Welcome to Nettlebed | Teen Ink

Welcome to Nettlebed

June 3, 2021
By EMMASAVOIE, Gilford, New Hampshire
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EMMASAVOIE, Gilford, New Hampshire
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Author's note:

This piece is something that I thought of and just wnated to write a story about it. 

I feel hazy but I can hear everything. I can't open my eyes or even move. I can hear footsteps approaching but I can't see them. I feel someone's presence. Where am I? Everything is black but I can seem to dream or see anything. I still can't move even though I want to. I can barely hear someone talking in the distance. Then everything went silent and was still black. 

I started hearing more and more. It seemed closer but not. Still can't move, nor see black. I felt someone breeze up against me. I tried to do something but my body wouldn't let me. 

I finally seem to open my eyes and I see myself lying on a bed surrounded by vidals. They are hooked up to me and I see these nurses running into the room with the machine beeping. 

“She's awake! She's awake!” One of the nurses said. Everyones yelling and scrambling around. I am even more confused that I have all these people looking in the room. “Hi hunny, my name is Abby I am one of the nurses. We are glad you are finally awake with us. I need to go get the doctor to talk to you. ” said Abby in a very slow voice to make sure I would understand and she seemed afraid like she shouldn't be talking to me. I didn't say anything still trying to process and I have no clue who I am. I look down to see my long curly brown hair. I can move my arm and legs. I try to move on  the edge of the bed to stand up but then the doctor and the nurse run in. The doctor runs in, “Hi I am Doctor Elfar and I am the doctor on the ICU floor. Are you understanding what I am saying,” said the doctor. I nodded my head and I am very annoyed that I have no clue where I am or even who I am. “Well, we seem to have no record to who you are. We don't know your name or even if you have parents. Do you remember anything?” the doctor said in a fast voice. “I have no clue where I am or even who I am. What is happening” I said very quietly. “There are no records of your existence, only that you were involved in a very serious car crash. Someone called 911 passing by and that is all we know that happened. Then rushed you to this hospital. You see all those scars on your legs that are from the accident. Your life is starting again” The doctor said with a weird smirk. The nurses still kept peeking in and out of my room. I didn't say anything for a while. I was in shock.

The doctor just waited for me to process while looking at me kind of strange. “So nobody knows who I am or who my family is? Or anything about me,” I said, kinda agitated since I just woke up and still very confused about what's going on. “Nobody recognizes you or there is no record of you when we took your fingerprints. This is unheard of, we are doing the best we can right now” said the doctor very calmly like he's dealt with this before. I still am trying to process this situation but I have nobody to talk to about it. “How long have I been here?” I said while trying to sit up but the doctor wouldn't let me. “Well your accident happened on May 25th” The doctor said he must have forgotten I don't know what year it is or even what day it is today. I could see on a board that it said May 30th. “What year did it happen? What year is it now?” I said I was very shy since I thought the doctors were playing with me. I think they know who I am but wanna see if i'll go crazy about not knowing who I am. “ Maam it’s year 1990 it happened just about 8 years ago. I never thought I would have to explain what is happening here” The doctor said while getting up from the chair as he was opening the door to leave. “I am going to get you a good meal to eat” The doctor said not knowing what to say to me and I want to get out of there.

I can't just sit here and not know who I am. I'm going to find a way out of here and see what is happening or if anything pieces together. I saw the doctor close the door and that was the time to go. I saw another gown on the floor so my whole back wouldn't be open. Not sure why it's open in the back. I struggled to put it on and opened the door slowly to see all the uses rushing around the floor. I was in room seventy seven called ICU which I have no clue what that means. Why is everyone wearing trash bags around their head but with normal clothes like they aren't doctors. I walk out and there are rooms along both sides of the walls. I look into one of the rooms with other people sleeping and the doctor has a fabric covering their faces. I walked up to this metal door thing with buttons beside it. I started walking away from it then heard a beep and the door opened. I was hesitant to go in but I did and pressed the button that said “B” I was the only one that was going down there with all the doctors in the elevator. I get off it to see all these beds with no people or in any rooms. It was very dark here and nobody was down here. 

I ended up getting back on the metal door thing. I just wanted to get the hell out of here and find my family or just what happened to me. I got back on the metal thing to go to floor “1”. I really hope I don't get caught but if I do I will never figure out how nobody knows who I am.

