her haste to assure her. "That was one of the firs things we checked for. You were not raped."
"You're sure?"
"Positive."
The girl with short frizzy hair bit her lower lip. "All right. Now can you tell me who I am?"
"You don't remember?"
"No."
A burst of pride surged in her chest and the courage and strength the girl was showing. "I'm afraid I can't answer that. When you were brought in there was no form of identification on you. No pictures or library cards or letters. Nothing that could give us a clue as to your identity. We even sent the police back to the alley where you had been found to search for a dropped wallet or bag. But there wasn't anything there."
The brown eyed girl took a deep, shaky breath, pressing her lips together. "Hasn't anyone come looking for me?"
"No dear. I have been searching the papers every day since you arrived looking for a missing person's report that matched your description. We've brought in at least five people to identify you, but none of them were successful."
"Could you help me? I wish to sit up."
"Of course." Lizzie stood and picked up the remote attached to the bed. She pressed down on the proper button and the top half of the bed began to tilt up, lifting her into a sitting position. Next the blond nurse hurried to the storage cabinet and brought back another thick pillow and placed it gingerly behind the young girls back. "There is that better?"
The young girl didn't answer. She was staring down at her stomach with wide, teary eyes. "How am I going to do this? How can anyone expect me to take care of a baby when I can't even take care of myself?"
"Not one, dear. Two."
"Two what?"
"Two babies."
"Twins?" Her eyes snapped up to Nurse Lizzie. "How old am I?"
"At an estimate, seventeen, eighteen, at the most nineteen."
"So, eighteen? How could I have been so careless? I'm far too young to be a mother."
"Relax, dear. You don't want to upset yourself."
"I'm sorry. This is just so much to take in."
"Don't apologize. If I was in your position I would be railing at the world."
"Do you know what my prognosis is? Will I ever get my memory back?"
"I can't answer that. I'm not a doctor. All I can tell you is Doctor Ledger, the doctor who will be overseeing your care from now on, was in here earlier and she told me she had been in touch with a specialist in London who would be making his way out here later in the week. You can ask him all the questions you want and hopefully he'll be able to answer to your satisfaction."
"All right. Can I ask you one more question?"
"Of course you can. Though I can't guarantee I'll have an answer."
"What is your name?"
"Elizabeth Connolly. But everyone calls me Lizzie."
"Thank you, Lizzie. I appreciate everything you've done for me, including, I hope, handing me the remote."
"What do you want with it?" Lizzie asked putting it in her hand.
"Baby steps." She explained simply concentrating on the remote and her thumb which was sitting unmoving over the buttons. "If I'm going to have two babies in three months time, then I want to be able to hold them in my arms." Her concentration never left the remote in her hand all the while she spoke. Intrigues, Lizzie focused her gave on the remote as well and willed with all her might that something would happen.
An eternity seemed to pass before there was the slightest quiver in her thumb. A weak smile spread across her lips as she forced the thumb to move down and the power button retracted into the unit causing the screen to blink into life. "I did it."
Lizzie laughed with astonishment. "I can't believe it." She slowly sank onto the foot of the bed. "It pains me to say this but, Nate was right. You do have a stubborn streak in you."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"We'll have to wait and see, won't we."
Lizzie glanced down at the watch strapped around her wrist. "Would you look at that? My shift was over an hour ago."
"I'm sorry. I didn't make you late for anything, did I?"
"No. Just dinner with my roommate. Speaking of which," Lizzie rose to her feet, bustling about the room and putting it back to order "Another nurse should be in shortly to help you with your meal. But I must warn you, your stomach is small. You haven't eaten solid food in six months. So, until your are eating proper portions again you'll remain hooked to this IV."
"I understand."
"I have the morning shift starting tomorrow. I'll be back to see you then."
"Lizzie!" The girl called just as the nurse was about to leave. "Thank you, for being so kind to me."
Lizzie smiled back at her. "I'll see you in the morning."
Not a half hour later, Lizzie was descending the steps of the bus and alighting on the corner of her street. She tossed her bag over her shoulder and strode the few blocks to her front door.
Sighing heavily when she found the door locked, she pulled her large purse off her shoulder and began rifling through her bag looking for her keys. Her fingers had just grazed the cool metal when the door was flung open and a large hand reached out and pulled her through the portal.
