Now I sat, head down, cheeks streaked in dried tears, in the waiting room. Waiting for Phil. Waiting for the man to come back. Waiting for someone, anyone. A million 'what ifs' flooded my mind in mass chaos.
'What if they forgot about me?'
'What if I should be helping?'
'What if they want me to go home?'
'What if Phil is dead?'
The last of all was the most troubling.
What should I be doing? I felt so useless just sitting here, even if it is what the man told me to do. Where is he anyway? I put my head in my hands and closed my eyes, only for a moment, when I heard the door opening. I looked up.
A pretty young lady in light blue scrubs walked in. I noticed in one hand she was carrying a foam tray with hot cakes on it, and a cup of coffee was in the other. Her blonde ponytail bobbed as she walked over, carefully setting the tray on the coffee table in front of me. Then she turned in my direction.
"Mr Howell?" I nodded. "Jim told me to bring you some food."
"Thanks," I murmured. Jim must have been the ambulance man. I didn't want to eat, but I heard my stomach growl. Apparently, the lady heard too.
"It's a good thing I did. You must be hungry," she chuckled. When I didn't answer, she turned and left, wishing me a good day. I faced the tray of hotcakes, realizing how empty my stomach was, and how I had not eaten since yesterday evening. I didn't want to eat until I saw Phil, but the temptation was just too much. The four hotcakes were gone in 30 seconds flat. I downed the coffee, and returned to staring at the floor, my head in my hands and my eyes closed.
>•< >•< >•<
I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. I felt a cold wind blowing through my hair and against my clothes causing me to shiver. My lungs were on fire and I was blinking tears out of my eyes. But it didn't matter. I was running into darkness and I couldn't see anything ahead, behind, above, or below me. I heard nothing but the huffing of my breath as I sped through the blackness.
I couldn't feel my legs anymore. My chest was aching. The silence was broken by a quiet thumping sound that matched my footsteps perfectly.
Thump-thump, thump-thump
I ventured further as the beating grew louder. Soon it was joined by horrific shrieks of terror, sounds that no one should ever have to hear. All around me, screams and cries and the sound of a deafening heartbeat echoed and sped up. Suddenly, something grabbed my leg and I tripped, falling continuously through space as if there was never a ground at all.
My leg was still in the firm grasp of something. I was screaming, my shrieks joining in with those surrounding my being. I stopped falling abruptly and started reaching toward my ankles, reaching for the thing that had a hold on me. The thumping slowed and stopped. As I turned, I saw it, and it scared me more than anything I had experienced yet.
It was Phil's corpse.
I started falling and screaming again as I woke up.
>•< >•< >•<
