I lay down in the hospital bed and wince as I sit up. My older brother, Zeke sits by my mother. The three of us are strikingly similar in appearance. We all have a pale complexion with ice blue eyes. My mother and I have long black hair, usually kept up in a tight bun, but my brother has light brown hair and freckles, a gift from my father. "What happened?" I ask as I look around. "You don't remember?" Zeke asks. I shake my head slightly. "You were in the kitchen and you just...collapsed." He says. "The doctor will be here any minute to give us the results." My mother says. I nod slightly. My room is different than others. It's big, but...empty. There's a bed, the waiting chairs, and the sink and counter, but the other half of the room is completely empty. The doctor walks in. He looks over at me and I recognize him. He had helped my brother when he had strept throat. "Dr. Smith, what's wrong with her?" She asks. "Well, nothing that a bit of medicine can't help. She ate something bad today, or yesterday and it had a bad affect on her." He says. What? I haven't eaten in three days, I've been too busy.... I think to myself. I look over at him, slightly confused. He hands my mother some pills and she signs a paper and than he leaves. I frown and she hands me two pills. "No water this time." She says. I grab the pills and look at them. They're a dark shade of red, like blood. Weird. I put them in my mouth and swallow them, wincing slightly. "We'll be back later." She says as she kisses my forehead. She leaves and Zeke looks over his shoulder at me before leaving. I close my eyes and let out a sigh. A sharp pain stabs my left side and I wince. I've learned that when this happens, you have to take quick shallow breaths, so that's what I do. After a few minutes of this, the pain subsides. I was out of school yesterday.... Why? Maybe I was sick, maybe that's the reason I'm here. But....I don't remember anything.... I feel myself getting more and tired, my thoughts becoming less frequent.
I wake up, but I don't know how long I've been asleep. I hear voices, but I don't want to open my eyes. "...just so worried." I hear Sue say. "Yeah, but....I'm sure she'll be fine. I've heard it takes a lot to take down someone who's so strong." Ben says. Ben. I lay there for another minute before opening my eyes. I hear the door open I sit up and see a doctor I've never met. She has blonde hair and green eyes, her hair is shoulder length and she wears a green dress suit under a white lab coat. "Ashlynn Mei Palm, age 15. Diagnosis unknown. Very intresting." She says. "Mom, do you think you could figure out what's wrong with her?" Ben says. His mom is a doctor? I look at her and imagine her with longer hair in a pony tail and wearing a white shirt and jeans. My mom used to work with her when I was 11....Maybe I do know Ben....But she never brought him over....at least I don't think so.... "Of course I can, Ben. I've never had a patient I couldn't help." She says with a smile. "I'm not sure if you remember me, but I used to watch you and work with your mom." She says, looking over towards me. "You made the awesome cake for my eleventh birthday, and you'd play games with me. How could I forget?" I say. She smiles and walks over to me. "I'm glad you remember. Your mother asked me to help you, instead of Dr. Smith." She says. I nod slightly. "Now, I understand that you and Sue are best friends, and I'm not that harsh, but if you'd like, she and Ben can leave." She says. I look over at Sue. I don't want her to leave me right now. "Can just Sue stay?" I ask. She nods slightly and Ben leaves the room. "I'm gonna need you to bend over so I can check your spine." She says. I nod and bend over. She lifts the back of my shirt up and runs her hand down my spine. "Alright. Sit up." She says. I nod and she looks at my face. "Hm....nothing looks wrong....we took your blood....you didn't have any food in your system....or any signs of it...." She says - to herself, probably - and shakes her head slightly. She looks at my face closely, and shine a light in my eyes. She moves it and I understand and follow it. "Hm....I'll be right back." She says as she walks out of the room. "I don't get it. You puked and passed out, but there's no reason why you should've thrown up. You never eat." Sue says. "I know....It's weird...." I mutter. But....it's not....not anymore....I get it....I get it now.... The door opens and Dr. Westerndale notions for me to follow her. I get up and I follow her. I do not have shoes on, so I curl my toes to protect them against the cold. The rest of my outfit though, is the same. My Get Scared band tee and skinny jeans, both once tight. I look around and don't see anybody in the hallway. When I look back, Dr. Westerndale is gone, too. "What's going on...." I say, my voice trembling, but I don't know why. Until I feel it. The hands on my arms. Light, almost not their, like a ghost. The lights go out and I scream. When they come back on, I'm not in the hallway, but in my bedroom. Was it just a dream? No....it felt to real. My door bursts open and my brother stands in the doorway. "What happened?" He asks, panicked. I sit up and hug my knees. "Nothing....just a....bad dream I guess...."
