Titanium Promises

Thirty-one

"Reid?" a distant voice calls out. "Reid, wake up."

A dull, aching pain gathers in my temples as I struggle to open my eyes. It feels like something is weighing down on them, protecting me from the outside. I somehow manage to pry them open, and they're immediately attacked by a bright light. I squint.

"There we are..." the voice says. It's unfamiliar.

I blink as the light is moved away to reveal the face of a man with honey skin and a thin beard as he moves away on a swivel chair. He tucks the flashlight away into one of the pockets on his white lab coat.

"I'm Doctor Tori," he says, his voice deep and anchoring. "Do you know where you are?"

I look around for a moment. "I..." I desperately try to remember, and I come out empty. But then why...

Why does this seem so familiar? I feel like I've been here before. In a dream. Or a nightmare.

My heart lurches. Luke's note.

My eyes widen and I jerk into an upright position.

"Hey, hey," Doctor Tori whispers, approaching me. He goes to place a hand on my shoulder, but I cringe away. He lowers his hand.

"It's okay," he says instead. "You're not in danger here."

"No, no..."

I've woken up before. I remember Luke's letter—the food. That can't have been a dream. Please, please don't tell me it was. His letter couldn't have been fake, it meant too much to me.

I can already feel his words fading.

It had to have been real. I feel my heart picking up speed as my throat begins to sting.

"Are you looking for this?" Doctor Tori suddenly says, moving his swivel chair away. He reveals the small bedside table behind him with a folded piece of paper resting on top. He reaches over and picks it up, handing it to me.

I release my breath as the panic begins to fade.

"Th-Thank you," I manage, my voice weak.

"Is this from the mystery boy?" he asks, his voice curious, not demanding. "Black hair? Intense disposition?"

"What happened?" I ask, my voice turning urgent. "To the boy?"

He seems taken aback by my sudden burst of energy, his eyes blinking rapidly.

"He arrived with you in the ambulance," he says. "I was told he held your hand the entire time. Do you remember that?"

I shake my head. I can't even remember being in an ambulance in the first place.

"According to the paramedics, you were slipping in and out of consciousness for a while. You even muttered a few things."

"What did I say?" I ask, clutching the note harder to my chest.

I thought that he would have been annoyed by all these questions, but he remains surprisingly compliant.

"I don't know any of the specifics," he says, looking to the floor as he thinks. "But I do know you kept saying that the boy shouldn't be there. The paramedics even considered asking him to leave as well."

The next breath comes out as a sob.

"Fuck..." I mutter, clutching my head as I lay back on the bed.

"He never left, Reid."

His serious tone catches me off-guard.

I look up and meet his brown eyes. "What?" My voice breaks.

He gives a small smile. "He never left," he repeats. "He even put up quite the fight when we told him that he wouldn't be allowed with you in your room when you first arrived."