I've been in the hospital for 8 months and haven't left once. I'm starting to worry about my boyfriend.

I'll be the first to admit, I am extremely lazy. I hate to do anything that requires me to stand up and move more than an arm's length. My life is filled with video games and television. If I can get something delivered to me, I'll buy it in an instant. <br><br>That's what made my sudden hospital stay so out of the left field for me. I don't remember much about the time between when I got stomach cramps and woke up in the hospital. All I know is I was rushed to the emergency department after passing out at my apartment. <br><br>When I came to, my mom was sitting beside my bed, clutching a stack of hospital papers and looking as white as the sheets she sat on. <br><br>"Mom?" I said, trying to speak softly. My throat was dry as the Sahara desert, and it hurt to talk. <br><br>"Thank god you're awake!" she said. "Your father and I were frantic." She held up a hand and continued on. "Don't try talking right now. The doctor says you can talk, but you have to save your voice for now. You've been on a breathing tube for a while."<br><br>I nodded, trying to process everything. She pulled the chair a bit closer and continued. "You've been here for a while, sweetie. You were in a pretty bad car crash. The doctors say it's a miracle you survived." <br><br>My jaw dropped. What car crash? I hadn't gotten in a car crash. I couldn't drive. I was terrified of getting behind the wheel of a car, much less driving in traffic. That's why I always ordered delivery. <br><br>"What do you mean?" I asked. "I wasn't in a car crash."<br><br>"What?" she asked, looking at me like I was crazy. "Sweetie, your car was wrecked. You've been in the hospital for a month."<br><br>I must have looked at her like I was crazy, because she went on. "You've had a lot of work to do to recover, and it's all gone really well so far. Your father and I have been spending every spare second we have down here to help you. You've got some broken ribs and bruising, but that's nothing for what you've gone through. You've got a few more surgeries to get through, but the doctors say it'll all be over in a month or two. Your father has been putting in overtime to make sure you've got money coming in and your apartment has been getting the evaporative cooler the landlord put in. You won't have to leave the hospital to get hot in the middle of the night anymore." <br><br>I glared at her, my eyes burning. She thought I was that lazy? I had bought an air conditioner for my apartment, not an evaporative cooler. <br><br>"Okay," I said, deciding that arguing wasn't worth the breath. I was hurting. <br><br>"What?" She asked, looking at me like I was speaking in Russian. <br><br>"Okay. What happened?" I asked. <br><br>She sighed. "Well, you were driving back home from your boyfriend's house and hit a patch of gravel in the road. You lost control of the car, and it flipped three times before you finally came to a stop." <br><br>I gritted my teeth, wincing. I didn't have a boyfriend. I was too lazy and socially awkward to date, and I definitely didn't drive to anyone's house. Why would she lie like that? <br><br>"Why can't I remember any of it?" I asked her. <br><br>"Well, you've had some serious head injuries, and the doctor says you're lucky to be alive," she said. <br><br>"I know I wouldn't have made it through life if I kept driving," I said. <br><br>She smiled at me, and I could tell she was ready for my training wheels. <br><br>"I know it will take time to get used to, but you'll do just fine. You're strong, and your father and I are here to support you the whole way." <br><br>I glared at her, trying not to yell. "Why can't I remember anything about the accident?" <br><br>She leaned in close and put her hand on my shoulder. "We don't know for sure if you can remember or not, sweetie. You've been on a lot of medications to help you cope with the pain and to help you sleep. It might not feel like it right now, but you've been asleep for a long time. Your memory might just need time to heal." <br><br>I nodded. I knew it sounded silly, but my mom is one of those parents who never let's you forget you're a child. I'm thirty four years old, but she still talks to me like I'm twelve and in the sixth grade. I liked it that way when I was younger. Now I just tolerated it. She'd never let me grow up, and I was happy with that, so I just nodded my head instead of arguing with her about it. <br><br>The next few weeks passed slowly, and I had to do a lot of physical therapy to learn how to walk again. My legs were stiff and sore, and it hurt my back to move around, but the doctors said it was normal and I had to push through the pain to heal. They also told me that the bruising and bruised ribs would go away on its own eventually. <br><br>I missed my old life, though. I missed sleeping in my bed and sitting on the couch. I missed being able to lay down in my apartment without having to worry about rolling onto my side. I even missed taking a shower. It had been weeks since I'd been able to do anything like that, and I missed being clean. <br><br>One day, when I had finally progressed enough to sit up without throwing up, my mom handed me my iPad. "Look at this," she said. "It's from your boyfriend." <br><br>I looked at the iPad. It was a text message. The message said "Hey! How's it going? I miss you and can't wait to see you!" It had a selfie of a handsome young man with messy blond hair and blue eyes attached. <br><br>"I...I don't have a boyfriend," I said, looking at the message. My mom's face turned white and she looked like she was about to pass out. <br><br>"What?" she asked. "Of course you do! That's Alex!" She waved her hand at the iPad. "Didn't you forget already?" <br><br>I looked back at the message. It said "Hey! How's it going? I miss you and can't wait to see you!" I looked at the selfie again, then back at the message. I missed you and can't wait to see you? That didn't sound like a boyfriend would say to someone who was in the hospital. That sounded like a message a friend would send to someone. <br><br>"Who is Alex?" I asked. "And how do I know him?" I looked at the message again, trying to figure out who Alex could be. Then it hit me. This was how my mom got around to all my responsibilities and chores for me. She must have been doing it for weeks. <br><br>"Why did you lie to me?" I asked her, looking up at her. "I don't want to hear it. I want to know why you lied to me." <br><br>She looked at me like she was going to cry, so I knew I was right. She lied to me because I was too lazy to do anything on my own. <br><br>"I'm sorry," she said, wiping her eye. "It had to be done." <br><br>"Who is Alex?" I asked again. <br><br>She looked down at her hands. "He's your boyfriend. His full name is Alexander. He's your fiance." <br><br>I looked back at the message. That was why it sounded so different than any message I would have gotten from a friend. It sounded romantic. <br><br>"Why did you lie to me again?" I asked her. "Why did you lie to me this time?" I was so frustrated with her at that point. She'd lied to me for so long, it didn't even register anymore. I had gotten used to it. <br><br>She sighed. "I'm sorry. I'll tell you everything, I promise." <br><br>"Good," I said. I was so tired and hurt from everything, but I wanted answers. <br><br>The next few weeks were the worst of my life. I had to sit through hours of conversations between my mom and Alex. She explained that she had met him in high school and thought it was a miracle she'd been able to "hook up" with someone as good looking as he was. She'd been surprised that he liked her, since she was chubby back then. But he said he liked her personality more than her looks and he was willing to wait for her to lose weight. When we got together, she thought it would be best if she took over everything for me. She said it was no big deal, and I would never have to know. She'd planned on raising a big family with me, and she figured it would be better if I didn't know how much work it was to take care of someone. <br><br>I was so angry at her. I couldn't believe she had lied to me that much. She said she did it because she wanted the best for me, but I didn't believe her. If she wanted the best for me, she wouldn't have lied to me for so long. <br><br>When she finished talking, I asked to talk to Alex. She said she would go call him for me and left the room. I sat there, wondering what I was going to say. How do you talk to someone you've never met before? Do you tell them you've been lying to them their whole life?