The Vale (Nanowrimo 2013)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

            I opened my eyes and screamed.

            “Clara!” I heard people yell as I was attacked by people giving hugs. I felt tears streaming down my face, and warm bodies hugging me. I looked around, as I was in a white room. A TV was across the room in front of me, all the walls were white, and I lied in a bed with white sheets and wires hooked up to me everywhere. There was a curtain and a nightstand next to my bed, and on the other side was a window. I saw a stand with a bag of some kind of fluid.

            “She’s awake!” someone yelled as they pulled away from me. I examined the person, and noticed it was my mother. Aria had not lied about any of this, this was all real. I smiled and cried all at once, as I saw everyone cry that I was alive.

            “Dad… mom…. Aria!” I yelled as they all hugged me. I looked at Aria who pulled away from me and wiped tears from her eyes. My dad did the same, until all four people who were hugging me pulled away, and they were all crying tears of joy. The fourth person I did not know until I saw him just now. It was my brother, Jackson. He was my older brother, eighteen years of age.

            “How long… how long have I been asleep?” I asked, forcing words out. I guess it is hard to function right after waking up from an extremely long coma.

            “Nine months and seventeen days.” Jackson said. Wow. I was in the Vale for maybe a month or two, as it seemed, but I was really asleep for nine months. It was amazing what a car accident did to me.

            “You all… you all have no idea what I have been through the past nine months.” I said quietly. Still having difficulty talking. I looked around and saw a nurse run in. I examined her, and saw no elf ears. Yes, this was real life.

            “How are you feeling?” the nurse asked me.

            “Wonderful, thank you.” I said, forcing the words out still.

            “I will get the medicine you need and call in the doctor to examine you.” The nurse said before she walked in.

            “What did you go through? You said you went through a lot.” My dad asked me.

            “I will explain when we go home. It is a really long story, and it is kind of hard to speak, and function right now. Must be a side effect of being in a coma for  nine months.” I said.

            “Wait… how did you know you were in a coma? Most people do not know until someone tells them when they wake up.” My mom asked.

            “That is part of my story. It is a little bizarre, you all might not believe me.” I replied, “Aria, you were in this story for a short while.” I said, smiling. Aria smiled back as she continued crying. I can not believe I was back in the real world. I thought this would never happen.

            I laid back down, laying my head on the pillow, since I was sitting up, which took a lot of effort to remain sitting. I looked at myself, and saw how skinny I was. That is what nine months of being fed through a tube does apparently.

            Malachi… Ariella… I thought about them as I started crying again. They just died just to save me. I would never see them again, the world there was over now. Even the Queen died, which meant a girl died in the real world, because of me in a dream. I thought about everything I did with Ariella and Malachi, the short time I was with them, and everything they did with me. I wish they were not just my imagination. I would do anything for those two people to exist, for them to be my real friends.