tick. tick. tick.

The assistant doctor listened to the intrusive ticking of the clock while taking a few deep breaths before he knocked on the door in front of him twice. „Yes?" answered a busy voice which belonged to a person who obviously doesn't tolerate a waste of time on unnecessary things, let alone an anxious assistant doctor. Slowly he stepped inside, meeting the impatient eyes of Mark Watney, the chief of neurology. „This better be important." said he with an irritated look on his face. „Well uhm.., The EEG showed an increased brain function of patient 143." „Are you sure? Have you double checked the results?" „We confirmed the results several times." „Then why are you telling me this only now?" The chief jumped of his chair and followed the assistant doctor to the patient's room.

                                                                              ~~~

It was a quiet summer day at the hospital on the first of October in 1936. The heat wave, which not only brought record temperatures into the country but also a wave of patients due to dehydration or heatstroke, faded and cooler weather announced the beginning of autumn. „So are you particularly interested in any department already, Dr. Watney?" said the nurse to the energetic assistant doctor, who she found liking on. „It's hard to decide but I think I would prefer Cardiology most." The nurse just nodded, sinking in her thoughts. She loved watching the physicians during their work while dreaming that one day, woman would be able to do the same. She was fascinated about medicine ever since she was a child, studying every medicine book she got her hands on.

But whenever she told someone about her dream of becoming a surgeon, all she got was laughter or condescending and mocking glances. She eventually got used to it and decided to become a nurse instead. And yet her dream never left her heart and during some sleepless nights she imagined how her life would be, if things were different. She was violently pulled out of her daydream when an ambulance arrived, carrying a man and a young girl. The steering of the car malfunctioned and it crashed into a tree. The man, who turned out to be the girls father, did not survive the night. The girl suffered from an brain injury, which built up an intense pressure on the Brainstem. The brain activity was almost zero and the girl fell into a coma.

In the first year everyone at the hospital was still ful of hope that she would eventually wake up. They checked on her everyday and even talked to her, hoping she might understand it. This incident shocked everyone. Dr. Watney passed the room of the girl everyday, praying shed wake up. From then on he turned to neurology, hoping to find a way to help her one day. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years. After the first year passed, the visits of doctors and nurses became less frequent. Year for year the condition of the girl stayed the same, familiar faces were replaced by new ones, the paint on the walls started to crack. The interested question about the girl's condition fell silent.

And even though no one dared to say it out loud, the girl turned into patient 134, who was nothing more than a waste of a precious bed, where someone else could have lied in.Slowly, year after year passed with a childhood this girl never got to have. Until now at least.

                                                                                ~~~

Dr. Watney stormed into the room, and let his eyes wander to the bed of patient 143. The girl was already awake, looking around the room in confusion. Dr. Watney couldn't believe it. Was this a dream? A figment of his imagination? It was the 21th June 1946, almost ten years since the ambulance with the father and his daughter arrived at the hospital. Instantly he commenced with the tests, to find out if her brain suffered from any permanent damage. After an hour Dr.

Watney was back in his office, trying to find out what led to the sudden awakening while controlling his excitement. What was even a bigger wonder is that the girl suffered no permanent damage, even though she didn't seem to be fully aware of her surroundings.

And yet something was bothering him.

It might be just the confusion after waking up from a ten year long com... But as he told her what year they have, she looked at him with a puzzled expression before answering:

„What are you talking about? It's 1705."