Summer turns to winter

Jenny was one of the first to answer my 11 questions, among them the request for a writing-prompt.
A man wakes up to find summer has somehow turned to winter.

I fulfilled it (more or less) by writing a scene for my project "Neverlost & Everfound":

There had been pain and he remembered falling. Or perhaps it had been the other way around? Night or day - it was all the same to him. Most of the time, he was just trying to fight the pain and form a coherent thought.

'A hospital bed.' He could smell the the clinical cleanness of the place, hear beeping sounds of machines and blink up at the plain, white ceiling. Sometimes there were muffled voices and blurred faces. After a while, he could distinguish several different people and his vision became clearer, although he didn't care much who they were.

It seemed like an endless nightmare. Was this place real at all? He had been looking for Evelyn. Did he find her?

The beacon had called him, and he was eager to follow. He felt guilty, because he had been about to give up on her. But he had been more than ready to follow this lead, no matter how crazy that seemed. Not once did he regret that he didn't take anyone with him or ask for help, because they all didn't believe he would find her after all these years. Such supportive company just distracted him, and he needed all his concentration to listen to the call of the beacon - to see it with his inner eye, glimmering in the distance, promising hope.

Then there he was falling and lost the connection. Or perhaps he lost his way and he fell, due to stumbling around like a blind mad-man. Running in circles or lying at the bottom of a cliff - it was all the same to him. However, if he had a choice, he would much rather die outside in the summer-sun by the sea, than in a cold hospital that smelled of disinfectant.

In time, he needed less and less medication. His mind cleared and he did not only know what the driving force in his life had been for the last few years, but he also remembered his name and those of his most frequent visitors.

"The doctors say, you could go home in a few weeks, Nestor. You just have to finally start rehab and eat properly. Are you listening?"

"What would I want at home, Frank? I failed her. I can't find her."

The bigger man winced at the weak sound of his friends voice. In years, he was still young, but the loss of his fiancée and his futile, yearlong search for her had marked him, especially this recent episode. And it had almost cost his life.

"Pull yourself together! You were always the one to tell everyone that Evelyn is still alive. That she just is lost and needs to find her way home again. What if she returns and you are not here? Do you expect me to tell her that you have given up on her?"

A nurse opened the door without knocking. When she found Nestor lying in his bed, calm and dejected as usual, and his visitor smiling warmly at her, she left again.

"See - even the people on the corridor listen more to me than you do!" Frank kept his voice at a more moderate volume, which wasn't easy since it was loud and strong by nature, due to his big stature.

"I am listening to you." Nestor blinked at the window, as if he saw it for the first time. "Do you really think she will come home one day?"

"Of course! Although I really can't understand what she sees in you, I know she loves you more than anything and certainly more than you deserve." Frank gave his friend a clap on the shoulder, although he tried to keep his strength in check. The younger man's leg had been damaged so badly that he would never have its full use again, but he had suffered other injuries, like a concussion, too.

"How long have I been here?" There were some flowers and cards on his nightstand, but no paper or a calender. Until recently, Nestor hardly had reacted to anyone, and this was the first time he showed interest in life again.

"I'm afraid you'll need help with moving around when you leave this place. By then we'll be in the middle of winter and even nowadays there is some frost outside in the early hours. But don't worry, me and my boy will be there."

Nestor just nodded, his mind already wandering again. But this time, he did not give in to nightmares and wishful thinking. Instead, he wondered how he could waste months in such a daze. How was Evelyn to find him, if he had almost lost himself?