By Joshua M. Smith

The hospital bed felt warm, but my nose was cold. Daddy left the window open to let some of the cool night air in. He sat next to me. We watched TV.

I wasn’t scared; it was all just a new experience for me, just another part of life.
The door opened. Two nurses walked in. I thought they were here to bring me something to eat; I was so hungry. Neither of them had a tray of food though.

Daddy leaned over me. “Uh-oh, here come the vampires,” he said. I didn’t know much about vampires. I looked at Daddy. He was smiling. The nurses weren’t.

It wasn’t until they were leaving that I really got scared. This wasn’t just something new; this was something painful. And no matter what, I was going to have to go through it. The hospital room was no longer a new world filled with possibilities. It was a prison. And tomorrow morning, they were going to torture me. The door closed. I started crying.

Daddy was still with me. He held my hand, and somehow I fell asleep.

In the morning, I was hungry. They wouldn’t let me eat. It was time for my torture to begin. Momma and Daddy told me that I’d get to eat ice cream and popsicles soon, as many as I wanted. It made me feel better.

I didn’t like being alone in that room with the people with the hidden faces. One of them was nice to me though. He said he’d help me go back to sleep. I hadn’t realized that the torture would really begin after I woke back up.

The first thing I did was throw up blood. I didn’t cry but Momma did. She didn’t think I saw her, but I did. The sun was bright. My hospital room looked so different now, so bright and white. There was a lot of blood, but the nurses cleaned it up. My throat hurt. I was hungry, but I didn’t want to eat.
Momma gave me two stuffed animals for being brave. One was a camel, and the other one was a frog. I loved them.

I got to ride in a wheel chair. It was like a roller coaster, but my throat still hurt.

At home, there were no popsicles; they hurt my throat, so we threw them away. My ice cream had crushed aspirin in it. It hurt to eat it, and it tasted bad.

Now I’m afraid of needles and hospitals. For twenty-five years the world was bright and new, full of wonderful experiences. Now, I’m back in prison. I’ll be here often. I have plenty more procedures to look forward to. I can’t hide anymore.

The vampires still come. I see them walk through the door. Here they come now.

But Daddy isn’t here to smile and hold my hand anymore.