ENVY

Chapter 5 ~ What dreams may come . . .

"Alicea, niña despierta. Ya es hora, despierta", the voice prompted Alicea to open her eyes. Fluttering to adjust to the light, Alicea's eyes began to focus on the image of her husband leaning over her bedside.

"Hey", she croaked.
"Where am I?"

"What's going on?", she asked confused. Last thing she remembered she was in the parking lot at school watching that car speed off then nothing. She raised her hand noticing the IV attached to it. Was she dreaming?

"Grazie a Dio", Marcello nearly cried. He leaned over leaving a trail of kisses down her face.
"You put us all through quite a scare", he reported.

"What are you talking about?"

"Where am I?", she asked more to herself than to Marcello, realization dawning on her that she was in the hospital.

"What happened?", all she had was questions.

"Abbastanza, no more questions. You need to rest. I can fill you in on our way home", he insisted. "The doctors say you'll be released some time tomorrow", he explained.
"I just thank God Alan was in the right place at the right time".

"Alan?"
"What, he was there?", Alicea was seriously confused. Apparently Alan had saved her this afternoon.

"Wait, why?", she asked.

"What do you mean tomorrow? My students!", she complained.

"Amore mio, please rest", Marcello pleaded.
"We will talk more later".

Just then the nurse waltzed in to check on her and administer a sedative. Alicea's mind was reeling. How could she sleep at a time like this? She had too many questions like how in the hell she ended up there? She looked toward the window facing the nurses' desk shocked to see that Alan was still there. Marcello kissed her forehead once more caressing her cheek.

"I'll be right back", he promised.

She watched as he walked out toward Alan. He shook his hand mouthed something Alicea couldn't make out then retreated back into the room and again Alicea found herself in the dark as the sedative had taken effect.
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Walking in a garden. . .
How did I manage to get here?
"Come mija", a voice beckoned her further into the garden. The same voice she swore she heard calling her in her classroom. Walking in deeper, she found the source of the voice. Stunned to find her grandmother seated on a garden bench under a rose trellis.

"Benga, sit here, a mi lado", her grandmother motioned for her to be seated at her side on a concrete white bench.

Alicea sat quietly next to her grandmother knowing this must be a dream, reason reminding her that her grandmother was and had been gone for some time now. Although she knew this was obviously a dream brought on by the drugs, she allowed herself a moment of happiness with the grandmother she loved and missed.

"Mija, you are a mess and you are not listening to the signs around you", she reprimanded as she petted what Alicea realized was a pure white Siberian tiger.

"Pero Abuela, I don't understand these feelings I've been having or why", she admitted. Alicea paused to absorb her surroundings. The garden was lush, filled with her favorite flowers. The sent of the magnolia trees filled the garden air, calming Calla lilies of all colors filled the garden as far as the eye could see.

"Niña, come", she took Alicea's hand and guided her toward a gazebo in the center of the garden. The tiger following their every step. A single clear vase sat on a table in the center of the gazebo filled with a single green rose that was surrounded by a dozen stark white roses. "Do you see?", she asked Alicea. She watched as the white flowers were being poisoned by the green one until all of the flowers were stark green and dying.