Valory

 I know I've seen him before, and the fact I can't remember is killing me. I can normally recognize anyone. Whether I've only seen them once or just a few times. 

 "Okay, we need to figure out a way to wake up or whatever's going on with our bodies." Damien's voice cut through my thoughts.

 "Well, you said we could be in a coma?" I mentioned his earlier proposition. He nodded, crossing his arms. 

 "What if the only way we can get out of here is to wake up from the coma?" I hypothesized.

 "Makes sense but that could take months, years even." He pointed out. "Waking up from a coma requires time that the body needs to heal."

 "Okay… But we could try to force ourselves awake." I pushed.

 "The probabilities of that succeeding are very low-" I cut him off.

 "You can be quite the pessimist, y'know that? Nothing is impossible." I pointed out.

 "I've been here for a few days; you've been here for what? 3 days? We're running out of time."

 "Five actually. And yes, I know. Which is why we're thinking."

"Why don't we get some sleep. Or try to come back to this in the morning?" He suggested.

"I thought you said getting tired doesn't really happen cause we're not in our physical form." I raised a brow, watching as he stood up and crawled back into the window of the Inn. Ignoring my snark and leaving me on the roof. 

I stayed there a bit longer, staring at the constant fog that layered this town. This reminded me of a story, it's not exactly on point like the story. This man left his town for a while, going to another town for a job, I believe. He rode home to visit his folk but when he got there, it was only a barren wasteland. The buildings were gone, the farms, it was like the town never existed. The only thing left was the word CROATOAN which was written on a log. But for us, the town didn't disappear.

"We're going to get out of here." I mumbled as I too, got up and went through a different window into the Inn.

 ____

 I woke up earlier than usual, at least I think I did. I felt different. Not tired per se, just different. I felt lighter, out of it almost. Like I'm not here, but I am. I got out of bed and looked into the broken vanity mirror. I seemed paler than usual, but I could just be imagining things. Damien knocked on the door before opening it.

 "Oh, you're awake." I could tell he was trying to mask the surprise in his voice. 

 "Yeah, I woke up a moment ago." I told him, not looking away from the mirror.

"You good?" Damien questioned, pushing the door further open and leaning against the door frame. His arms were crossed as he examined me.

"Yeah, just feel different." I hummed.

"You look a bit different too. I don't remember you being this pale." He muttered. 

"I know. I'm not normally this pale." I sighed and turned toward him. "I have a new idea by the way."

"For what? Getting out of this place? I'm all ears. This place is starting to give me the heebie jeebies."

"Yeah, what if we make ourselves wake up? Invision ourselves wherever we are and think about waking up?"

"That might work." He nodded. "But do you know if we need to lay down or something? Is there a secret witch ritual? Are you a witch?"

"What? No! God no." I rolled my eyes. He squinted his eyes. "I swear, stop looking at me like that or I will hit you."

"Feisty this morning." Damien smirked. "Fine, I'll stop. How do you want to do this?"

"I don't know. Lay down?" I shrugged. 

 "That seems overly simple. Why didn't you suggest this beforehand?" Damien asked.

 "It wasn't something that came to my head until last night." I huffed. "I don't see you making many suggestions." 

 "Alright, let's just stay calm alright?" His voice lowered to a more normal and less joking tone. 

 "Whatever, let's just do this." I sighed and laid back down on my bed. Damien chose the floor.

 "Envision the hospital. Make sure you are as specific as you can." I explained, closing my eyes. "It's important. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to wake up in Ohio or something."

I pictured my hometown hospital. The red letters reading the hospital name. The clean, white tile floors. The stifling smell of cleaning products from when they sterilized the rooms. The beeping of machines as they monitored my heart beat, blood pressure, and physical state. The couches in the corner for visitors and the large window that overlooks the golden cornfields and the dark soybean rows.

 I felt a sudden tug, like somebody grabbed my shirt and jerked me forward without warning. Then there was pain. It was mainly in my head, like a migraine but ten times worse. I opened my eyes and a bright white light seared my corneas, I instantly shut them, the image of a light fixture, burned the image for several seconds before dissipating.

 "Valory? Can you hear me?" A soft voice asked me a question and I gave the slightest of nods, the movement shooting prickles of pain through my body. The movement took more effort than I thought it would've. My body must be in more of a bad shape than I thought. "Do you know where you are?" She asked. I gave another slight nod. The sound of machine wiring made me open my eyes, there wasn't a white light anymore.

 "Alright. I'm Dr. Graven. Do you remember what happened?" She had a clipboard and pen in her manicured hands. 

 "No." My voice was scratchy and small. Consequences of drinking no water, I guess.

 "You were in a terrible crash. You sustained a pretty nasty head injury and a broken arm. Consider yourself very lucky. You slipped into a coma after surgery." She wrote something else down.

"How long?" I asked.

"About two weeks." Dr. Graven didn't look up from her clipboard. Two weeks? That can't be true. We'd only been there for a few days? "To be honest, we were getting doubtful you were going to wake up." She muttered, most of her concentration zeroed in on her task. 

She left after a while, an hour I believe, and I closed my eyes for a moment. Trying to digest the information I was given. Me and Damien… Damien. My eyes flew open, and I sat up with my free hand. The sound of rushing water gushed through my ears as my head spun. I closed my eyes once again to regain my bearings.

Despite Dr. Graven's words, I swung my legs off the bed and grabbed the IV pole. I took a deep breath before slowly lowering myself onto the ground. Jeez, they really elevated my bed. 

"Alright. You got this. It's just walking." I blew out a breath and took the first step. No water rushing through my ears, no dizziness. I think that's a win, considering how awful I felt when I first woke up. I walked towards the fake wood door, pulling the door open with great effort. I looked down at the long hall and huffed. No way I'm going through all those rooms. Not to mention the number of corridors this place probably has. I walked to the reception desk. The lady looked up from her computer. 

"How may I help you?" She smiled, her voice a chirpy tone. Her dark hair was gelled into a bun, the name tag on her blue nurse shirt read Diana.

"Um, is there a guy named Damien admitted here somewhere? I would like his room number please." I patted my hand on the counter, waiting.

"Let me look." She hummed as her eyes looked back and forth across the computer screen. The blue light illuminated her dark skin. "Yes actually. His room number is 463."

"Thanks." I nodded and walked through the long hall, ignoring the curious stares of the nurses and doctors. Eventually, I found his room number. His name was written on a whiteboard near the door. I pushed his door open and looked at the person in bed. It was, in fact, Damien. And he was awake. His grey-blue eyes locked on mine.

"Valory?" His brows shot up.

"Guess it worked, huh?" I grinned.

"I think it might've." His smile was a bit lopsided and goofy. 

"Look, as soon as you're out of that bed, what do you say about getting a coffee?" 

"Sure. As long as it's Scooters."

"Deal." I grinned at his demand. The feeling of having someone, a friend, who understands me now is almost overwhelming. I felt most grateful though, without him, I don't think I would've made it out.

 "How long will you be here?" I questioned.

"Not long. Just a broken rib and a concussion."

"Lucky. Broken arm and a real nasty head injury." I grinned.

"You seem overly happy for someone who just got out of a coma and got into a car crash." Damien raised a brow.