BLACK ROSES

Chapter 18; Nightmare

*Ellie's POV*

I was awoken by somebody coming into my room. When I opened my eyes, I saw Dr. Weekes flipping through papers attached to a clipboard.

When he turned and saw my eyes flutter open, he exclaimed, "Ah, you're up! We were wondering if you normally sleep this late."

"What time is it?"

"About two in the afternoon. Your friends were here, but you slept the entire time. That Andy was very worried about you. Almost got into a fist fight with one of the assistants when he wouldn't tell them when you'd wake up." I could feel my cheeks heat up.

"Sorry about that..."

"Oh, it's no trouble," Dr. Weekes reassured. "Can't say I wouldn't do the same if I were in his position." He took a seat and flipped to one page and read. "Well, according to the charts, your amnesia wasn't too bad. You should start remembering things pretty shortly."

I smiled widely, but it still felt wrong. I felt like my brain was just a barren wasteland, the only inhabitants being the people I just met and what they've told me. They seemed like such amazing friends, and I felt terrible.

What do the fans think?

Do you think you'll remember how to play the guitar or to sing?

"So, I'm guessing you don't remember anything, still, huh?" the doctor asked. He must have seen the smile slide off my face. I nodded solemnly, and he let out a small sigh. "That is perfectly fine, Miss Robin, these things take time. Let us know if you need anything." With that, he stood and left me alone with my few thoughts.

But soon, my eyelids grew heavy again, and I drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You'll never be the same."

"Even if you did remember, you'd just be something to pity."

"You'll never be Ellie again, the real Ellie."

Voices threw out insults at me in the dark. I tried to see who was saying these things, but it was too dark. I could feel wind rushing past me, like somebody running beside me. It was cold and dark, I couldn't see anything.

"How could you just leave the fans like that?"

"How could you just leave your friends like that?"

"How could you leave me?"

I could somehow see the shadow of somebody in the distance. As the person walked closer, I began to recognize the voice.

"N-No..." I muttered. "Please-"

"I wish you would have just stayed asleep in that coma."

"I wish you hadn't woken up."

"Everything would be less painful if you just weren't here."

The man emerged and I could make out his features. Pale, angular face. Long, black hair. Tall and thin. Sharp nose with a ring piercing. Plump lips with another piercing.

It was Andy.

"Dee, what are you-"

"Stop calling me that. Only Ell can call me that," Andy said. The closer he got, the more it seemed the angry fire in his eyes seemed to be actually burning me.

"I am Ell, I'm right here-"

"No, you're not the same. You'll never be the same."

"It's not my fault, I'm sorry!"

"Sorry isn't going to make things better. I don't care, you ruined everything."

He stood in front of me. There was nothing in his eyes, just a cold, blazing fire replacing his irises and pupils. He smiled, but it was harsh and cruel.

"Just stay asleep."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I jolted up, sweat drenching me and the sheets. I looked around; there was a small lamp turned on and a small space heater at the foot of my bed.

I was in the hospital.

I was safe.

"Ellie?"

I jumped again, and turned to see who had spoken.

Andy was looking up at me, worry etched across his features. I noticed he had a strong grip on my shaking hand, which slowly calmed down when I came to find that I was only dreaming.

"Are you okay?" he asked. His knee was bouncing up and down and he was chewing on his lip. When he came to visit, I noticed he did that a lot, so I assumed it was what he did when he nervous or anxious.

I tried to force a smile, swallow the lump in my throat and say that I was fine, but I broke and let out a small whimper. Andy almost instantly stood and picked me up into his arms and sat where I previously was as I exploded into tears.

"Tell me what happened. You had a bad dream, I can tell," he whispers.

"I...I...it was so dark and cold...and y-you said-d th-that I..." I started, but I kept hiccuping and sobbing with every break, it was difficult to get the sentence out.

"I was in your dream?" he asked quietly. I nodded, and when I looked back into his eyes, all I saw was the cold, dead fire that occupied them in the dream. I let the tears stream down my face as I buried into his chest.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I can't remember. It's all my fault. You said so yourself, I'm such a waste of time and effort and money, I just want to sleep forever, and-"

"Ellie, stop that right now. You're not a waste of time, or money, or effort. You're worth every penny that's being spent trying to make you better, every hour that you spend in this bed, and you're worth every single time you cross my mind."

I stopped crying and lifted my head from his shirt, ignoring the slight wet mark I left.

"What?" I ask, my voice breaking in the middle. His eyes were back to normal, back to the bright, crystalline blue.

"Ellie, I think about you all of the time. I'm so worried about you, all of us are. I have a better excuse, though, considering I'm your boyfriend." he says, making me smile a little.

"Some girlfriend I am," I mutter. "Can't even remember you asking me out. I don't blame me for saying yes, you're not that bad-looking." We both laugh, and I sniff and wipe under my eyes.

"Well, you're not too bad yourself," he says, a huge smile gracing his lips. I smiled back and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt his lips press against my forehead, and a warm feeling spread throughout my entire body.

"Thank you for being here," I whisper.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asks.

And as I drifted slowly back to sleep, with my head on his shoulder and his arm around me, I could hear him say something. I couldn't make out the exact words, but I smiled nonetheless.