SCRATCH

Part 2 - Act 3

Another nightmare. The same nightmare. The room, the fire, the figure. It was all the same. The only difference this time was the screaming, which grew louder, quickly becoming deafening.

"STOP!" Nicky's voice reverberated off the walls of her room. It was bright when her eyes sprang open. Sunlight streamed in from the window, directly onto her bed. Her ears rang a little as she sat up. She squinted, the sun getting in her eyes, and it dawned on her. It was late. Reaching for the clock, her hand settled on her phone instead, and she brought it to her face. The screen brightened up and there was the time: 10:00 am. "No!" She shouted as she scrambled out of bed, slipping on the floorboard and landing on her hands and knees. The floor rattled underneath her.

Heavy footsteps thundered up the stairs. They grew louder until her bedroom door swung open wildly and Chester burst in, wearing his scrubs.

"Woah!" Chester skidded to a halt, clinging to the doorway. "What's going on? Are you OK?" He huffed, out of breath from running up the stairs.

"I'm supposed to be at the cafe," she stumbles as she goes to her drawer. "I'm so fucking late." Chester's shoulders slumped and he looked down at her with pity.

"Nicky, calm down. It's Saturday," Chester pleaded, exasperated. He took a step closer, his arms out in front of him as if he were trying to calm down a rowdy pet. "The cafe is closed." Nicky stopped mid-action, a pair of pants swinging in her hands. Still breathing heavily, she looked at Chester in disbelief. Turning back to her bed, she picked up her phone, unlocked it, and looked at the date. He was right. It was Saturday. Nicky rubbed her head and fell back onto the bed, bouncing softly against the mattress. Chester took a long breath, deflating his chest, and placed his hands on his hips. "Maybe I'm overstepping here but you need to relax. Seriously. It's like you're having a nervous breakdown or something." He shook his head and checked his watch. "I'm sorry. I have a placement in half an hour. I gotta go. Just, take the day. Stay in bed." He gave her one last concerned look and left the room, his footsteps fading down the staircase. Blowing strands of hair off her face, Nicky got up from the bed, leaving her phone behind, and briskly walked over to the door. "Go back to bed," she heard Chester yell from the living room followed by the front door opening and closing. Silence settled in the house.

Nicky returned to bed and sat there quietly, her mind racing while her stomach was gnawed by a hideous feeling of dread. Something was wrong. What made it worse was the feeling had become familiar, like a strange memory that she couldn't quite capture in her mind. Like something that sat on the fringes of her memory. She raised her trembling hands to her mouth and held them there tightly, fighting the urge to hyperventilate. What do I do? The question echoed on repeat in her mind.

In her chest, she could feel her heart thump against her sternum. Every other thump brought with it a slightly sharp pain. Christ, she thought, am I having a heart attack now too? The rational part of her brain quickly stepped in and forced her to take a deep, steadying breath. This can't go on. She grabbed her phone. After finding the number she was after, she took several deep breaths to psych herself up before hitting dial.

Nicky sighed as the pre-recorded prompts played through. Crackly, elevator music played over the phone as she sat biting her nails, waiting. Five minutes had dragged by when the music abruptly stopped and the line went quiet. A woman's voice came through the speaker now, telling her that her name was Karen and asking if she was fine to record the call. Nicky sat up and gripped the phone tightly, fighting the anxiety.

"Yes, that's fine," she exhaled.

"And you're aware that if this is an emergency we need you to hang up and contact 9-1-1?" Karen continued.

"Yes," Nicky replied, rubbing her forehead, noticing her hands still shook.

"Alright," the nurse breathed calmly into the phone. "Can you tell me what's going on?"