Quoted from beelzeboob:You never had any experiences when you were under, did you? Like...they didn't have to stop your heart for any reason, did they? I find those stories absolutely fascinating.
I wrote a chapter in my non fiction book called "the thing in the hospital." It is not published yet but here is the chapter. Since you asked!
The Thing in the Hospital
I had been moved to an overflow area, later that night. The night of my third brain surgery.
The room was quiet.
It must have been an overflow area. It was a large room with empty cots littering the floor. The cots were temporary and empty. All except one of them.
One bed had a young guy in it. Some of his friends had come to see him, given him balloons.
To get well soon.
I knew he was in the wrong place. We were both in the wrong place.
The hospital emergency room was no place anyone wants to be.
But I also knew, he was probably hurt worse than he knew. I think he had mangled his hand.
I saw bandages.
He laughed with his friends.
I drifted in and out of consciousness. There were dozens of stitches in my head, from that very day, the brain surgery...
I welcomed sleep. Needed it.
The hospital became quieter.
Just me and my roommate now. And the big empty room full of beds.
I looked up and heard something.
Over by the guy on the bed.
Leaning over him was a black thing. Looking down at him.
It looked up at me. It seemed to lick its lips.
I prayed. I remember praying. The Lord's Prayer.
Our father who art in heaven...
I said it all of course.
Memorized from the third grade.
A mantra of power left for me on this earth. Perhaps...
To protect me.
The thing silently regarded me and went back to the guy in the bed. Working on him. Hovering over him, in the darkness.
Licking its lips, it appeared to.
I fell back into unconsciousness. Mercifully.
The room was silent.
So, what was the thing in the hospital?
I don't know.
But I do know that hallucinations are a part of brain surgery recovery. I was just hours off one of those surgeries.
My assumption is that it was a balloon.
Hallucinated into something more horrible. Leaning over the guy, perhaps?
Possibly more like floating over the guy. A balloon from his friends. Earlier in the day.
Perhaps it was a balloon. Or a hallucination. Or both.
Enjoy!