Limerence

12

A week later, Margo picked up Kiera from the hospital. Kiera had had numerous panic attacks in St. Mercer's throughout the week due to the flashes in her mind. They had become so frequent it was almost like a group of paparazzi flashing their cameras, blinding her. She simply wanted to return home so that she could look at the photos of Dr. Hendrix. He had left to go to another hospital, and nobody knew when he would be back, so there was no need to continue staying.
Kiera felt her heart race as she got into the car, and suddenly she was teleported back to a month prior, when the car had pulled out in front of her, crashing into her. The flashes were getting worse. Flash. The burning asphalt searing into the tender flesh of Kiera's back as she was pulled from the husk of her car. Flash. The scent of cedar wood as Dr. Hendrix pulled Kiera into his vehicle. Flash. The fluorescents burning the cones of her eyes, feeling like an ant under a hot magnifying glass. Flash. The squeaking wheels on the hospital bed, which had been what caused her breakdown the night prior. Flash. The feeling of the tender flesh on her left hand slowly being seared off under the intense heat of the electric stove.
Margo shook Kiera lightly, snapping her out of her headspace. Kiera had tears in her eyes, now pouring down her face. She couldn't help it, she was distraught. "Can we please just walk?" Kiera asked. Margo shook her head. "Kiera, we're 35 miles from your house. Just focus on the radio. Just think, you drove for five years and never had an accident." Margo said.
Kiera felt annoyed at Margo telling her not to worry, as if she was the one who had been in a car accident. She was lucky to have survived, but that one little girl and the mother weren't so lucky.
Margo turned on the radio, and Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics came on. Kiera loved this song, and she turned the knob up to drown out her thoughts.

Kiera had survived the car trip home, even though her legs felt like jello and her heart was running a marathon. She shakily stepped out of the car and walked up the sidewalk to her front door, keys in her right hand.
Kiera couldn't wait to crawl back into her bed and light her cedar wood candles. She would have to go back to school at some point, but she had shoved that to the back of her mind. She hadn't been in roughly a week, and that was just fine by her.
As Kiera stepped in the front door, she sighed as the aroma of cedar wood wafted into her nostrils. Even though they hadn't been burned in a day, they had been burned so frequently that it was like the house was naturally scented with cedar wood.
The first thing Kiera did when she got into the house, she grabbed a lighter from a drawer in the kitchen and lit the charcoal black wicks. Margo noted how used up the candle had become with concern. "Do you burn these all the time?" Margo asked. Kiera nodded. "They smell just like Dr. Hendrix. They remind me of him saving my life." Kiera said. Margo felt her stomach drop. Kiera was developing an obsession with Dr. Hendrix, one that clearly wasn't healthy.
That was when it clicked in Margo's mind. Kiera was very careful when cooking, and she even took precautions to prevent injury, such as wearing oven mitts to prevent burning herself. So how could she have developed such severe burns? It would be different if it had only been a split second, but the burns on her hands were indicative of having been burned for an extended period of time.
That was just it. There was no accident about it. Kiera had put her hand on the electric stove so that she could be escorted to St. Mercer's, where Dr. Hendrix would save her life yet again. Plus, third degree burns would require you to stay in the hospital for an extended period of time.
"Hey Kiera, do you think you're starting to become a little too involved with Dr. Hendrix?" Margo asked. Kiera snapped her head around and glared at Margo. "No. No I don't." Kiera said snappily. Margo held her hands up in surrender. "I'm just asking because you've changed." Margo said.
Margo didn't recognize her best friend anymore. She was turning into somebody that Margo didn't like. That carefree, bubbly friend that Margo had met in sixth grade was gone, now being replaced with a bitchy recluse of a friend, who was obsessed with the doctor who had saved her life.
Margo left without another word and headed home. She couldn't be around Kiera when she was like this, and she needed to find a way to help her.