A Hole of Lies

Chapter 26

I open my eyes. I smell maple in the air and damp grass. I smell rain. I hear footsteps not far away. I hear birds chirping and the usual outdoor sounds. Just a lot stronger.

I see the cloudless sky above me, an endless stretch of blue. The leaves from the tree next to me are shading my eyes from the blinding sun.

My head hurts. Hurts bad. I have to clutch it and curl into a bowl. It still hurts. When I pull my hands away they are caked in blood.

"Julie! JULIE! Oh my God!" A female voice fills my brain. A hallucination, probably. 

But I change my mind when I see a familiar face above mine. Mom.

 "Oh, Julie. Julie? Are you alright? What happened?" She's holding my head up and I feel it throbbing and I am sure she feels it too. All I can do is stare up at her with pleading eyes. I stare into her eyes. She's been crying, but even through they're swollen, I remember those eyes. I almost smile. Those beautiful, grass green eyes that almost seem glow in the dark. Those shining, amazing eyes. Those.....

I let out a violent jolt as a searing pain fills my brain, my head, my skull. It's trying to escape. I scream in agony as the pain swarms through the rest of my body, leaving it unrelaxed.

"Shhh, Julie, it's OK. Shhh. Everything's fine. Oh God. I missed you so bad." She cries and she rests her head on my stomach. It hurts, but I let her. Her face is smothered with tears by the time she lifts it.

I groan. I try to form words, but it's impossible. Almost as if the pain has swallowed my larynx and took off with it. I groan again.

"Sshhh, relax, hon." Mom says in a  muffled voice.

My stomach is in my throat. I finally let it out. I got sick all over my pants.

"Oh, honey. Let's get you home." Mom says.

I wake up again on my bed with a thick, wet towel wrapped around my head. I hear Mom and Marty yelling back and forwarth. I still can't speak. I'm trapped in my own head. My words are trapped. I'm trapped. That is until I see Nancy sitting next to me, staring.