There was no way that Sam was going to fall asleep.
At least, not yet.
The room she lay in was hot and stuffy, and the fluorescent lighting on the ceiling bored into her eyes like a thousand suns. The school nurse's face was just inches away from her own and, judging by that frown, things were not good.
"You need to go to hospital," said the nurse.
Sam nodded, her heart fluttering. She could hardly breathe. Whether it was nerves or part of the aftermath of her accident, she didn't know.
All she knew was that she wanted to get out of that room, and fast.
"I'm going to go to reception and ask them to call your mum," said the nurse. "Will she be at home?"
Sam shrugged. She didn't know if she even had a mum in this crazy dream world. If she did, would her mum be the same as she was in real life, or would she be a completely different person? Sam didn't know which was worse.
The thought made her blood run cold.
The nurse told her she'd be back in a few minutes and headed out, closing the door behind her.
As soon as she had gone, Sam propped herself up onto one elbow. Shaking, she slid off the bed and made her way across the room. The blood rushed from her head to her feet, making her dizzy.
As soon as she stepped into the corridor, she regretted it.
Voices bounced off the walls like beach balls, getting somehow louder and more hazy at the same time. Students whizzed through the corridor, some small and others tall, their green blazers merging into one huge splodge of colour.
I'm going to be sick, she thought as her surroundings began to fade to black.
She leant back, sliding down the wall.
Everything was still.
Serene, like water trickling down a brook on a summer's day.
"Sam!" came a voice, distant and melodic.
Before Sam fell, a hand reached out to grab her. It was cool and delicate, but there was strength in the grasp.
Sam's vision went in and out of focus, but she could just about make out a pair of sky blue eyes and a cascade of brown hair.
"Billie?" she said, unsure if the person was actually Billie.
She heard someone shout something about an ambulance. Then she felt something cold pressed to her face, making her shiver. By this point, her vision had completely gone and she was alone, or so she felt, grappling with an unknown force.
The force won.
Like a light switch, Sam's consciousness sparked out.
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Some time later, Sam woke up in hospital.
She immediately knew it was a hospital, because of the white light and the blue curtains surrounding her and the clean, sterile smell that cut through everything.
There was a throbbing pain in her arm and she looked down to see a drip hooked into her.
She felt sick. She had always hated needles.
The curtains opened and a young nurse poked his head through.
"You're awake," he said softly. "How are you feeling?"
"Where am I?" asked Sam, even though she knew.
"You're in hospital. You passed out at school from concussion."
Sam gasped.
School.
The memory came flooding back to her and it suddenly occurred to her that it couldn't have been a dream.
What the hell was going on?
She started breathing heavily, panic taking over. She glanced at the drip in her arm and the dried blood around the needle.
She felt her skin grow hot, beads of sweat emerging at her temple.
"I'm going to be sick," she said.
The nurse grabbed a cardboard bowl from the trolley and dashed to her side.
Just in time. As soon as the bowl was beneath her nose, Sam threw up.
Another nurse, this one a middle-aged woman, came into the cubicle.
The young man kneeled next to Sam, holding the bucket as she retched into it, while the woman stood and watched, unphased.
Normally, Sam would have been mortified, but right now embarrassment was not something that crossed her mind.
"Sam, isn't it?" the female nurse asked.
Sam nodded.
"Your mum is here to see you. Would you like her to come in?"
Sam nodded again, wincing at the acidic, pungent taste in her mouth.
The nurse left the cubicle and someone else entered.
A woman who looked a bit like an older version of Sam.
"Mum?" Sam whispered, the shock cold and heavy in her stomach.
Sam's mum smiled sadly, her face drawn with worry.
Yesterday (if it had been yesterday), when Sam had last seen her mum, she'd had a pixie cut.
Right now, she had the same shoulder-length hair that she'd had maybe three or four years ago.
That's when the truth hit Sam like a bus.
This was real.
This was happening.
No.
This had already happened.
YOU ARE READING
If Only She Knew
RomanceSam's biggest regret is hiding her feelings from her high school crush, Billie. But what if she had the chance to go back in time and relive her last year of school? Would things have played out any differently? Well, that's exactly what she is goin...
