Hunger in my Heart

Chapter 6

She had to hurry; she could sense that what she was looking for would slip away if she didn't hurry up. Forcing herself to run down the long, dark hallway even faster, she could feel the burn in her lungs and the strain in her legs. Just as she was getting to the end of the hall, she saw a flash of long, honey coloured hair as a woman turned the corner. She had to speed up, she didn't know why but she felt she had to catch her.

Sprinting to the end of the hall she rounded the corner and came to a sudden stop. There was no one there, nothing, just another endlessly long hallway. Gasping for breath, her heart pounding with exertion, she forced her aching body to run again. God, she was so tired. She really should spend more time at the gym she thought ruefully. The hallway was getting darker the longer she ran she could barely see three metres in front of herself now. She pushed her body harder, she just had to get to the end of this hall and she knew she would find what she was looking for. Suddenly the doors on either side of the hallway were flung open, she glanced into them as she ran by, but she couldn't see anything they were all like black holes, tempting her in, only to lead to nothing. She instinctively knew she had to stay the course, stay on this path, no deviations, no distractions or she would never find what she was searching for. Resolute, she continued on pushing her aching body to go faster.

Reaching the end, she paused again, gasping for breath. She could either go left or right, but she didn't know which way. On both sides of her, the hallways seemed to stretch on forever. Beginning to despair that she would never get to her destination, that she was hopelessly lost now, she looked frantically in both directions, searching for a clue that would lead her the right way. To her right, she heard a faint whisper, it was her name. Whipping her head in that direction she was suddenly blinded by a bright light, a door at the very end of the hall was opening and sunlight was streaming through and lighting her way. That way; she thought and started off toward the light. A silhouette of a women appeared in the doorway, but she was still too far away to see clearly. Panic welled up in her chest; the woman was reaching out to close the door. Faster, she thought. She knew she had to make it before the door closed or everything would be lost.

"Wait!" She called urgently, but the woman still continued to pull the door closed. She watched helplessly as the block of light slowly narrowed to just a sliver. "Wait! Don't leave us here! Don't leave us!" She cried out. Still meters away, she was abruptly thrust back into darkness as the door closed with a resounding click.

Cheryl came to a halt, despair folding over her like a blanket. She was out of breath, every single part of her body hurt and she knew with alarming clarity that she had just failed in her quest. She felt truly lost now. Hands on her knees and still gasping Cheryl idly observed the animal print stiletto heels she had on.

That's when she knew she was dreaming. There was no way she could run like that in those heels, Cheryl thought.

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Kimberley's head shot up from where it had come to rest against the chair when she heard Cheryl speak. Well, it was really more like mumbling, but she was clearly saying something and she also seemed to be agitated, moving restlessly beneath the blankets. Leaning forward anxiously, Kimberley gripped Cheryl's wrist a little tighter.

"Chez, it's okay. Try to relax." Kimberley soothed, trying to calm her down. Cheryl continued to mumble incoherently and shift restlessly. Kimberley, becoming concerned started to look around for the call button to get some medical staff in here.

Kimberley ran her other hand over Cheryl's forehead smoothing back her hair gently; all she could really make out were the words 'wait' and 'leave' while also watching a single tear leak out from beneath Cheryl's swollen eyelids and track down her cheek. Kimberley felt her heart clench at the sight.