The doors open slowly as I look around I see one lady sitting at the desk. Then I see multiple doors circling each other. I get into one and make a run for it. I heard a siren go off and someone said “We have a missing patient! She is brunette and is about 5’5 and we do not know who she is! ”I never ran so fast in my life. I finally stop and I turn around to see a sign that says “Welcome to Nettlebed population of 5,893” I ran out of the town but I need to go back to find out what happened. I started to walk back into the town and I saw this store to go in. I started to read this newspaper that has the date that the doctor told me. Now I know that the doctor did not lie to me about the date but he could be lying about how long I was sleeping. I still don't know why I was sleeping for that long of a time after a car crash. First I need to find out what happened at the car accident but I can't ask too many people. They're looking for me. 

I need to find out where my car crash happened and my life before the accident. Where was I even going? I wish I could ask the doctors more questions to anyone but the people will know it's me missing. I have to sneak around the town to find clues to figure out what happened and where my family is. How does my family not miss me? Do they think I'm dead or I never existed? 

If someone called 911 for me it must be on a road where people pass and not in the middle of nowhere. They rushed me to the hospital so I must barely survive which means the hospital has to be close to where it happened. Maybe in the newspaper there will be more about me and the accident. 

I went back into the store to find another newspaper since the other one I threw away and maybe this one was different. I found a coffee machine and then made a coffee. I saw another newspaper then I grabbed it as soon as possible and ran out of the store to read it. Nothing on the first page but when I flipped the page I saw a title that said, The Girl Still Hasn't Woken up from her Coma and I read the page long article. There was very little information about me other than what I can. I have brown eyes, brown hair, white cacucasion and 5’5 but I already heard my height on the loud speaker when they realized I was gone. It says in the article “We have no legal documents of who she is and if you recognize her then come see the hospital.” Nobody must have known me. Maybe because I was visiting or passing by this town in the middle of nowhere to go somewhere. There has to be a missing person in another city but I would have had a record even if I wasn't missing. 

There just so much to consider and figure out why. I don't know where to start since the newspaper did nothing for me. I kept rereading it to make sure I didn't miss any information. Which I missed one important fact that would lead me to where the accident happened. It's on the road called “Smith Avenue”. I went back into the store to get some coffee and a map to figure out how to get to the road. The town is so small that my three fingers can fit the perimeter of the town on the map. I just have to pass the hospital which should be difficult but then just straight forward from there. I started walking but the sun was setting across the horizons if I looked to my left where a forest is. The sun went below the trees and made me not be able to see. I decided to find somewhere to hide and sleep for the night. I found a log and a bush that I could hide. I can get rest before my full day of my investigation to figure out what happened. It was hard to fall asleep since the temperature was dropping for the night. I climbed around the bush to use that as my blanket. It didn't help too much but then I finally fell asleep after tossing and turning.

The sun was rising and beaming in my face. Nobody was around me other than the birds chirping. When I woke up I got up right away and still had some of the coffee. It was time to go to the place where my accident occurred. I still need to pass the hospital and I bet there are guards everywhere looking for me.  My map was in my pocket and I started to take it out to make sure I didn't leave it behind. I double checked that I was going the right way and put it back in my pocket tightly to make sure it was there when I needed it next. I was approaching the hospital in the distance and it looked normal. Until I started to hear sirens saying “last see at the Nettlebed Gas Station” which I think I had to be the one I was in. I saw bushes lined up as a fence so I walked by the bushes. There were at least five guards at the front entrance. I was surprised that there are so many in this small town of barely five thousand people. People must have volunteered to help.  

I needed to throw my coffee out so I went to the back of the hospital where nobody was. I looked through the hole while throwing the coffee away. I saw this piece of paper saying the name of it. I could see it was ripped up and said something about a car accident. I picked up both of the pieces with stains of coffee everywhere. I couldn't read much but I got some pieces of information.  I put the two pieces together and all I could read was, “Jen patient here kept in coma for 8 years Dr. Elfar ” It was signed by the doctors. My doctor was Dr. Elfar. He seemed very strange and on edge. I was in a coma for 8 years so maybe this is a coincidence though. It looks like a note the doctor wrote about me or some random girl. There is something weird going on in this town. I need to figure it out. I have to go back to the hospital and find something weird going on. I don't understand why I was kept here and they don't know who I am. I've never heard of Nettlebed or seen it on a map.

