Aarmau: Remember Me, Remember Us, Just Remember

Chapter 5

Except for Lucinda and Kim who have been at a witchcraft convention since before Aphmau came home, they all take turns caring for and talking to her over the next week. For reasons he doesn't understand Aaron can't bring himself to leave her for more than a few minutes at a time. Based on what he's been told it's only natural he'd have this protective instinct toward her but only if he remembered her right? And he doesn't.

Every night he comes down to sit with her and every night he listens to her whimper and notices her crying in her forced sleep. Each time he calmly talks to her, letting her know he's there and for the most part it works and she settles back down. Is she dreaming?

Aaron also can't help but notice that each dose of the drug they give her to keep her asleep is administered closer and closer together. On the sixth day as they were all preparing for dinner, Aaron can't help but feel as if she's on the verge of waking up. Almost as if reading his mind, the front door opens and a new nurse walks in followed by both Lucinda and Kim.

Lucinda and Kim both breeze into the room and he watches as Kim's head snaps in Aphmau's direction. Her eyes widen not just from the sight of her but something else he can't put his finger on.

The nurse walks over to her bed and quickly administers another dose of the drug. She wasn't due for another 3 hours so what is he doing? Aaron instinctively growls at the nurse and pushes him away, "Hey! Why'd you do that?! She's not due for another few hours."

The nurse looks at him and frowns, "It's for her well-being. We don't want her waking up too soon."

Kim is still focused on Aphmau's face and becoming agitated as she stands there while everyone else; Melissa, Lucinda, Katelyn, Garroth and Zane turn their attention to Aaron. Melissa moves to Aphmau's other side, "Aaron, what's wrong?"

Aaron's ears twitch and he looks at her, "That stuff they keep giving her, the doses are getting closer and closer together. She wasn't due for another couple of hours and I got the feeling she was starting to wake up. I don't understand why she needs to be kept asleep. She cries every night. If I was her and I was having a bad dream, I wouldn't want to be forced to stay asleep. There's no escape. They say it's so she's not stressed during her transition but it's been a week and bad dreams would stress anyone out."

Melissa turns to study Aphmau's now emotionless face. She thought she had started to see some kind of movement too but it's gone now with the new dose of medicine. As the silence stretches Melissa decides to go with her instincts just like Aaron.

As Melissa opens her mouth Emmalyn's voice takes over, cuts her off and yells at them, "Can you all seriously not hear her?!"

Melissa looks quickly at Aphmau and then back to Emmalyn, "What do you mean Emmalyn? Hear who?"

Emmalyn is clearly upset and Kim's body begins to shake as tears fill her eyes, "Aphmau, she's screaming! She's screaming for help! Over and over and over again! Why aren't we helping her?! She's in the dark and no one is helping her!"

The tension in the room is so thick it makes it hard to breath. Lucinda moves to Aphmau's side to study her and then whips her head toward the nurse just as the front door opens again. "What did you do to her?"