Restart ✔️

10 | Tick. Tock.

CASSIE'S POV

Everything is black. Everything is white. Back and forth the colors blind me. I can see, but I can't. I see my mom and dad. I see the memories I've made with my family, Sage, Noah.

Then it all goes away.

New images appear. Ones I've never seen before, even in my dreams. There's so many it makes my head hurt. One after another they hit my head like bullets. I keep thinking it'll stop, that maybe I'll get a break. But no. I feel helpless inside my own body. I can't make it stop.

It's like I'm trapped in my own head. I can't break out of the cage. The only thing I can do is scream. Scream so loud that it hurts my own ears.

The more time that goes by the more images I see. Each one holds a secret. I don't even have to search for them, they just come to me.

The images are snapshots of brief moments, and with each one that goes by, there's a ticking sound. Like a clock counting down the seconds to the hour. Except these aren't in equal intervals. The snapshots appear quicker and quicker until I'm sure my head is going to explode. I scream louder and louder to the extent that I'm sure the world can hear me. I hold my head, rocking back and forth, hoping it'll all stop.

"CASSIE!!!" I hear. I open my eyes to see Nick sitting on the side of a hospital bed.

"Oh, God, no. They put you in here too?! When is it ever going to stop?!?!" I clutch the sides of the bed and groan. The ticking in my head is slowing, but it's still there annoying the crap out of me.

"Cassie, it's me. Nick."

"I know who you are, of course. But you should be gone by now. Usually the images only stay for a couple of seconds. Why are you still here?" I turn my head and squint my eyes to see if it's a hallucination or if it's actually real.

"Cassie. I'm real," he puts his hand on my cheek, "See?"

I put my hand on his and look at it. It feels real, but it could be a trick. "No, no, no. I'm not falling for this again." I back up and put my pillow over my ears to drown out any lies.

"Cassie!" he yells, "It's really me. I promise."

I pull the pillow off of my head and ask, "How do I know?"

He looks down and mutters to himself, "What the heck."

"Because," he says, "There is no memory of this." He leans forward and holds my face in his hands. I close my eyes, and his lips softly embrace mine. I pull my hands off of the sides of the bed and wrap them around his neck. I pull away and rest my forehead against his.

"Nick?"

"Yeah, it's me."

I can't hold it in. The dam breaks, and tears start to stream down my cheeks. I pull him closer and wrap my arms around his waist. I bury my head in his shoulder. He rubs my back and whispers, "Shhh, it's ok. I'm here."

I cry so much that I end up soaking his shirt with tears. When I pull back, I say, "Sorry about your shirt."

Nick smiles and looks a his shoulder. "You can cry on my shoulder any time you want." He reaches up and wipes my tears away with his thumbs.

"What happened?" I ask.

"You were in a coma."