I stood there, under the bright glow of heat.  A stage light, or at least that’s how it felt.  Sweat dripping from my temple and splattering onto the beaten floor.  My pores oozing tears of nervousness.  I hold my breath and try again to recollect the shattered picture of what I was supposed to do, but with my mind still in search I looked down at the clean scalpel in my hand with disappointment.

     I couldn’t concentrate, so many little things, taking my focus off what was important here and now.  The sink dripped monotonously, repeating a rhythm that beat itself into my head until it left my cranium throbbing.  So small; it was such a product of insignificance, but I knew I could never function unless the nuisance had ceased.

      The clock, ticking in perfect time with the water, how evil it all was.  The syncopation mocked me as I felt pressure taking its wrath over me.  I knew there was only so much time before the anesthetics wore off, and I have finished nothing.  I am a failure.  I am failure.

     Suddenly from across the stretch of hallway, a screech, bloodcurdling and unearthly, reaches out and slaps my face, violently waking me up.  This is too much to handle.  I can’t go through with it.  I subconsciously melt down to my knees and try to deflect the noise by shielding my ears with my hands.

     I kneel, grimacing in pain, tense and unmoving.  My veins swell, tears stream down my face, and through my discombobulation, I come to a realization. An epiphany.  The hellish nightmare of which I am going through is simply the product of nothing else besides myself!

     Everything comes to an abrupt halt.  The noise, the strain, the distractions, just simply freeze within me.  The light shines upon me brighter now, but unlike when I was under pressure, this light does not beat upon me.  I bathe in the incandescence, as if from a distance.  I raise my head and see fro the first time, my patient.  But in a new light.  Just a muddled silhouette, gliding towards me, as if they contained some purposeful knowledge.

     I bow my head, still on my knees, in submission to the message.  A blurred image of an outstretched palm reaches to my head, and crests my temple. 

     The light burst brighter than any thousand supernovas witnessed by this Earth.  I am thrusted downwards.  All I see is white, the pale embraces my body.  I am engulfed in the noise of a void.

      I relax myself and find peace in the presence of this pure abyss.  As I lay, everything fades into colours, images dancing before me, blurs, shapes, and finally I become aware of my own existence, and where I am.

     I feel the cool breeze of the crisp white sheets and look down upon someone.  A human, mortal and flawed, writhing on the hard floor, covering his ears (a juvenile gesture).  I sigh a breath of relief, not sure of the reason behind my initial reaction.

     I turn my head to the side and see a green line cutting across a black space.  Over and over. Forever. I hear the repetitive beeping growing louder… and louder…