Hunger
Weeks of unconsciousness gave way to a throbbing pain in my head. Floaters and shadows of light flickered as someone lifted my eyelids. A cold instrument moved up and down my chest in a circular motion. My legs felt too weak to move. The smell of fresh flowers mixed with the stench of urine filled the room. The IV drip provided nourishment to my undernourished eighty-pound body.
The ringing in my ears finally subsided. I was later able to open my eyes. To my surprise, I was in a private room. No one else was sleeping on either side.
Several doctors surrounded my comfortable hospital bed chatting about my chances for survival.
“Her vital signs are now stable and within the next twenty-four hours we should know more about her cognitive recovery.”
“She is a real fighter to survive a head injury of that magnitude,” expressed one doctor to another. The doctors did not speak to me directly. Sometimes the homeless are invisible to others. One of the nurses told me that I had lost a lot of blood from my head injury.
The last thing I remembered before I fell from the dumpster onto the concrete was the hunger pains that radiated throughout my body. I had lived on the streets for several years. The hospital social worker wanted to know how I became homeless after living a middle-class lifestyle. I told her, I had missed two paychecks.
She did not understand, but agreed to help me find housing.
I hope you enjoyed this 250-word short story that I penned using the word prompt for this week “hunger” created by @jayna listed here.
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Wow, really well done, @pyemoney! What an intense story line. It makes me wonder what does happen in circumstances like that. Who pays for care for those who have no means? I think it's really true that many people live that close to the edge between solvency and homelessness.
Your story got some well-deserved attention from @blocktrades. Nice!
Hi @jayna, thank you. I have been thinking about this ever since the government shut down a few weeks back and some members at my church were out of work.
Some of the U.S. statistics show that most people do not have a savings and are not able to go without a paycheck without losing their place of domicile or food to eat for a couple of weeks.
There are social agencies that can help but are overwhelmed by the staggering large number of people needing assistance.
Your story was recognized, up-voted and resteemed by @trueexpressions, the social expression crypto space for creative thinkers, writers, artists and musicians.
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