Realm of Renee

Chapter 2

19th May 2019

RENEE

Do you know the moment when your entire life flashes before your eyes a few moments before you die?

Well, that didn't happen to me.

Because when I woke up, I saw that I was completely unharmed, except for the slight headache I had. The best part was, I had escaped without getting any cuts or bruises.

It was too good to be true.

Truffles was back on the ground now, watching me with uncertainty.
I grinned at her, pointing to myself, "See girl, I'm alright. And you seem to be okay too."

Truffles moaned as though she was frightened by me. I tried to pet her furry head when the weirdest thing happened.

My hand passed right through her.

What in freaking hell?!

Immediately, I got up, giving my body a closer look. I wasn't injured alright, but there was something highly strange about me too.

For one thing, I had no shadow.

Though I felt solid, human, I wasn't quite one. Something was missing, and when I look across the road, I realised why.

My real body was lying on the ground, drenched in a pool of blood. My face was injured, and so was my right leg, with bits of glass sticking through. I looked unconscious yet peaceful like I'd died.

Died???

DIED?!!!

Nausea washed over me as I stared at my body in disbelief, trying to swallow the bile that had raced up my throat.

This couldn't be happening...

I took in slow, deep breaths, as I hugged myself, ignoring my sweaty hands and shaky knees.

"Okay... Don't panic... Once you go back into your body, everything will be alright." I repeated to myself, not really believing it, but at least I had to try.

One... Two... Three

I fell on my human body, hoping to be absorbed into it, to integrate it back into my human mind. I aligned myself to the exact position my body was in, my leg at a weird angle, my face against the ground, my right hand underneath my stomach.

I waited with bated breath, for some sort of magic to happen, something to adhere me to my body.
Anything that would make me alive again.

Nothing happened.

I heard the wailing of the ambulance, and the paramedics had arrived, hopping out of it. They placed me on a stretcher, complaining that I'd lost a lot of blood and that my pulse was weak.

I smiled in relief; I was still alive, but barely.

I followed them into the ambulance, watching my human body wistfully, as we left for the hospital. I looked terribly pale, my skin a ghastly white like I was straight out of my grave.

Then I sighed, tired of my stupid thoughts constantly comparing my body to a zombie.
Why couldn't I be hopeful for once?

We reached the hospital, and they pushed the stretcher at full speed, zooming to the ICU. I was immediately transferred onto an operation table and hooked to the heart monitor. The nurses prepared me for the surgery, injecting more fluids into me, as the surgeon entered, analysing me as I did to my math problems.

By the look on the surgeon's face, I realised that the situation was grave because he gave additional instructions, gesturing wildly to my heart rate, which I noticed had slowed down considerably.