Waking up

Mark looked around to check his surroundings. His last pieces of memories were driving through that mysterious tunnel, and the memories were clear as day, unlike dreams he had in the past.

'Is this a hospital room? How long was I out? '

Mark noticed that his facial hair had grown, meaning he hadn't shaved for some time. As for what happened after exiting the tunnel, he did not know; as for him, it just happened just a couple of moments ago.

He started checking his body, as well as his surroundings. He noticed that most machines in the room were turned off, except one monitor that seemed to check his heart rate.

[Look who finally decided to wake up.]

Mark looked around for the source of that strange Voice. It was the same Voice he had heard when he drove his truck to escape.

But no matter where he looked in the room, he didn't see anyone but him.

[I am in standby mode, you fool. You should work on changing that soon, or I will truck you up] the Voice kept talking in a tone of authority.

Mark didn't know what to do as he couldn't tell where that Voice came from or its demand.

At that point, he heard footsteps from outside as three figures entered the room —- a male doctor, one male nurse, and one female nurse.

They froze for a second as they entered the room and saw Mark.

"Where am I? How did I get here? "Mark asked as he wanted to start getting some answers.

After hearing those questions, the doctor snapped out and got closer to Mark.

"You are at Odonta's Main Hospital. You've been in a coma for a few weeks. Let me do some tests first, though. "

Mark was confused about what the person had just told him. He was aware of Odonta's location, but it was miles away from where he was last when the accident happened. Even if someone brought me here, other hospitals were by far closer.

As for him being in a coma, it made sense because of his current hair situation.

'I thought though they tended to shave people in comas? Was my assurance lacking? '

Of course, Mark didn't know that the reason nobody shaved him wasn't because of an assurance problem but because he was pretty much considered a dead man.

The doctor reached him, used his stethoscope, and did some simple tests for his vision or reflexes by using that small hammer and hitting him on one of his knees.

As the doctor continued, he looked confused, which intensified with each test.

"Is everything ok, Dr. Kiran? "

The one who made the question wasn't Mark since he didn't know the doctor's name. Instead, the one who spoke was the female nurse.

The doctor, named Kiran, turned towards the nurse. Mark could swear that there was a look of disappointment on his face for a second, but it was gone as fast as it appeared.

"Everything seems fine, but we should schedule some further tests just to be certain. In the meantime, young man, you should rest. Miss Lylah will stay nearby to help you if needed."

As Dr. Kiran said that, he signaled the male nurse to follow him as the two left, leaving Mark and Lylah alone.

Mark wanted to ask so many questions to both the Voice and the people he, but he wasn't certain how communication worked with the Voice in his head. Even if the Voice was robotic and didn't appear either male or female, he had considered it a him.

Mark tried to think what he wanted to ask him, but there was no response, but he didn't know if it was before he failed or if the Voice ignored him.

"Are you ok? Do you need an extra pillow or something? "

Mark turned towards the nurse named Lylah, who was staring at him with some concern. He quickly understood the reason behind that look, as in his attempt to send a message to the Voice, he had to make some strange grimaces, making it seem uncomfortable for others looking at him.

"No…I am ok. Well… I do need to do something."

Lylah was ready to ask what he needed, but as Mark put his hand over his stomach, she understood what he wanted to do.

'Being out for so long doesn't do good on the stomach, apparently. '

Mark could feel a nauseous feeling coming to him out of nowhere, and he was getting close to throwing up. Actually, that feeling as time passed was getting stronger, so he tried to stand up to go towards the door other than the one the doctor left off, which should lead to a bathroom.

As he put his leg down on the floor and tried to put his weight on it, he felt his leg being weaker than he presumed it to be and was falling forward. Fortunately, Lylah seemed to have foreseen what was to come as she quickly put gripped him, not letting him fall.

It surprised Mark for a moment how easily she appeared to handle his weight, but he soon understood how much his time in a coma had affected his body. His weight was clearly the rate of being like he had had no food for days, but he didn't feel hungry.

In reality, he didn't even feel weak, like lacking any stamina, which was why it surprised him that he couldn't stand up. It was more like he didn't have control over his body or had somehow forgotten how to walk.

As the nauseating feeling was getting stronger and he could feel the vomit getting ready to leave his mouth, he pointed at Lylah towards the bathroom door. Luckily she understood what he meant and helped him make his way there.

As she opened the door, and Mark could see a basin, his feeling of throwing up had become unbearable to keep back. So he pushed himself from Lylah's firm grasp to reach the basic, as he opened his mouth, leaving out the undesirable contents of his body.

"Are you ok? Do you… "

"I am ok. Just leave me alone for a few moments in here. "

Lylah nodded as she stepped back and closed the door to leave him in his privacy.

'What just happened.'

Mark was confused over two things. First, he didn't say what he just said by his will, but it was like someone else took control of him and spoke using his body. Second, he was surprised by what currently covered the basin.

He expected some vomit or blood, but there was a thick black substance. It didn't take long to recognize what it was, but it didn't help explain how it came out of him. The substance looked and smelled like car oil, similar to what he used for his vehicle.

Mark could taste some of it remaining on his lips, and it tasted like he expected it to be, but he didn't feel as disgusted by tasting it as he thought he would. It still wasn't like it tasted good, but it wasn't unlike how he would react to tasting some of his blood or similar.

"What is going on here? "he whispered to himself.

He also tried to see if the Voice would talk now that they were alone. But unfortunately, there was no response.

'He said something about being on standby or something, and I needed to work on that. But how should I do it? '

He continued thinking instead of whispering as he worked on cleaning his mouth with some water. He also used water to clean the basin, as he didn't want to see what the reaction of others would be if they saw that he vomited oil.

'Could it be they gave me some drugs, and that is a side effect? '

Mark had heard of some hospitals using unauthorized drugs on people in a coma for testing reasons, but most were rumors that disappeared as fast as they appeared. He wouldn't be surprised if it was the truth, though, as he knew from his background that the 1% didn't care that much for the rest, the 99%, and if they were good at one thing, it was hiding their ploys of profit.

Hearing voices as a side effect of a drug wasn't that far-fetched, but vomiting oil didn't sound that realistic. He noticed that it was easier to clean it than the heavy car oil he was familiar with, making him consider that maybe his assumption wasn't that far from the truth.

'I should get back to my bed to rest. Maybe that's why the doctor suggested it so, as he probably was aware of potential side effects. '

After throwing up, he felt better and could feel like he had better control over his body. He could walk somewhat but needed to keep his hand on a surface or a wall to keep himself from falling.

As he opened the door, he saw Lylah sitting on a chair beside his bed. She noticed him, quickly stood up, and moved towards him to help him to the bed.

"It is ok. I can move by myself now. "

Mark didn't mean to be rude to her, but he was used to being the only one taking care of him. Fortunately, she didn't seem annoyed by his reaction, but she stayed near him, probably to make sure she could grasp him if he fell.

Since he couldn't reach his bed by putting some weight on the wall or other surfaces, he tried to push himself in that direction to get to it and balance himself on the footboard or the side rail. But, in the end, he barely made it close to the footboard, almost missing the chance to balance himself.

'My body's status is worse than I… '

Before he could finish his thought, something strange happened. In front of him, there was a blue panel hovering in the air.