iGuard

Nightmare

My head hurt.

That's usually how my nightmare started. my head hurt like hell and my thoughts were foggy.

It took tremendous effort to think straight. I tried to open my eyes, wincing as I stared into bright LED lights bordering a spotless white ceiling.

Where was I?

I tried to get up, but my arms and legs were strapped down to a cold, metal table by thick leather restraints. The frigid metal pressed against my bare skin, numbing my back. I faintly acknowledged the fact that all I was wearing was a plastic blanket that covered my midriff.

Through the fog surrounding my mind, I heard the open and close of a door, and the sound of muffled footsteps.

Suddenly, I was surrounded by a group of humanoid figures wearing what seemed to be white lab coats.

One of them said something to me, maybe a word of comfort, but it was muffled, distorted in my mind.

The next part I could see all too clearly.

A green, latex gloved hand reached for something on a gleaming silver side table, holding it up for inspection.

A knife, razor sharp, glinted in the cold, harsh light. The smell of antiseptic filled the air.

Adrenaline mercilessly removed the remaining fog from my brain.

Where was I?

Was I in an operating room?

Oh god.

I'm cuffed to an operating table.

Shit.

Were they going to cut me open?

SHIT.

I didn't want this.

Why were they doing this?

...

Wait...

Why... Why was I still conscious?

Aren't you supposed to be unconscious during an operation?

Were they going to operate on me while I was conscious?

The white coats stared at me in confusion, realizing I was awake, and alert at that. Wasn't I supposed to be unconscious? What type of doctors were they?

Unless...

They weren't doctors, were they?

The white coat holding the knife shrugged, as if disregarding that fact, and carefully moved the blanket down so the upper half of my body was exposed.

He brought the knife down in a clean slice across my chest.

I didn't want this.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

I jerked upright in my bed, my heart running a hundred miles an hour.

I shakily pushed sweaty strands of hair plastered to my forehead away from my face.

I heard hurried footsteps pounding down the hallway, coming closer to my room, and then the door burst open in a blast of light, revealing Brian silhouetted in the doorway.

"Levi, are you okay? I heard screaming..." He stared at me, concern filling his hazel eyes.

"N-no, I'm fine, I just had a nightmare, I'm fine."

"Huh. What was it about?"

He walked over and sat down on the side of my bed.

"It sounded pretty gnarly."

I slumped forward, still shaking slightly.

"I... I don't remember."