After experiencing a life-altering tragedy, Emersyn feels as if her world has collapsed. Attempting to accept her new reality, Emersyn wonders how she can possibly keep going when it feels like her life ended months ago. Until she meets Haven, and s...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I am in a frenzied daze as I burst through the hospital doors.
My head whirls the second I step foot into the waiting room. The noise of patients and guests chattering and the awfully bright fluorescent lighting both immediately assault my senses, only further increasing my panic. I have to blink rapidly and clutch my head to make sure that this is real and happening in the present–worried that I may have somehow stepped into the past.
Time does not move as if I am living through the present. Everything around me seems to move too slow as I look around the waiting area haphazardly for Haven's mother. Then time is spinning too fast as I comprehend the commotion going on around me. A woman coughs in a chair to my left. A man is quickly wheeled past on a stretcher by a handful of nurses shouting words I can't seem to make sense of. It is too loud as I turn around and try to focus on finding a way to Haven and too silent as I fall still, feeling out of control of myself. Nothing about this moment feels real.
This can't be real.
My mother rests a hand on my shoulder once she catches up to me. I meet her gaze. I can breathe again.
She nods. Her eyes are full of all sorts of understanding. They ache for Haven. They are full of pain as she looks around, her expression seeming to suggest she feels as though she has traveled back to the past as well. I wonder if she is merely remembering Dad, or if a part of her soul is searching for him in this place that looks all too similar to where he was lost.
The sight of a blonde woman walking briskly in my direction catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. I whirl on my heels, facing her and taking in her grim expression. Mrs. Hartley is pale and painted red around her solemn eyes, traces of tears still evident on her swollen features as she approaches.
I know I shouldn't bother her with all of my fears, but I can't seem to stop myself. I hound her the instant she is standing before me.
"Where is she?" I do not hesitate to question, walking away from my mother as I approach Haven's. "Is she still here? Are we too late? I need to see her. I–"
"They just gave her anesthesia," Mrs. Hartley informs me. Her voice wavers as she speaks, as if merely forming a sentence is taking all of her strength away. "She's about to be taken into surgery. I don't know if she's still–"
"I need to see her." I sound frantic and scared and insane. Which is fair, considering I feel all of the above. How could I not? "Please, Mrs. Hartley. Please. I need to see her. I need to–"
Mrs. Hartley nods. She looks worn and exhausted. I'm unsure if she complies with my request because she understands my panic or if she merely wants to shut me up for a moment. Either way, I calm down slightly as she guides my mother and I down the hallway and turns to round a corridor.
Time shifts pace again as I move. Too fast then too slow then somewhere in between. My heart beats so hard I can hear it throbbing in my ears, paired with the blood rushing through my head. I can hardly maintain a train of thought as I anticipate being by Haven's side once more. I can only hope that this will not be the last time I will be next to her. I hold onto that hope like a vise, squeezing it in my palm so tightly I am almost worried I may crush it.
