In Hiding (Published!)

Chapter 10

Air filled my lungs, then disappeared. I felt empty without it. Then it came again, then it was gone.  

     Suddenly, I knew I didn't need this air, this air wasn't mine. It tasted too much of dirt, and plastic? Was that actually plastic I was tasting? The air was there again, and again after that. My tastebuds refused the taste, and I coughed.

  The unrecognizable air suddenly stopped, and I could breath on my own. Beside me, someone sighed. A sigh of relief.

  Then someone whispered my name, not to call me, but of thankfulness, and my eyelids fluttered open. They opened on a blurry image of Cam. Where was Jess?

  I opened my mouth to ask, but he put his finger to my lips, and shook his head, smiling. I closed it again, slowly, confused.

  "You're not supposed to talk right away, it could hurt your throat from all the screaming you already did." He brushed my hair out of my eyes, causing me to blink. As I did, I started to cry. Silent tears escaping, running down my soft cheeks.

  His expression turned into a worried one, "Don't cry, Cas', it'll all be over soon. I promise." 

   I nodded my head, but the tears continued to fall. I knew it would be, I was worried about Jess. Where was he? Was he okay, or was he laying in a hospital bed just like I was? Why was I screaming? Why can't I remember it? 

    A thousand questions running through my mind. Swimming in a pool of answers, but not being able to locate the correct one.

    As the final tears slipped down my face, and onto my neck, a female doctor came rushing in, delighted to see me awake.

    I couldn't lie, she was stunning. Long, black hair, straight, and running far past her shoulders. Just the right amount of side bangs, completing the look. An hour-glass body, and a smile brighter then the luminescent lights above.

  She smiled her way across the room, and right to my bedside. Although I couldn't get over her beauty, it seems as if Cam's eyes hasn't left me, even when she bustled him out of the way, to get to my monitor. Cam smiled at me when our eyes met, taking my breath away. Boy, he really was a sweetheart.

  The nurse introduced herself as Nurse Sarah, using her first name, instead of using her last. She then brought out a clipboard from under the ward bed, and sat in the chair beside me. 

   "Now, Casey, tell me everything you remember." Her glasses made her eyes look more intense, as she focused all her attention on me. She smiled when I didn't answer. Then broke into laughter.

  "Oh, that's right, forgive me. You're not supposed to talk. Let's give you a glass of water, and we'll finish this Q and A later on tonight." She smiled and began to pack the clipboard away. My eyes widened, and I turned my head sharply toward Cam, asking for his help.

   "Wait, Nurse? I think she's trying to say something, can we get a pen, and paper?" He strolled over to my bedside, and patted me on the arm, before wrapping his hand tightly around mine. I smiled at him, thankful for his understanding.

   "Oh, of course. Just a second, there." She turned her back to us, and began to shuffle around an old box, located a top a window ledge. She pulled a bright blue pen out, and a small notepad. She moved more things around in the box, then turned back toward us, and handed me the pen and pad. 

   My hand scribbled furiously across the page. When I was done, I handed the pad over to Nurse Sarah, she read slowly, before laughing.

  "Of course we're not going to keep you here too long, Casey. Maybe less then 3 days, but no more then that, I promise you." She handed me back the pad, and strolled out of the room, and disappeared behind the closing door. I sighed. 

  Cam read what was on the paper, and laughed, too. I raised my eyebrows, and smiled when he wiped a tear from his eye. I just rolled mine right back at him.

    "Really? 'Are you keeping me here forever?!' " He quoted me. I couldn't help it, I laughed with him, it did sound kind of silly.

  I put out my hand for the paper, and dropped it in my hands, along with the pen he had been fiddling with.

  My hand flew across the page again, writing almost a paragraph. Cam waited patiently, and was finally looking eager when I raised the pad up to him.

  This time, he read aloud.

    "Where's Jess? Is he okay? Why was I screaming? I don't remember that part. I really want to know about Jess, answer that part first." He laughed. Well, Jess is perfectly fine, he actually left about 30 seconds before you woke up, I knew you'd ask about him. He left for food, actually. Will probably be back extremely shortly," He glanced up at the clock, "I wouldn't be surprised if he was walking down the hall right now." He stopped to let me take that all in.

  Jess was okay, Cam was okay, I was okay, well, aside from the screaming, which made me focus on Cam again, as he began to tell that tale.

   "Well, a few seconds after you blacked out, or fainted, or really, whatever happened, you started this bloodcurdling scream. A scream that would rise a dogs hair up, 40 miles away. I mean it was loud. You began to thrash and kick, screaming at someone to get off of you. Let you go. Let you free. Then you stopped. Stopped screaming, stopped thrashing and kicking. You just curled yourself into a ball, and, well, it looked like you just fell asleep. An extremely peaceful sleep. That was when we called 911." He played with my hair as he told the story, then dropped his hand from my hair, and let go of my hand, as Jess entered the room. 

  I smiled, and used my hand that wasn't holding Cam's, to reach for Jess. He placed what looked like homemade grilled cheese sandwiches on the counter, and rushed over to me.

  "Casey! Oh my gosh, you're awake! If I knew, I would never have left." He gave me a one arm hug, as I was awkwardly positioned on the hospital bed.

   I shook my head, and turned back to Cam, and he handed me the pad without question. I smiled at him, flipped the page, then started writing again. When I was done, Cam leaned over Jess' shoulder as he read to read it along with him, they finished at the same moment, and they both burst into a chorus of laughter. I silently laughed along with them, and Jess strolled over to the door, grabbed the grilled cheese sandwiches, and handed one to me, Cam, then helped himself to one.

    We all sat eating peacefully, as Cam grabbed my hand again, and Jess sat in the tiny chair on my bedside.

  The notepad fell to the floor silently, causing no noise, and craving no one's attention. As it fell, the words "You brought my favourite! Love you always." flashed in the bright luminesent light above.