The fire within

Part 5 - Redemption

I must've fallen asleep at some point because I was woken in the middle of the night by the sickening feeling in my stomach. I looked over to where Jamie was asleep. Although I couldn't see him, I could hear his steady breathing. I silently slipped out of the bed to go to the bathroom. I left the bedroom and closed the door softly behind me. I felt dizzy again, and it was worse. I made my way slowly to the stairs. Oh no. I bent over, one hand on my knee, other hand held onto the top of the railing to steady me. I felt terrible. I clutched my stomach as I felt it double over. I looked up again and saw that the stairs were moving, it looked like they were moving.

I started down them, watching every step I made. It seemed that the stairwell was shaking. Or maybe it was me. The movement caused me to lose my footing and I was half stumbling, half crawling for a moment. I saw everything shake and I felt my legs give way beneath me, then I was plunged into darkness. I felt the jostle of movement. Someone was carrying me. I couldn't see who. I couldn't see where to. When my vision cleared, I realised it was Jamie. I was so exhausted, it was as if I had just ran a marathon.

I was like a rag doll in his arms. My eyes were slitted. I felt tired, and sick, and helpless. I looked over his shoulder and saw faintly, the stairs I'd fell down. I was too tired to move or speak. After about, two minutes, I blacked out again. I was lying down. I couldn't see where. I was only half conscious and I felt uncomfortably hot. I kicked around restlessly, trying to kick the blankets off me. I couldn't see where I was, yet I could feel everything. "Sarah," I heard someone say my name, I couldn't hear it very clearly though. Something cold and wet rested on my forehead. It felt good on my skin that felt like it was burning. I moaned.

I was suddenly wide awake in Jamie's bed, he was leaning over me. "Sarah, stay with me," he whispered, brushing his hand against my cheek. I moaned again at the uncomfortable heat and the painful pulsing of my head and the strange feeling of nausea and the doubling over in my stomach."Hang in there, an ambulance will be here soon," he explained. I didn't want to go to the hospital, I wanted to stay here with Jamie. I wanted to assure him that me going to a hospital was exaggerating. "No!" I managed to gasp.

I sat up to show him that I was alright. "Look Jamie, I'm alright." I stood up and walked around a corner, out of Jamie's sight so I could lean on something. "Sarah, two minutes ago you were unconscious."

"That's because I fell over and knocked myself out."

"You know that's not it. Besides, you have a high temperature."

"No I don't," I lied, still not coming out from around the corner.

I felt dizzy and light headed, but I wouldn't tell Jamie that. My plan was to slip out of the room while we were arguing and hide outside until it was safe for me to go. I started to exit, then stopped abruptly because my head was spinning like a top and I simply couldn't move. "Oh no," I whispered, a little loudly because Jamie heard and came into view. My legs stopped working and, before I knew it, Jamie was behind me and had caught me. My last thought was: I'm gonna die, before I'd either fainted or knocked myself out again.

I'd surprised myself. I wasn't one for fainting. I woke in another bed. This one was a hospital bed. There was a machine hooked up to me by a tube, that run through to my nose. I wondered how long I'd been unconscious. A female doctor came into the room and bent over me. "Hello sweetheart. How are you feeling?" the doctor asked softly. I heaved a sigh and slowly sat up.

"I don't know," I whispered faintly. "How long have I been out?"

"Several days," she replied, brushing my hair out of my face. "You've been through a tough time, you need to rest. Okay?" She smiled at me. "At least you're awake. We didn't know if you would pull through."

I returned a smile at her. It was a weak one, but it was the best I could do. "Could I see Jamie?" I asked before she left. She smiled again. "Jamie. He's been here the whole time. He refused to leave until he could see you. I'll let you see him, but not for long because you need to rest."

"Thank you." She nodded as she left the room. Several days. I didn't think I'd been asleep for that long.

I was so glad to see Jamie walk into the room. He looked like he'd been crying. I'd never seen him cry, I didn't think he did cry. When Jamie was close enough to the bed, I through my arms around him, and he hugged me back tightly. "I'm so sorry Jamie," I sobbed.

"You scared me Sarah," Jamie whispered. "I thought you were going to die. They said- they said you stopped breathing."

"Oh Jamie!" I gasped. "I'm so sorry." We were still holding onto each other as if one of us would leave if we let go. When we finally did let go, I was sure I was shedding tears and I thought I saw a tear trickle down Jamie's cheek. I kissed him on the forehead and in return, Jamie gave me a real kiss. I kissed him back hungrily. I'd thought I wouldn't have a chance to kiss him again.

When we stopped, I said, "While I was out, I kept having flashbacks of... the accident with my parents. I don't know if I told you, how my parents died." Jamie shook his head. I continued. "My parents died from a house fire, three years ago." I stopped to see if he was on the same page as me. When his eyes widened, I knew he was. "That was your family?!"

"I think so," I replied.

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to leave now," a nurse said to Jamie from the doorway. Jamie glanced at me before leaving the room. "I'll see you soon," I called after him. I was alone again in the little room. I decided to try to get some sleep, there was nothing else to do. I think I slept a little because I woke a while later and the doctors wanted to run some tests on me. I realised the machine I was connected to had been unhooked. "We still don't know what the sickness was," one of the doctors told me. "But the tests will clarify if you still have it or not."

While one doctor was injecting me with test needles, another was asking me about the sickness. "What were some of the symptoms you felt while you were sick?"

"Well, I had really bad headaches, dizziness and once I was throwing up blood," I answered. I watched as the doctor wrote them down. "And, do you know when you started to get these symptoms?" I tried to think back to when I first started feeling sick. "Well, it first started when..." I paused as I remembered. "When that man attacked me," I whispered, realisation washing over me.

"Someone attacked you? That's no good. Do you remember what he did to you?"

"He cut my arm," I replied.

"Anything else?" I shook my head.

"Could I have a look at your arm please?" I stuck out my left arm for her to see. She carefully unwound the bandage and I winced as she did. "Sorry," she apologised. "It looks pretty bad. Here, come with me and we'll clean it up."

I followed her into a large room where other patients were being patched up too. I sat on the bench she'd led me to as she fetched some water and bandages. "I'm just going to pour some of this on it. It will sting a bit but it will get rid of any germs. If it doesn't get cleaned, it could get infected."

I nodded as she started to pour water onto my arm. I winced at the sting but kept still for her. When she'd finished, she put a fresh bandage on the wound.

"Let's go back to your room now." I followed her back the way we'd come and I sat on the bed again. I was allowed to go now. The doctor had said that I didn't have the disease anymore. They didn't know what it was, but they had found a cure. Clever doctors. I was in the passenger seat of Jamie's car. He was taking me back to his place. "Thanks," I said to Jamie on the way. When we got to his place, I met his mother finally. A slim woman she was, with broad shoulders and a tall figure.

Jamie had told her about my history and she had just opened an orphanage for girls and boys aged thirteen to eighteen. She said I could stay there and better still, it was owned by my- I think I can call him my boyfriend now- boyfriends mum. That meant Jamie would often be there and the orphanage was close to his home anyway. I was in the bedroom with Jamie now. I loved him, I realised. I think I had for a long time. I hoped; so badly, that Jamie felt the same way for me that I did for him. Well, it was obvious that he did.

I sat beside him on the bed and rested my head on his shoulder. Jamie turned and kissed me on top of the head lovingly. He turned to me then and kissed me properly. I leaned into him, wanting more. I was loving this moment, and I never wanted it to end.