Hospitals Are
Unpleasant: A Love Story
By David Franklin
She couldn’t remember much about
the accident, but the Nurse told her it had been bad.
“Almost
lost the pair of you! We sure did!” she sobbed, and tear rolled down her face.
“Oh,” said
June groggily. She smiled faintly, touched by the strange woman’s concern. “So
Kenny’s okay then? When can I see him?”
The Nurse
furrowed her brow at the name. “Kenny?”
“Yes, my
husband Kenneth. I guess he was in the… accident with me, but you’re telling me
he’s okay? Can I see him soon?”
“Oh! Your
husband! Certainly, I’ll go get him.”
June was
confused.
The Nurse disappeared
from sight as she turned into the hall. June heard her footsteps disappear. The
hospital was silent.
June rose
from her bed with effort, bracing herself against the wall as she surveyed her
room. The larger portion contained the bed and side table, a television,
medical equipment, a few chairs for guests, and the restroom door.
A new set
of footsteps echoed from the hallway, and June returned to her bed. They grew
louder, and her door opened. Kenneth smiled.
June’s sister Cynthia lived in
Milwaukee, and though she and her sister hadn’t spoken in years, Cynthia called
June the next day.
“I know you must be lonely in that hospital
room,” she said, concerned. “I just want to make sure you’re keeping up your
spirits. Are you feeling healthy?”
“Thank you, Cynthia. That’s very
considerate. And yes, I, uh, feel very healthy.”
“What a relief!” Cynthia cried. “I
don’t know what I’d do if I lost you both!”
“Oh! Well thanks, sis... I’m glad
to hear you changed your mind about Kenny.”
There was silence.
“Kenny?” said the voice on the
other end.
“Yes. You said ‘you both.’”
“Oh.”
Cynthia said nothing else, and June
eventually hung up.
The Nurse reentered.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June
supposed the hospital must be very crowded, but the Nurse seemed to spend an
unusual amount of time with her, and she never heard anyone else besides
Kenneth. The other patients must be sleeping while she was awake. Perhaps that
wasn’t odd. She herself had been comatose for a week after the accident,
Kenneth told her.
It was probably the impact trauma
and the drugs, but there had been… nightmares. Mouths and eyes. She had dreamt
of mouths and eyes. Far too many, and in places where they shouldn’t have been.
Mouths that took away her husband, piece by wet piece. Eyes that gazed on her
next with greed…
Kenneth had cried when she told
him, as if he had been the one
trapped in that inchoate hellscape. Bewildered, June had consoled him as best
she could.
“Sorry,
it’s stupid. I just love you so much. You know that?”
“You’re a
ridiculous man. You know I know that.”
“You really
don’t.” Kenneth looked very severe. “No one has ever loved you so much and in
as many ways as have I.”
“You’re a
cheeseball.”
As June
reached to tug his hair affectionately, Kenneth caught her wrist sharply.
“Ow. Kenny?”
He kissed
her hand and placed it on her belly, intertwining his fingers with hers.
“Sorry. I-
I think I might be losing my hair, so please don’t pull it,” he said seriously.
She stared
at him askance, then chuckled at him deprecatingly. “Uh, okay grampa.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the next morning’s checkup,
the Nurse opened left to get June’s breakfast. She was never alone for very
long. The Nurse checked her vitals incessantly and made sure she ate everything
she was given.
“Shouldn’t I be up and walking by
now? Are there exercises I should be doing?” June asked.
“Oh certainly not. Mustn’t strain yourself,”
the Nurse replied.
Kenneth kept her company after work, and
Cynthia called several times a week. During one such call, June brought up the
nightmares.
“You poor thing!” exclaimed
Cynthia.
“It seemed
so real…”
“That’s how
dreams are,” interrupted her sister. “It’s perfectly normal though. There’s no
need to upset yourself and risk coming down with something. You have such
lovely health.”
“Um,
thanks?”
“Besides,
Kenneth visits you every day after work. You have very good evidence that he’s
perfectly fine.”
“That’s
true I guess… Do you guys talk often?” asked June.
“Whatever
do you mean?”
“Kenny
obviously told you when he comes to visit, I mean. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just
glad my sister and husband are finally getting along.”
“Indeed. We
are very close,” replied Cynthia evenly.
“That’s
awesome! Hang on, Kenny’s out in the hall. I’ll go get him, and we can talk on
speaker.”
“No! You
mustn’t strain yourself!” Cythia said sharply.
June still
felt very weak, but she pulled herself along the wall.
“It’s cool.
I could do with the exercise.”
June opened
the hallway door.
“June!
Return to your bed immediately!” screamed a voice that was certainly not
Cynthia’s.
The voice
came both from the phone and from down the hall, and in the dim fluorescent
light, she saw a shape from her nightmares, barely contained by the Nurse’s
uniform. Kenneth’s empty face hung limply from an eyestalk.
June
screamed as she backed into her room. A clattering sound echoed from the hall
as the Creature pulled itself along on knobs of bone.
“No need to
upset yourself,” said Cynthia’s voice from one of the Mouths. “I don’t know
what I’d do without you both.”
“Mustn’t
strain yourself!” said the Nurse’s voice from another Mouth. “The baby’s very sensitive.
Almost lost the pair of you! We sure did!”
“I told
you,” said the Mouth from under Kenny’s face, “No one has ever loved you so
much and in as many ways as have I.”
And all of
the Eyes wept with joy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three years
later, June awoke as her abdomen burst open. Mouths and eyes.
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