This 0ne Guy

Part 8: Shadows

-Dream world-

He was walking through a vivid forest and there were white roses everywhere. He eventually reached a small clearing , the light was filtering gently through the canopy, and standing in the middle was Olivia's shadow. it was a physical shadow but also not at the same time. In her hand was a white rose with a dark, almost black, purple ribbon tied to it. Torrence walked towards her and she handed the rose to him; He took it and examined it. The rose petals had a light green tint on the parts closest to the stem and it crawled up like veins. And the ribbon was tied into a neat and tight bow around the middle point of the stem; Which was about the length of his hand from his wrist to the end of his middle finger.

She looked at him with an unchanging and featureless face. Torrence didn't feel fear in her presence though and actually felt safe instead. He lifted his hand to touch her face and she disappeared into thin air.

-The Next Morning-

Olivia opened her eyes and everything was still black, Im blind now, I guess I'll never get to see again. She reached up to rub her eyes but felt a strange barrier. What's this? She inquired to herself and began to feel around her head and found the end of the bandage. Oh.

Torrence heard the sheets on Olivia's bed moving and opened his eyes to see her sitting up, feeling around her bandaged head. "Oh, you're awake!" He sighed happily and placed his hand onto her arm gently. "Dont mess with those, we don't know if you are allowed to take it off yet." Torrence told her and pulled her other arm down.

Olivia turned her head in the direction of his voice, "Where are we?" She asked curiously and held onto Torrence's hand tightly.

"We're in the hospital, you have a staph infection" He replied solemnly.

Olivia glared at him through the bandages "I am blind" she responded sarcastically and let go of his hand.

Torrence's whole body filled with fear, he didn't catch the sarcasm in her voice "What!?" he stood up and paced the room. "Are you SURE?" He asked.

Olivia rolled her eyes "I was being sarcastic" she laughed and put her hands up to what she thought would be her cheeks, but upon finding the bandages, she returned them to her lap.

A man in a white lab coat walked in and picked up the clipboard from the end of Olivia's bed. He read through it briefly and made an 'ohh' face at it. Then he glanced up and saw torrence watching him and impatiently tapping his foot. "Hello, my name is Dr. X and I have been assigned to an Olivia Pine?"

Olivia raised her hand, "Thats me" her voice came muffled from the bandages around her head.

Dr. X nodded "I figured" he chuckled. "Would you like the bandages off?" He asked and set the clipboard back on the foot of the bed.

Olivia nodded and sat up a little farther. Dr. X slowly unwrapped her head from the bottom up. He stopped at her temple. "This might hurt, it hasn't fully healed yet" he explained.

Olivia squeezed her hands together "I don't care, I just want it off" she said, her voice riddled with fear.

"Okay" He said and gently began to pull. Olivia tightened her hands and Torrence put his hand on top of hers. She pulled her hands away from him. "There we go" Dr. X gayly stated, oblivious to what just happened, moved around the bed to get a good look at the rest of her face. "Oh, geez, Well, um, it's not that bad. I guess it could be. . . worse?" He nodded as if he was agreeing with himself.

Torrence frowned and walked around the bed. Olivia watched him "What's wrong?" she asked and brought her hand up to feel the side of her face. It was all lumpy, gritty, and the skin seemed to be peeling and. Suddenly she didn't want Torrence to see her so she covered it up with both hands. "Stop, Torrence, please?" she told him as he got closer.

Dr. X gave a sympathetic look and backed towards the door, "I'll go get you a mask to cover it up with and some ointment to treat it," he muttered and closed the door.

Torrence sat on the bed "Let me see" he said and Olivia shook her head in response. He brought his hand up to hers and pulled her hands away. She tried to resist but it didn't work. Torrence saw her face; it looked pretty bad. Maybe it will get better when it heals all the way he thought without thinking. Well that was rude, he scolded himself. But maybe... what will she think when she sees it? Torrence gave a smile trying to make it seem to her that it wasn't that bad.

Olivia turned her head away from him and shook her hands to free them from his grip. "I know, it's ugly" she muttered and put her hand back up to her face to feel it again. The crusty lumps were still there and that bothered her. She began to imagine what she might look like if she were to be looking at herself in a mirror. Her face was all black and horribly misshapen. Like something you would see in a horror movie that everyone runs in fear from. Monster, she told herself, You look like a monster.