Richard Thompson awoke to the blinding rays of the sun streaming in through the blinds on the plate glass windows. It took him a moment to realize where he was, but as he shook the cobwebs free from his thoughts he saw that he was laying in a hospital bed. He looked down at his arms and noted that he was not hooked up to any of the machines. In fact, every piece of equipment in the room sat in silent vigil around him. He sat up quickly, his world growing a bit blurry around the edges as he did so, before he gripped the bed rails to steady himself. Once his senses seemed to equalize he reached down for the remote that lay beside him and pressed the call button for the nurse's desk. However, no light shone beneath the plastic covering, nor did any sound ring forth to draw the attention of a staff member.<br/><br/>Dropping the controller on the pressed linens he struggled for a moment to drop the rail on one side of the bed before finally getting it to slam down into place. His fingers were suddenly pinched between the metal bars and he swore loudly as he jerked them free. Cradling his injured hand to his chest he looked down and sighed in relief. The digits were reddened from the ordeal, but thankfully they didn't seem broken at all they just throbbed sorely as he flexed them. He looked up to the door and waited for some nurse or doctor or even a fucking orderly to come and see what had happened, but no one came. That was when he noticed it...the silence.<br/><br/>Usually a hospital would be humming constantly with activity, even ambient beeps and dings from thousands of machines operating all at once to monitor the health of the patients. However there was none of that evident at all. It was as if the entire floor he was on had been deserted. Certainly he wouldn't have been forgotten if there had been some manner of mass evacuation would he? No, of course not, his wife wouldn't have let something like that happen. The passing thought of his beloved struck him like an electric jolt that ran through his entire body. Jessica, where was she during all of this? If they had children he would have understood her absence, but this was the woman that sat in the waiting room through a simple check-up. Surely she would have been here when they evacuated and there was no way in hell she would have let him be left behind.<br/><br/>He swung his legs off the bed and prepared for the cold feel of the floor against his feet when the sound of his shoes contacting the tile alerted him to the newest oddity of his situation. He had been so confused about where he was and the lack of any other person that he hadn't even noticed that he was fully clothed. He was wearing his favorite button down blue shirt and denim jeans with his white Reebok sneakers. Even his wedding ring was still on his hand, which struck him as strange considering one of the first things they did was strip a patient of their jewelry. Taking great care in standing he made his way to the door on unsteady legs.<br/><br/>It was just as he had thought, in each direction he looked there wasn't a soul to be seen. The entire floor was silent save for his clumsy footfalls. He had no clue what to do in such a situation, but something nagged at the back of his mind,<i>Jessica</i>. So, holding onto the wall for security he began to call out through the muted hallways, "Jessi! Jessi where are you?!"