All Yours

3. Gummy Bears and Near-Death Experiences

The next morning I opened my eyes to find the pounding in my head had subsided and I could actually sit up without feeling like a train just hit. And although I still felt exhausted, I was just glad I was finally able to start to relax.

I looked around Griffin's room as I sat up in his full-sized bed. It was a simple room with just the basics: a bed, a desk, and a few other things which made the room more personalized. But it was otherwise mostly plain against the beige walls. It reminded of me a lot of his old room back in Boston.

Realizing I still had a faint a headache, I figured I was probably still dehydrated from however much alcohol I somehow consumed yesterday. Slowly getting out of bed, I stood up a little wobbly and walked out of his room to get some water.

A strong coffee scent instantly filled my nose as I walked into the next room. As the kitchen came into view, I noticed Griffin was already up and cooking something on the stove. My lips twitched up involuntarily as I watched him cook in his long, flannel pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. His back was to me so he didn't notice me approach until he turned around to grab a plate.

"Oh, hey," his lips turned up subtly for a second. "You're up. How you feeling?"

I pulled out a chair and sat down as I rubbed my temples. "Alright," I exhaled. "The pounding stopped, but there's still a dull headache." A cup of coffee was placed in front of me.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Actually," I began as I gently pushed the mug away a couple of inches. "Can I just have water? I don't think caffeine will do my head any good right now."

"Right," he noted as he got out a new glass and filled it with ice water. "Do you want food or something?"

I shrugged, "Sure," before taking a refreshing sip of the cold water, my eyes glazing over everything in front of me.

"So," he began as he got out two plates from the cabinet. Dividing the eggs and sausages from the stove into even halves, he slid them off the pan. Carrying the two dishes over to the island countertop, he placed one in front of me as he continued. "How come you yelled 'chicken' when you woke up yesterday?"

I didn't process whatever he said. All I noticed was the smell of the sausage remains still sizzling on the stove as my eyes continued to glaze some more until I no longer saw my current surroundings. As the rest of my senses faded out, my vision switched to the sidewalk on my street back home.

My eyes watched my feet as my grey converse cheerfully glided down the sidewalk. I had been in a good mood lately, ever since our bassist booked us this really great gig that could get us some serious exposure for the band. Oh yeah, and then there's the fact that we just got signed and were just about to start recording our first full length album. Life was good.

I watched the daisies that were growing along the side of the sidewalk pass my vision as I went along. I heard a dog bark up ahead as I looked up to see where it was coming from. As I did, I caught a whiff of something I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was sweet...it almost smelled like chicken.

And then my vision went black.

"Hey," I heard Griffin's voice cut through as he nudged me.

I blinked suddenly and looked in his direction as my vision pixelated back to the present.

"Huh?" I said, sounding like I just came out of a daze (well, cause I did).

"I said are you ok? You looked a little out of it and for a second you weren't responding."

"Oh," I blinked again as I tried to process what my mind just saw. "Sorry," I mumbled. "I'm not sure what just happened there...What did you say before?"