I can barely guess the border between reality and hallucination

From this point on, I can barely guess the border between reality and hallucination.

Here I am, wandering down long, endless hospital corridors, trying desperately to get out. Somehow I know these are the corridors of my mind, but knowing is of no help to me, because I’m freaked out by all the locked doors. And even more than that, I’m intimidated by the crowd.

I struggle past unfamiliar people, all of whom have empty stares. They, too, are searching for a way out of this labyrinth. In a flash, one of the doors creaks open. I slip through it, then go up a narrow staircase that opens onto the roof, where I find myself clinging to the edge of a starless night, with no way to jump off. 

Behind me, more and more people climb the stairs. Together, they force me to lay on the cold cement floor, which gives me chills. Among the multitude of blank faces, I recognize Dr. Patel. He says, “After the surgery, several places need to be stitched.”

He turns me around, suspends me in the air from hooks on my skin, and scores my back in a crisscross pattern, using what feels like a needle. The pain is not what maddens me—rather, it’s being on public display, being exposed for everyone to see as he starts weaving a thread through me. 

All the while, he keeps telling everyone, “Healing takes time.”

“Healing takes time,” they echo. “Healing takes time.”

Coma Confidential

(Volume I of Ash Suspense Thrillers with a Dash of Romance)

Paperback ★ Hardcover

Ash finds herself in the ER diagnosed with coma. She has no memory of what has happened to her, but what she can do--despite what everyone around her might think--is listen to the conversations of her visitors. Will she survive the power outage in the hospital and then, being kidnapped out of it? 

"This fast-paced thriller has a huge surprise ending that I didn't see coming and it's absolutely priceless."  

~ Jan Romes, Author