I don't remember how long I was asleep. The only thing I remembered is completely blacking out after hearing about throwing a chaos about my condition. I'm pretty sure they gave me a tranquilizer to put me to sleep because I felt a slight numb bump on my forearm.
Huh, I still remember. I thought. I wasn't sure whether I was happy about it or not.The afternoon was calm; translucent interwoven curtains blocked most of the sun's rays and provided much of the soothing warmth. The machines around my bed beeped harmonically and no one was around.I brought my left palm and placed it on my bandaged shoulder. The pain seemed to subside as I removed the pressure on it.I looked around for the buzzer-like button, which was conveniently placed on the wooden table beside the bed. Approximately two minutes after pressing the button, a familiar figure walked inside.I furrowed my eyes and attempted to see her nametag; I had forgotten her name, but I was damn sure I had seen her before."Nurse..."She smiled at me. "Ines." She quickly offered. "A lot better today, I suppose?"I nodded. "I remembered the surroundings. Nothing about this hospital dorm surprises me.""Great!" She said, "I also have some good news to share with you."I looked puzzled. "And what is that?"She removed the drips and all the monitoring wires from me, one by one, and smiled."That should give you a clue.""I'm free now?" I asked, getting slightly concerned."Why, do you want to stay here longer?" She asked."No... like that's not what I–""You've spent close to a month here." She said in an encouraging tone, "And you've fully recovered. All that is left is a few sessions to monitor your progress."A flood of thoughts washed into my mind.I have spent almost a month here. I thought. Where do I go now? Who is going to take me in?"You are to be shifted to a local care home until we find any relatives of you who are willing to take you in.""Care home, huh?" I mused to myself. It's probably the sugarcoated version of an orphanage.The thought revolved in the back of my mind until I was standing in front of one. Ines was beside me and we were standing in front of a big building which said: "care home".Ines filled out some forms while I stood waiting in the dimly-lit reception area. Once she was done, she glanced at me."I have included my number in the form and we can keep in touch." She said.After filling out my part of the form, the receptionist summoned an African-American man who was wearing denim jeans and a white polo shirt."Meet Alex," The receptionist introduced him, "he'll show you around. If you need anything, you can convey it to him."He gave a wide, amiable smile and extended his hand. "Hi um... Your name?""Harris," Ines said quickly."Harris! Great name dude," He said and I shook his hand. He gave a firm pat on my back. "Come on, let me show you your room."I took a last glance at Ines and followed him inside a hallway.Day one, hour zero in an orphanage.