Chapter 1

The hospital Kevin woke up in was nothing like any he had ever been seen. First off, and perhaps most importantly, was the lack of any computers or technological equipment save for a small black device that had been attached to his upper left arm. He found himself in a small square room, barely bigger then an office cubicle. His bed was much like those in the hospitals he was familiar with except for the fact that it seemed to be much more comfortable. The mattress almost felt made for his body. He felt more comfortable in this bed than his own bed at home. He observed that it didn't make a sound when he rocked and never swayed at all. Aside from the bed the only other thing in the room was a small cabinet across from his bed made out of a stainless steel-like material. In fact, now that Kevin looked around he observed that much of the room including his bed and the floor was made of the same steel. The floor, however, was gunmetal gray while everything else had a dulled silver look. He laughed to himself as he observed that the room reminded him more of an asylum than a hospital.

Kevin knew he shouldn't be in an asylum. A car accident didn't cause that bad of brain damage did it? No, he was thinking perfectly clearly at the moment, which meant he wasn't insane. So this must be a hospital, he thought. However, that didn't stop him from being cautious about the place.

Kevin tried to remember how he had gotten here but when he tried he found that all he remembered was something about a car accident. As he focused on the thoughts they became clear and he started to piece together different thoughts. Apparently he had been in a car accident involving a drunk driver. The images he could see in his head showed a pickup truck barreling down on him, swerving to back and forth, as he pulled out into the intersection. The wet pavement reflected his green light in the winter night. Kevin would have liked to say quick thinking had saved him, however, it was more a matter of shocked reflexes that caused him to floor the doomed car. The truck had struck the back end causing it to spin, which, in turn, had caused Kevin's head to hit the driver side window. The feel of blood running down his face and the vision of a bearded man staggering from the truck were the last things he could remember.

It had only taken Kevin several seconds to observe his surroundings and to diagnose his condition and it took those several seconds for his body to begin to wake up. It was as if his body had been shut down (he was to learn later that this was true), and was booting up. Pain shot through every part of his body and his muscles twitched, sending his body several inches off the bed before cramping painfully in their strained position. His toes curled back and his arms flung wide. His neck bulged and he opened his mouth, gasping for air and letting out a scream of pain. The scream must have alerted someone for within seconds several orderlies had rushed into the room and were attempting to subdue his body. Kevin was in a world of pain. His vision was black, only punctuated by red splotches. In his mind Kevin could see his body and every point where pain was radiating from. Through the haze of pain he attempted to concentrate on those points, on instinct and probably with a little help from god, he pushed a thought of relaxation into those places. His thought fought with the strain the muscles were experiencing but after what seemed like an eternity of struggle but in reality was only a tenth of a second, his thought prevailed and his arms and legs stopped their erratic movement.

As his vision cleared, he was able to see the group of people that had gathered around his bed. He could make out two orderlies, a doctor, and two nurses. His gaze roamed across their faces until he finally settled on that of the doctors. He could see concern etched in each person's face.