Taylor tried to claw her way out of a deep sleep. Something was wrong and she was having a great deal of difficulty gathering her awareness. Sleep weighed her down like a cloak, and she struggled to move. Exerting her will she opened her eyes but it helped little. The room she was in was dark and she could only barely make out some walls of white around her.
Taylor began to panic when she attempted to move her arms and found herself unable. Her legs also would not obey her commands. Her fear was making her mind more and more clear and she discovered that in fact she could move her limbs but they were bound in some way, limiting her range of motion to minor adjustments.
Lifting her head she looked down at her body and saw that she was restrained in a strait jacket that was affixed to a gurney, her bare legs were strapped to the table.
What was going on?
Thirst made her voice rough and uneven as she called out weakly.
"Hello?"
Moving her dry tongue around she attempted to moisten her mouth and gather some saliva to swallow. A meagre trickle ran down her parched throat and she tried once more to call out.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" This time her voice made enough noise to potentially pass beyond the room she was in, but not likely.
The walls she now saw were not only white, but had padding on them.
Taylor appeared to be in a mental hospital.
Why? What could she remember?
The last memories she had were of being at a rave dancing and enjoying herself. She had taken some drugs, but nothing crazy or new to her. This hangover didn't feel anything like the aftereffects of any recreational drug she had ever taken before.
Her struggles left her exhausted and she slumped back on the small bed and took some deep breaths.
Her body was uncomfortable, achy and fatigued, but she didn't feel injured at all so that was a relief. The most discomforting thing was her extreme thirst.
Laying on the narrow gurney she reviewed all she could remember of the party, which was a great deal up until a certain point. After dancing for hours and skipping here and there meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends she had started dancing with some men she had never seen before. They had been good looking, dressed in sexy revealing costumes, and they had been funny. She remembered laughing a lot. At some point they had all been thirsty from dancing and had gone to one of the men's van for some bottles of water. She wouldn't drink from unsealed vessels at a party.
They had been drinking water, and Taylor was pretty sure she started kissing them both. Was anyone else there? At one point yes, but bits of memory from later in the night floated by, they had been alone. Then Taylor only remembered fragments of dreams.
Now she was here, bound to this bed, dying of thirst.
In the distance Taylor heard some doors open and close. Footsteps echoed down some far off space, and the click of heels on a hard surface drew closer.
"Help!" she cried over and over. "I'm here! Help me!"
The door of her room opened and light spilled in, then was cut off.
"Hello?" she said, her voice sounding meek and frightened t her own ears.
"Hello." A calm male voice said. "You will want to close your eyes a moment, I'm going to turn on some lights. "
Taylor complied and bright light made her wince even behind her eyelids.
"Where am I?" she asked.
"All in good time. First let me perform a few tests to make sure you are healthy and adjusting well."
"I really need some water."
"Yes of course. One moment, please." Opening her eyes, and blinking, she became adjusted to the bright overhead lights. The man was moving around the small space doing something, and Taylor saw that he wore a doctors lab coat, surgical mask and cap.
When he stepped away from the object he was working on she saw that he had turned on a video camera and was recording her.
"What is that for?"
"Documentation. Now here drink this." The man held up a bottle of water with a straw in it. Taylor greedily sipped from the straw and gulped down the water, her neck straining to life her heavy head while swallowing as much as she could.
As the water filled her stomach she realized how empty it was, and how full her bladder. She had no appetite, but she could tell it had been a long time since she had eaten last.
The doctor said, "I understand that you are going to have a lot of questions, but please do your very best to relax. I need to run some tests to make certain your body is stable before I explain anything. It would not do to have you worked up at all. So please lay back and allow me to work, then we can talk."
Her thirst quenched Taylor decided to co-operate, she was terribly tired and had little strength to argue.
The doctor began to move above her head out of view. The sound of clattering and sliding made her curious and when he came back into view beside her she looked over and saw that he was pulling a cart with monitors and medical equipment closer to her. He put a device on her finger and soon a steady beeping began. He took her blood pressure and looked into her eyes with a light and essentially gave her a complete once over.
Her curiosity was growing more and more acute, but she allowed him to do his job while she tried to remember how she got here. She grew thirsty once more and asked for more water. The doctor looked at her and she saw that his eyes were dark brown like her own, with a little tilt to them and an Asian look. They were not kind eyes and she looked away quickly. He seemed to be in his forties or fifties, and when he held the bottle for her once more she saw that he wore latex gloves over his delicate artist's hands.
