Life Saver.

Third Chapter - You cant hide forever.

"Ah, well it was nice catching up with you, Salem." Kayden said, and hugged me.
"See you soon!" Nathan added, and hugged me right after.
"See you!" I smiled at the the two of them.
Right after they left, my grandmother came up
to me.

"How's your anxiety doing, Salem?"
"Oh, um..."

I always felt uncomfortable when someone asked me about this. It didn't feel right to openly talk about my anxiety.

"It's fine, nothing to worry about." I told her.
"Good! Good, thats good." My grandma said, smiling.
"What did you choose to eat, sweetie?"
"Steak. What about you?"
"I chose chicken! I love my chicken."

I smiled, and sat down at my table right next to my mom.
Most of the night was a blur to me, but one part I can remember very clearly. My mom calls it The Accident.

"Jacqueline!! I missed you so much." Laura told my mom.
"Laura! It's so nice to see you again! Congratulations, by the way." she told her.
"Yeah thanks! I'm sad Ryan couldn't make it."
"Work is very important to him! I tried to pursue him into coming here, but he told me he couldn't."
"That's too bad, he's going to miss out on cake!" She laughed.
"Oh boy, I'll have to save him some cake." My mom said, smiling.
"Are you going to come to poker after the party?" Laura asked.
"Haha, I can't!! I wouldn't miss it for the world, but Salem has school tomorrow and I don't want her to be late."
"A shame, really. You're so good at it!" Laura compliments my mom.

Before I can get bored of their conversation, the waiters come out with our food.
It's spread out evenly between everyone sitting at the table, and they all dig in.

except me.

"Honey, eat some food please." my mom tells me.
"Mhm."
I take a sliver of my steak, and shove it in my mouth.
"Thank you, Salem."
"Mhm."
I take a sip of water, and get up to go the bathroom.
"Eat some more steak please." My mom tells me.
I shove as much as I can fit into my mouth, and pretend to swallow it.
"Can I go now?"
"Yes. Thank you."

I go to the bathroom and spit out all of my steak that was sitting in my mouth.
It lays in the toilet before I flush it down.
I watched it flush in relief. I didn't regret anything.
Then, I hear someone's high heels walk into the bathroom.
I stay silent.
"Ugh. That steak was so good!"
The voice sounds incredibly familiar to me, but I can't say who it is.
I crawl onto the toilet seat, avoiding all contact I can have with this lady who walked in.

I slip.
No... No! This isn't good- She's going to find me-!

"Hello? Is anyone in here?" She asks, surprisingly quickly.
Again, I have no desire to make noise.
She coughs, and walks into the next stall over.
I sigh silently.

I wasn't caught! Yes!!
I open the stall very quickly, and it makes no noise. Thank god.
Before I can leave, I hear my mother walk into the bathroom as well.

Uh oh! You should probably hide.
Yeah, obviously.
Watch out. She's watching you.
No she isn't?
Yes. Look to the left.
No.
Yes.
No!
DO IT.
I gasp for air, and realize I'm outside of the bathroom, standing at the doorway to the dining room.

"Wait, what?" I wonder to myself out loud.
"Salem! Why did you take so long in the bathroom? Dessert is already here!"
"Um... Cramps?" I say, staring at my moms face.
Well, she didn't have a face at all. Which totally creeped me out, but I assumed it was just another symptom of my "anxiety attack", even though it was quite small.
"Salem. Can you hear me??"
I was now in the car.
"What the hell is happening?!"
"Salem? Are you okay? Talk to me, sweetie."
I looked at my mom, who then had her eyes stabbed out.
"MOM!"
Then, my vision faded, and I couldn't hear anything for a while.

I gasped for more air, and came to realize that it was Monday, and it was 4:27 in the morning.
I also came to realize, that I wasn't in my own room, I was in a rock hard bed.
I breathed silently.

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

Wait...

I listen closer.

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

I can hear a heart monitor-!
I look over to my right, and see my mother sleeping in a chair, holding a used, wet tissue in her hand.
"M..." I try to talk, but my throat is sore and dry.
"Mo...?" I try and make out the word "'Mom?'" but I just can't.

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

SHUT UP!
My stomach growls loudly.

You're hungry.
Pretty sure I pieced that one together.
Did you, really?
Yeah.
No shit, sherlock. You need to get out of here.
No shit, sherlock! God, take your own advice.
Whatever. Go get a nurse or something.
I can't just get up , you know.
Yes! I know! Use the button to call the nurse.
What, are you a instruction manual or something?
Maybe I am. Just do it!!

I sigh, and press the red button on the wall.
It buzzes, and I wait for someone to enter.
Two minutes go by, and no one has came yet.

"Salem?"
It's my mom.
"M..."
"Oh, Salem!! Don't try to talk, please. You choked on a piece of steak, and had an anxiety attack right after."
"reall..."
"What did I just say!? Please stay silent. Your father is coming very soon." My mom squeezed my hand tightly.
"o-kay..."

Then, someone walked in.
"You buzzed?"
"I'm pretty sure she's thirsty, she woke up a couple of minutes ago I'm assuming." My mom told the nurse.

My sight grew fuzzy once again, and I drifted off to sleep.