Burned By The Pages

Chapter Five: Confused

‘Are you sure she’s alright?’
A guy said. Danielle could see nothing but darkness.

‘Of course, something might have altered her consciousness; it could be a panic attack. We’re not yet so sure but she’ll be okay.’ A woman answered.

She could clearly hear the voices but she was still floating in the dark. Images started flashing before her. It was blinding.

Professor Hopkins, people in the classroom, the word REGRET, then there was Jake.

Danielle was terrified then suddenly, she could see a bright ball of light. Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the brightness.

She saw a woman, wearing a coat, who was talking to a guy wearing black hoodie. It was still blurry until she realized she was in the infirmary.

‘She’s up. I think you should talk…’ The woman said when she saw Danielle moved her arm. It felt heavy.

‘I gotta go, Doctor Renner. I’ve got to take care of stuff. ’ The guy interrupted then walked out of the room before Danielle could turn her head to their direction.

‘Oh okay. Sure.’ The woman said then turned to Danielle.

‘What happened?’ Danielle asked faintly. She could finally see clearer.

Doctor Renner had a shoulder-length brown hair, wearing eyeglasses, and Wrinkles were clearly visible on her face.

‘You collapsed. Professor Hopkins said you fell unconscious when you were doing a task in front of the class. Do you have stage nervous or any sort of audience fear? Panic disorder?’

‘No.’ Danielle mumbled as she heaved up from the bed. Something hit inside her head. She rubbed her temples out of pain.

‘Don’t force yourself to get up yet. You fell a little hard on the floor; your head might have been aching from the impact.’

‘No, no. I’m okay. I can manage.’

Danielle put on her shoes and sat to balance her vision before finally standing up.

‘Look, Miss Williams, I think It’s better if you go see a doctor and…’

‘I will, Doctor Renner…’
Danielle said and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. It was 9:55 P.M.

‘…and thank you but I have to go now. It’s already late.’

She stood up and picked up her bag rested on a chair beside the hospital bed, then walked towards the door.

‘Are you sure? Just come see me if your head still hurts. Okay?’ Doctor Renner said as she immediately reached for the doorknob before Danielle could.

‘Yes. Thank you.’

It was dark outside the infirmary hall although there were lights in the covered walk. There was an unusual breeze of cold wind and lesser students were out.

Every Friday, there were usually bunch of students practicing and hanging out in the curb outside the Music Hall which was near the Administrative building in the campus.

Danielle felt the cold shivering in her body. She remembered the guy who was just inside the room a while ago.

Was it Tristan?
She thought when she remembered the black hoodie he was wearing, then she recalled what just happened to her in English class.

Jake might have done that on purpose. He attempted to cause Danielle fall into a mental breakdown.

He’s an asshole.

Danielle shook her head lightly and tied her hair into a ponytail. Although it felt cold, she could not breathe from her mind being suffocated from stress. After minutes of walking, she finally reached Mauller Hall.

*******

‘Finally! You’re here! Were you out on a date?’
Megan said as she turned her chair to face Danielle who just walked into the room.

Megan’s wavy hair looked even messier since she seemed to be studying.
At 10 P.M? Now, that was just another version of her. Well, Megan was unpredictable too. Every Friday night, Danielle was always expecting she would be out for a party.

‘The hell I didn’t, Meg.’ Danielle said before she fell on her bed. It felt wonderful. After an exhausting day, she could finally be at peace.

‘I’m going out tomorrow. Wanna come with?’

So, that one was expected. If Megan was nerdy today, she would be Rebellious by the next hour or day.

‘I can’t. I’ve got stuff to do tomorrow. I have to get a new phone and call home and I’ve got an appointment with Doctor…’

Danielle trailed off. Her tongue almost slipped out. She had not told anyone about her condition yet, that she was still recovering from a temporary memory loss due to post traumatic stress disorder. She could not remember some events which took place a year ago.

Specifically, she could not recall anything that happened on the night of her birthday party on April 25th last year. Completely, like a chunk of over three months of her memory, starting from the night of her birthday, was erased.

Her stomach gurgled. She had not eaten dinner yet since she fell unconscious for almost six hours. She reached for protein bars under her bed.

‘Oh yeah, I knew you wouldn’t come even if I didn’t ask.’
Megan said. She was focused on her laptop as she had not proposed endless questions about the doctor thing Danielle just mentioned.

Megan was extremely preoccupied not until her phone rang. She picked it up.

‘Yeah, Tristan.’

Danielle turned her head after hearing Tristan’s name. She was now unconsciously eavesdropping on Megan’s phone call.

‘Nope. Danielle’s here. Why? You wanna hang out…’
Megan said as she gave up on being glued on her seat. She lay on her bed with the phone still in her ears.

‘….in my room? At night?’
She giggled. Upon noticing Megan’s change of mood, Danielle went back to her sleep. She did not want to hear any kind of love dramas.

*******

Tristan stood in front of the coffee shop for a moment before he walked in. He searched for a familiar face until he spotted a guy with a thin scar on the face. He approached the table and sat across him.

‘I never thought you’d really come.’ Jake said when Tristan had finally arrived.

*******

Author's note:

Chapter Five for you dear readers! It’s a little longer than the previous one but my fingers were uncontrollable. I couldn’t stop writing. LOL. I just wanted to post an update as fast as I could as a consequence of being inactive for several days.

So, there you go. I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter. More will come soon so hang in there.

P.S. Tristan is unpredictable! He just pops out of nowhere. LOL.

Don’t forget to vote and comment! ❤

XOXO