As I'm walking into the hospital I keep my head down. I'm still confused as to why the nurses and doctors are dressed like normal townspeople. This hospital must not be real. They told me someone called 911 for me so maybe someone that works at the hospital took me and just said they called 911. They took me to keep me in a coma and they know who I am. I look up and see a lady at the front desk and walk to the left. I see a medal door thing again and I need to go back to the ICU floor to find something off about this hospital or what happened to me. 

I noticed the lady started walking near me and then I just got on the metal door. I heard the lady yelling “Hey! Hey!” I pressed “3” to hopefully find the same floor I was on but not be caught by the doctors. Once I got off the metal door thing I kept my head down when I passed people. Everything looks the same in this hospital. I am never going to find anything. These are just rooms with patients; they are all packed, even the one that I was in. The weird part is that this small town has a packed hospital with every room filled. I need to find evidence that there is something sketchy going on. 

I kept walking the halls to find something, literally anything to tell me this hospital is not what it seems to be. I walked the whole third floor and found  nothing, then I went back to the metal thingy and pressed “5.” I got off and there really are no rooms, just storage closets. I was going to go to a different floor but I saw something weird. I noticed a storage closet that had a lock on it and not just any lock but a one that only certain people can get in. It looked like it was unlocked and then I made my way in there. It was the size of half of the hospital floor. Filled with boxes with records that they said they “lost”. If that note was about me then my name is Jen. This may take a while to find myself since it's my last name. I finally found all the Jens or at least I thought so. I looked through all of them and the last one seemed similar but they told me I got in the accident in 1982 and this one says she only was in a coma for three years instead of eight like I did. I started looking for more and I found a few more I missed. This one was me. 

I found one that said “Jen Dalton” . My record said that I was in a car accident and that some nurse from the hospital got me to the hospital. All this time they lied to every patient that there were no records of them but they kept all of them in this storage closet where nobody can find them.  I heard someone opening the door, “Hello everyone in here”, “Why did nobody lock in when they left” said the random person under their breath. I heard him locking the door. I'm never going to get out of here. Anyways I kept reading my record to see what else they were hiding from me. It said that my parents came to see if I was here. I need to get out of here, take the file with me and find my family. 

Thankfully I could just unlock the door and look both ways. I booked it out of there and headed for the metal thing. I pressed the main floor and walked calmly out of the hospital. Nobody noticed who I was. I walked out the main doors and  just started walking. This is going to be a long road ahead of me but I just need to get a few towns over and then I can have someone help me. I can't say anything to the police too close to the town since the other towns might be in on the plan. 

It was nightfall and I decided to get some rest behind a bush like I did last time. I still couldn't believe that the hospital takes people to just forget who they are and keeps them there for who knows how long. I was thinking about what happened today and finally fell asleep. 

I woke up to the sun rising and birds chirping. I got up and started to walk to get on with the day.  I reached into my back pocket and realized I still have my map so I pulled it out. I looked at it and found Nettlebed and there are only a few towns near me until I get to the big city of New York City. I headed towards New York City where I know someone can help me.

I remember as a little kid that I went to New York with my parents. We saw the big city and wanted to come back. As a kid there were a lot of people and big buildings. I feel they can fall on us but they won't. I tried to picture what my parents looked like but their faces were just a blur. I finally hit another town which is getting me closer to New York City and finding my life again. Still all dirt roads and no pavement, I see nothing but trees and the dirt road I'm walking on. Since I've been here I haven't seen one car, house, or even person other than at the hospital. Everyone that works at the hospital where their houses are. The hospital is very sketchy and needs to be stopped. 

After walking for the whole day I decided to find another bush and crash there. I tried to remember anything else from my childhood or my parents but I couldn't. I fell asleep fast tonight. Again, I woke up from the sun rising and the birds chirping. I started walking and from a distance I could see the big city with all the buildings I visited. 

I remember that I was driving to New York City. It took me through Nettlebed to be off the highway for a little and my GPS took me that way. Is it possible for the hospital to hack my phone and go through their town to kidnap me. I was seeing all the pieces come together. The hospital is not a hospital but it's their home where they kidnap people and say it's a hospital. I finally made it to New York City and the rest is history on how I found you guys. 

See that's what I had to go through when I was just driving to New York City where I was going to New York University. If I didn't do any of that then today I would never get to see your guys again. I would never start my family. I bet you guys are wondering what happened to the “hospital” well it just got taken down and everyone is in jail. All the families have everyone back that survived.



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